LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Thomas David JAMES
Also recorded as Wilcox Thomas David James (CWGC), Walter Thomas David James (AWM)
Service No: 421302
Born: Drummoyne NSW, 21 August 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 111 Operational Training Unit (RAF), Nassau, Bahamas
Died: Air Operations: (No. 111 Operational Training Unit Mitchell aircraft FR383), off the Bahamas, 13 July 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Walter and Agnes Isabella James, of Cronulla, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Cronulla NSW
Remembered: Panel 3, Column 1, Ottawa Memorial, Ontario
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1200 hours on 13 July 1943, Mitchell FR383 took off from Nassau detailed to carry out a five hour navigation and patrol flight. Wireless communication with the aircraft ceased at 1545 hours and the aircraft failed to return to base. Searching aircraft located an oil patch and wreckage in the sea five miles south west of Clifton Point, but no survivors were found. A surface vessel recovered small pieces of wreckage only. All the crew members are lost at sea.
The crew members of FR 3983 were:
Sergeant Billy Daschuk (R/158314) (RCAF)
Sergeant Thomas David James (421302) (Observer)
Pilot Officer Wilfred Johnson (J/23528) (RCAF)
Sergeant John Barth Koepke (R/163792) (RCAF)
Pilot Officer James Brewer McArthur (J/21930) (RCAF)
Sergeant Robert Paul Meehan (R/139262) (RCAF)
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, 166/22/91
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line