War Service:
Sergeant
1129286, 103 Sqdn., Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
*”Officially reported missing from an operational flight, May 1943. Later reported killed in action on 29th April 1943.
Thomas was in Bomber Command. One operation involving bomber command was mine laying. On the 28th/29th April 207 aircraft laid 593 mines off Heligoland, 22 aircraft were lost due to German light flak. This operation had the highest loss of aircraft while mine laying in the war, but that night, the greatest number of mines were laid. There was such low cloud that they were obliged to fly low in order to identify their target. This was called Operation Gardening. Thomas was in a Mark III Lancaster. They took off from Elsham Wolds at 20:57
