Thompson, John Kevin
Personal Information
Rank | F/S |
Forename(s) | John Kevin |
Surname | Thompson |
Gender | M |
Age | 20 |
Date of Death | 22-01-1944 |
Next of Kin | Son of Genasse Cosmas Thompson and Ellen Thompson, of Allawah, New South Wales, Australia. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax III |
Serial Number | HX312 |
Markings | HD-X |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | Netherlands |
Burial/Memorial Place | Losser (DE Lutte) RC Cemetery |
Grave Reference | Grave 1. |
Epitaph | A NOBLE SON AND BROTHER LOVINGLY REMEMBERED |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 253 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 422757 |
Service | Royal Australian Air Force |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 466 (Australian) |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | Australia |
Other Memorials
Location | Normandy Barracks, Leconfield, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Metal Sculpture Brick Pillars and Inscribed Sqn Badges |
Memorial Text | A memorial to those who flew from RAF Leconfield, including 640 Sqn |
Location | Memorial Gardens, North End Park, Driffield, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Inscribed Marble Memorial |
Memorial Text | A memorial to the men and women of 462 and 466 Sqns RAAF who served in Bomber Command during WW2 |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1926/2 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1926/1 |
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.
Last Operation Information
Start Date | 21-01-1944 |
End Date | 22-01-1944 |
Takeoff Station | Leconfield |
Day/Night Raid | Night (18% moon) |
Operation | Magdeburg- the first major raid on this target. 648 aircraft, 57 losses (8.8%). The Halifax loss rate was especially high at 15.6%. The German controller tracked the bomber stream across the North Sea and many night-fighters were already in the stream before it reached the German coast (using the newly developed Tame Boar methodology). The controller was slow in identifying Magdeburg as the target but this was of little consequence as the fighters were able to stay in the stream for the duration of the approach. Despite the high loss rate, this was not a successful attack. Stronger tail winds than anticipated placed some of the stream over the target before Zero Hour and dropped their bomb load anyway, making the target marking much less effective. German decoy markers exacerbated the situation. No local report is available but it is thought that most of the bombs fell outside of the city. |
Reason for Loss | Shot down by a night-fighter and crashed at De Lutte on the Dutch-German border |