LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Thomas Frederick PICKERING
Service No: 411376
Born: Hurstville NSW, 14 July 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 April 1941
Unit: No. 9 Squadron, RAAF Station Rathmines NSW
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 9 Squadron Walrus aircraft A2-11), Lake Macquarie NSW, 5 March 1942, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Botany General Cemetery NSW
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Mr. and Mrs. N. V. Pickering, of Coogee
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 99, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Catalina Base Memorial, Rathmines NSW
Remembered: Rathmines Memorial Bowling Club, Rathmines NSW
At 1153 hours on 5 March 1942 while landing on Lake Macquarie, Seagull A2-11 nosed-in and flipped, killing Sergeant Pickering. The crew members of A2-11 were:
Sergeant Thomas Frederick Pickering (411376) (Pilot)
Aircraftman Class 1 William Francis McConnell (21845) (Crewman) Seriously injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 18 March 1946
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 192
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line
Bibliography:
Gillett, R. (Ross) Wings Across the Sea: the first ever complete history of naval aviation from the first world war to the present, Aerospace Publications, 1988