LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Thomas Francis BEECHER
Service No: 410208
Born: Buchan VIC, 17 June 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 December 1941
Unit: No. 57 Squadron (RAF), RAF East Kirkby, Lincolnshire
Died: Prisoner of War, Injuries from Air Operations: (loss of No. 57 Squadron Lancaster aircraft LM115 on 22 June 1944), Belgium, 22 June 1944, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Schoonselhof Cemetery, Antwerpen, Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Henry Ward Beecher and Annie Amelia Beecher; husband of Brenda Joyce Beecher, of Lindenow, Victoria, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Bairnsdale VIC
Remembered: Panel 118, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster LM115 took off from RAF East Kirkby at 2306 hours on the night of 21 June 1944, detailed to bomb Wesserling, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at Oud Turnhout, (Antwerpen), 3kms east of Turnhout, Belgium. Two of the crew members were killed, three became Prisoners of War and two evaded capture. Six aircraft from the Squadron (including LM 115) failed to return from the mission.
The crew members of LM115 were:
Flying Officer Alan Frederick Bayley (55015) (RAF) (Pilot)
Warrant Officer Thomas Francis Beecher (410208) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner) PoW, fatally injured, Died: 22 June 44
Sergeant John Henry Donovan (1836270) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Raymond Heasman (1600293) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
Sergeant Vivian Leon Marshall (R/138838) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner) PoW
Flying Officer J R Maunsell (138134) (RAFVR) (Navigator) Evaded capture
Flight Sergeant Q D Naysmith (1336555) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) Evaded capture
Flight Sergeant Naysmith later reported that on hearing the crew acknowledge a bale out order he was the first to leave. He was later conveyed in a truck with the bodies of Beecher and Donovan to the prison camp where he saw Marshall.”
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, 166/5/579