LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Daniel McNicol THOMSON
Service No: 409256
Born: Glasgow, Scotland, 21 August 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 July 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 12 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Wickenby
Died: Air Operations: (No. 12 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED357), Netherlands, 12 June 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Amsterdam New Eastern Cemetery, Locality Noord-Holland, Netherlands
CWGC Additional Information: Son of John James Thomson and Kate Thomson, of Bentleigh, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Moorabbin VIC
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Lancaster ED357 took off from Wickenby at 2240 hours on the night of 11/12 June 1943 to bomb Dusseldorf, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was later established that the aircraft crashed into the Ijsselmeer in an area known as
the Oosteelijk-Flevoland polder, near Dronten, Netherlands. Five of the crew had been killed and two were taken prisoner of War.
The crew members of ED357 were:
Sergeant Kenneth Bowes (1098656) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Douglas Noel Campbell (1345600) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant James Leslie Osborne (1172557) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Daniel McNicol Thomson (409256) (Pilot)
Sergeant W T Pingle (R/146605) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner) PoW
Sergeant C W A Sparling (R/1866) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Sergeant William Middleton Ward (1553630) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer)
Sergeant Sparling later stated “The aircraft was shot down over the Zuyder Zee and the crew baled out into the water. I heard the crew calling for help during the night and when I was picked up the next morning there was no trace of the others. As far as I can ascertain Thompson must have been drowned. A 3 hours search found no trace.”
A propeller from the aircraft now stands in front of the town hall at Dronten, where an Air Gunners parade is held each year.
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, 166/39/87