LEST WE FORGET
Second Lieutenant Thomas HEWSON
Service No: Not Assigned
Born: Ararat VIC, September 1894
Enlisted in the Army: 23 December 1916
Unit: 45th Squadron, Royal Flying Corps
Died: Air Operations, France, 7 July 1917, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of the late John Thomas Hewson and Bertha Ann Hewson. Born at Ararat, Victoria, Australia
Place of Association: Ararat VIC
Remembered: Arras Flying Services Memorial, Arras, Nord Pas de Calais, France
Remembered: Panel 188, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Second Lieutenant Hewson (Pilot) and Lieutenant Frederick Carl Henry Snyder RFC (Observer) flying Sopwith Two-Seater aircraft A1029 were reported missing on 8 July 1917. A report from No. 45 Squadron states that on 7 July 1917, A1029 was shot down in flames from about 10,000 feet and that both crew members had likely been killed during combat before the aircraft was seen to crash. The aircraft fell behind enemy lines near Messines. The aircraft had become separated from its Flight and was attacked by five German aircraft.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record B2455, HEWSON T 2ND LIEUTENANT
National Archives UK RAF Casualty Book AIR 1/968 page 74, AIR 1/970 page 2, 130287, 130288