LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Thomas Stephen JONES
Service No: 425683
Born: Kingaroy QLD, 28 February 1924
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 April 1942
Unit: No. 224 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station St Eval
Died: Air Operations: (No. 224 Squadron Liberator aircraft BZ940), English Channel, 12 June 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Thomas and Florence Dorothy Jones, of Memerambi, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Kingaroy QLD
Remembered: Panel 260, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 124, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 12 June 1944 Liberator BZ940 took off from St Eval to carry out an anti-submarine patrol west of the English Channel. The last message from the aircraft was at 0300 hours when it reported from position 48.20N 005.54W that it was over 2 U boats in the English Channel and attacking. Nothing further was heard from BZ940, and the aircraft did not return to base. The body of one crew member was recovered from the sea off Molene Island west of Brest. No trace of the other missing crew members was found, and they are recorded as having lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BZ940 were:
Pilot Officer Cyril Chilton Chitty (173584) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Dixon (1238845) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Mechanic, Air Gunner) Remains recovered
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Gordon Edward Graves (1498580) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Robert Thomas Green (1628835) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Arthur Jenkins (1311544) (RAFVR) (Wireless operator Air)
Flight Lieutenant James Elliot Jenkinson (411410) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Thomas Stephen Jones (425683) (Navigator Bomb Aimer)
Flight Lieutenant Alan Munro McLeod (402202) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Warrant Officer Francis John Reid (1376394) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
Flight Sergeant Laurence Albert Starr (1190559) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air)
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, 166/21/157
Bibliography:
Jay, Alwyn, Endurance; Coastal Command Liberator Operations 1941-5, Banner Books, Maryborough QLD, 4650, 1996