LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Maxwell Trevethan THOMAS
Service No: 419237
Born: Coburg VIC, 20 June 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 July 1942
Unit: No. 622 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mildenhall
Died: Air Operations: (No. 622 Squadron Lancaster aircraft NE146), France, 25 July 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Choloy War Cemetery, Meurthe-et-Moselle, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Percival Franklin Thomas and Carrie Artalus Thomas, of Moonee Ponds, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Essendon VIC
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2150 hours on the night of 24 July 1944, Lancaster NE146 took off from Mildenhall detailed to bomb Stuttgart, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off, and it failed to return to base. A Missing Research and Enquiry team later reported: “the aircraft crashed at Avrainville (Meurthe-et-Moselle), some 12 kms east north east of Toul, France. All the crew members were killed.”
The crew members of NE146 were:
Sergeant Derek Christopher Broome (1395746) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant George William Dalton (1338225) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Reginald Bernard Victor Harris (176168) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Montague Roger Shute (155123) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant George Andrew Sinclair (416804) (RNZAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Flying Officer Maxwell Trevethan Thomas (419237) (Pilot)
Sergeant Frank Henry Whittington (1609929) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
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, 166/39/321