LEST WE FORGET

Flight Sergeant Thomas Bonham GRIFFITHS

Service No: 428387
Born: Newcastle NSW, 30 November 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 10 October 1942 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 80 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 80 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft A29-513), Horn Island QLD, 23 February 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Townsville War Cemetery QLD
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Leslie James Griffiths and Doris Vera Griffiths, of Glen Davis, New South Wales
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 104, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT

On 23 February 1944, Kittyhawk A29-513 flown by Flight Sergeant took off from Horn Island for a ferry flight to Nadzab. In an attempt to join the formation quickly, Flight Sergeant Griffiths executed a climbing turn at low speed. He attempted to steepen the turn rather violently, and the aircraft stalled, flicked on its back. Flight Sergeant Griffiths appeared to complete the roll with ailerons and was recovering from the dive when the aircraft struck the ground, and caught fire and he was killed.

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, 166/16/281; A9845, 160

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