LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Thomas Joseph HOGAN
Service No: 414403
Born: Brisbane QLD, 8 December 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 14 September 1941
Unit: No. 1657 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Station Stradishall
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1657 Conversion Unit Stirling aircraft W7571), Stradishall, 20 January 1944, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Thomas Hogan and Honoria Hogan, of Boonah, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Boonah QLD
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1745 hours on 20 January 1944, Stirling W7571 took off from Stradishall for night flying practice, the aircraft having been delayed for nearly a quarter of an hour due to the presence on the runway of the flare path lorry. Eye witness reports indicate an erratic take off and when, eventually, the aircraft became airborne it had veered off the runway and was quite close to the perimeter track. Agonisingly, it climbed to about 100 feet, before sideslipping into the far north west corner of the bomb dump, where it struck a building used to store incendiaries. On impact, the rear fuselage broke away (saving Sergeant Clisby’s life) and moments later the rest of the aircraft erupted in a sheet of flame. Seven of the crew members were killed and Sergeant Clisby was injured. An investigation into the accident concluded that the starboard outer engine had failed.
The crew members of W7571 were:
Sergeant C W K Clisby (RAF) (Air Gunner) Injured
Sergeant Richard James Fuller (1399536) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Joseph Hogan (414403) (Second Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant James Gillespie Neilson DFC (40423) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Alan Charles Parker (912468) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant James Vincent Powell (1604522) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Leonard Hugh Robinson (1590995) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Sidney Frederick Wise (1397932) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
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 A9301, 414403