207241 Sgt. Thomas W. Brock Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve Air Gunner 44(R) Squadron from:Suffolk (d.23rd Nov 1942) This is the brief history of my 1st cousin , once removed , Thomas W Brock.
Thomas was born in Suffolk , his birth being registered at Mildenhall. He was the son of Thomas Brock and Emma Maude Cross. I have yet to establish when he joined the RAF and subsequently where he trained as an Air Gunner. I have tried to research the relevant ORB for 44 Sqn but unfortunately it does not state when Thomas arrived on 44 Sqn.
He was crewed up with P/O Stanley Ryder Yyoung aged 23 Pilot, the rest of the crew being as follows :
-
106529 F/O David John Appleton aged 20 Nav
- 1395027 Sgt Thomas W Brock 32 Mid Upper Gunner
- 1310164 Sgt Walter Kenneth Page 20 WOP/AG
- 525640 Sgt Charles A Weymouth 28 Flight Engineer
- R83273 WO2 John George Tough 20 Rear Gunner RCAF
- 405531 Sgt Edward Aston Waters 22 Bomb Aimer RNZAF
The ORB shows Thomas crewed with Sgt R Easom to Cologne in Lanc W4180 on 15 Oct 42 - he may well have been a substitute for Sgt Easom's regular rear gunner for this op.
6th Nov 42 shows Thomas with P/O Young in Lanc R5062 KM-B on ops to Genoa leaving Waddington 21.57 returning 07.04
7th Nov 42 again with P/O Young this time in Lanc R5666 KM-F . Forced to jettison bombs due to extreme icing at 17000 ft on approach to Alps. no target attacked.
9th November saw the same crew on ops to Hamburg again in KM-F . Take off was 17.58 , bombs gone 20.33 - returned to Waddington 23.09
This crew then had a break until 20th November when , again in KM-F , they attacked Turin - take off 1850 - bombs gone 22.27 - return to Waddington 03.36
22 November saw their last operation - destination Stuttgart. The take off time was not logged by operations and no further contact was had with the aircraft W4304 KM-C . The ORB just states "Aircraft failed to return"
It was lost without trace either on the way to or from the target. Did they manage to bomb? Were they shot down either by flak of nightfighters?
Unfortunately we will never know. Thomas has no marked grave , only a mention with thousands of other aircrew on the Runnymede Memorial.
I served 20 years in the Royal Air force. I walked around the Reichswald Forest War Cemetery and saw all the graves of those aircrew who have a final resting place. I saw their ages , some as young as 18 years of age.
I must admit it bought a tear to my eye.
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