LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Colin William THOMPSON
Service No: 36712
Born: Summer Hill NSW, 24 October 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 13 May 1941
Unit: No. 31 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: (No. 31 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A19-59), Aroe Islands, 26 April 1943, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Robert and Lily Thompson, of Como, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 10, Ambon Memorial, Indonesia
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 26 April 1943, Beaufighter A19-59 was one of two aircraft detailed to attack Aru Island, Netherland East Indies and A19-59 failed to return from the mission. The aircraft was last sighted by the other aircraft, on course to the target and flying in the usual manner. Searches were conducted for the missing aircraft and crew were unsuccessful.
In a PoW report given on 10 October 1945 Flight Sergeant Greenwood stated that after ditching the aircraft he took 15 hours to swim to land he had had been strafed by enemy aircraft. He did not see Sergeant Thompson during this time. In 1946 a RAAF search party report recorded that the aircraft had been hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire over Taberfane and had crashed in the sea. Natives said that the Pilot had swum ashore at Hokmar and was captured by the Japanese. They failed to find any trace of Sergeant Thompson.
The crew members of A19-59 were:
Flight Sergeant (later Wing Commander) Cyril Arthur Greenwood (800) (O311) (Pilot) PoW, Discharged from the RAAF: 8 December 1965
Sergeant Colin William Thompson (36712) (Navigator Wireless)
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 A 705, 166/39/67