Dimma, Thomas William Died

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Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Thomas William
Surname Dimma
Gender M
Age 21
Decorations DFM
Date of Death 24-03-1944
Next of Kin Son of Thomas Franklin Dimma and Sarah Dimma (née Owens), of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
DIMMA TW

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Vickers Wellington X
Serial Number HF732
Markings

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Brookwood Military Cemetery
Grave Reference 48. C. 2.

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 29
DIMMA TW

Location

Row -
Panel 29
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 1
Panel Number 29

Enlistment Information

Service Number J/18929
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 91
Squadron 22 OTU
Trade WOp/AG
Country of Origin Canada

Miscellaneous Information

Thomas was born on 16 October 1922 at Ottawa, Ontario. His father was born in Ottawa and worked as a Mail Carrier, and his mother was born in LIverpool, England (died 1939). His next of kin was his married sister Isabel Lucy Skatchard. He attended Kent Street school 1931-1937 and then Ottawa Technical School 1937-1940 (academic). Thomas enjoyed playing basketball and swimming and he liked to construct model aircraft. He worked at Ottawa Car and Aircraft between 1939 and 1940 and then enlisted on 29 October 1942.
After training he embarked for the U.K. on 27 January 1942 arrived at 3 PRC on 6 November 1942, 1659 CU. 29 December 1942 and 408 Squadron on 27 January 1943. Thomas sadly lost his life on 24 March 1944 after a flying accident in England where he died in Northampton General Hospital.

Fellow Servicemen

Please note that this list gives all the losses aboard the quoted aircraft and occasionally these may have occurred on an earlier date when the aircraft was not itself lost. Please check the dates of death carefully.

Name Outcome
Brandon S J (AC2) Died
Brook C W H (LAC) Died
Leddy G B (F/L) Died
McGowan O J (LAC) Died
Rawbone W M (F/O) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 23-03-1944
End Date 23-03-1944
Takeoff Station Wellesbourne Mountford
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation Air Test
Reason for Aircraft Loss Veered out of control after take off and collided with another Wellington
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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.