Wilkinson, Thomas Swinbank
Personal Information
Rank | Sgt |
Forename(s) | Thomas Swinbank |
Surname | Wilkinson |
Gender | M |
Age | 28 |
Decorations | |
Date of Death | 22-01-1944 |
Next of Kin | Son of Thomas and Lydia Wilkinson, of Sedgefield, Co. Durham. Husband of Dorothy May Wilkinson. |
Aircraft Information
Aircraft | Handley Page Halifax III |
Serial Number | LW459 |
Markings | C8-W |
Memorial Information
Burial/Memorial Country | United Kingdom |
Burial/Memorial Place | Runnymede Memorial |
Grave Reference | Panel 240. |
Epitaph |
IBCC Memorial Information
Phase | 2 |
Panel Number | 265 |
Enlistment Information
Service Number | 1523185 |
Service | Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve |
Group | 4 |
Squadron | 640 |
Trade | Air Gunner |
Country of Origin | United Kingdom |
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, Beverley, East Yorkshire |
Country | United Kingdom |
Memorial Type | Memorial Stone, Inscribed Marble Tablet |
Memorial Text | A memorial to those of 640 Sqn who were killed during WW2 |
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The National Archives
Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2216/1 |
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/2157/1 |
Fellow Servicemen
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 | Believed to have come down into the sea off Flamborough Head on return leg |