LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Thomas Leon Ford BAILEY
Service No: 406283
Born: Pingelly WA, 15 June 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 7 October 1940
Unit: No. 104 Squadron (RAF), Kabrit, Egypt
Died: Air Operations: (No. 104 Squadron Wellington aircraft Z8514), Tobruk area, 30 September 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Samuel Ford Bailey and Caroline Clara Bailey, of Pingelly, Western Australia
Roll of Honour: Pingelly WA
Remembered: Column 265, Alamein Memorial, Egypt
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Wellington Z8514 took off at 2115 hours on 30 September 1942 to bomb Tobruk, Libya. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. Following post war searches and investigations when no trace of the missing aircraft or crew was located, the search was abandoned in 1948.
The crew members of Z8514 were:
Flight Sergeant Thomas Leon Ford Bailey (406283) (First Wireless Operator)
Sergeant Jessie Jack Bowles (1379769) (RAFVR) Air Gunner
Sergeant John William Flint (936661) (RAF) (Second Wireless Operator)
Flight Sergeant Harry Chapman Hunt (400621) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer William Norman Ramage (115437) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Warrant Officer Class II Robert Sillis (R/76683) (RCAF) Observer
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/5/5