LEST WE FORGET
Leading Aircraftman John Gregory THOMSON
Service No: 423564
Born: Mosman NSW, 14 February 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 July 1942
Unit: No. 1 Air Observers School
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Air Observers School Anson aircraft DJ497), near Wagga Wagga NSW, 14 July 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Wagga Wagga War Cemetery, NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John Kilpatrick Thomson and Margaret Aymer Thomson, of Mosman
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 117, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2315 hours on 14 July 1943, Anson DJ497 was abandoned by the crew 12 miles south of Wagga Wagga. All landed safely except for Leading Aircraftman Thomson who did not clip on his parachute before leaving the aircraft and was killed.
The crew members of DJ497 were:
Sergeant James Bruce Edenborough (412122) (Pilot) Discharged from the RAAF: 11 January 1946
Leading Aircraftman Richard Hope Sproge (427266) (Trainee Navigator) Killed in an Aircraft Accident: 27 March 1944
Leading Aircraftman Alan Dixon Thomas (428825) (Trainee Navigator) Discharged from the RAAF: 30 January 1946
Leading Aircraftman John Gregory Thomson (423564) (Trainee Navigator)
Pilot Officer Frederick Edward Tolcher (426713) (Wireless Air Gunner) Discharged from the RAAF: 1 November 1945
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/39/97