LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant John Lindsay Matthews THOMSON
Service No: 404044
Born: Brisbane QLD, 17 April 1919
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1940
Unit: No. 148 Squadron (RAF), Landing Ground 237, Egypt
Died: Air Operations: (No. 148 Squadron Wellington aircraft AD637), off the Libyan Coast, 14 November 1942, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of David Lindsay Thomson and Mary Jane Thomson, of Kedron, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Column 266, Alamein Memorial Egypt
Remembered: Panel 131, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington AD637 of No. 148 Squadron was detailed to attack enemy stores in Benghazi Harbour on the night of 13/14th November 1942. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after it took off at 1933 hours, and it did not return to base. Following post war enquiries and investigations, it was recorded in 1948 that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of AD637 were:
Pilot Officer Ian George Elwin Davidson (116742) (RAFVR) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant James Milford Jones (1384094) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Warrant Officer II Herbert Mitchell Lane (R/74190) (RCAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer William George Sharpe (400638) (Pilot)
Sergeant Roger Edward Swift (1034790) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John Lindsay Matthews Thomson (404044) (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 A9301, 404044