LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Lawrence Chase THOMPSON
Service No: 402622
Born: Lord Howe Island NSW, 10 September 1912
Enlisted in the RAAF: 16 September 1940
Unit: No. 50 Squadron (RAF), RAF Swinderby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations: (No. 50 Squadron Lancaster aircraft L 728), Germany, 26 June 1942, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Becklingen War Cemetery, Soltau, Niedersachsen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Osburne Spurling Thompson and Lena Bridget Thompson, of Lord Howe Island, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Lord Howe Island NSW
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Windsor Memorial Park Gates, Windsor NSW
Lancaster L 728 took off from RAF Swinderby at 2320 hours on the night of 25/26th June 1942 detailed to bomb Bremen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. Captured German documents revealed that the aircraft was shot down at 0200 hours on 26 June 1942 and crashed near Bremen. All crew members were killed.
The crew members of L 728 Were:
Sergeant Neil Malcolm Hardy (404903) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Robert Leslie Hugall (406318) (Navigator)
Sergeant Edgar Griffiths Johnson (403813) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant James William Lindsay (403194) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Jasper Stormond Peters (12419) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant John Charles Roy (41361) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Lawrence Chase Thompson (402622) (Wireless Air Gunner)
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 163/166/214
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line