Withers, Thomas Austin Died

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Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Thomas Austin
Surname Withers
Gender M
Age 27
Date of Death 27-07-1942
Next of Kin Son of Thomas Austin Withers and Margaret Lee Withers, of Roseland, Virginia, U.S.A.
WITHERS TA

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax II
Serial Number W1230
Markings LQ-L

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Kiel War Cemetery
Grave Reference 3. H. 17.
Epitaph IF WE DO NOT RETURN WE WILL HAVE NO REGRETS

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 268
WITHERS TA

Location

Row -
Panel 268
Column -
Line -

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

Phase 2
Panel Number 268

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/79045
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 4
Squadron 405 (Vancouver)
Squadron Motto Duicmus (We lead)
Trade WOp/AG
Country of Origin United States of America

Other Memorials

Location Adjacent to Village Windmill, Mill Rd, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone with inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Remembering 405 (Vancouver) Sqn. PFF at Gransden Lodge 1942 - 1945
Location St. Bartholomew's Church, Great Gransden, Cambridgeshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window, RoH and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text Commemorating the 801 airmen of 405 Sqn. RCAF who gave their lives 1941 - 1945
Location Pocklington Gliding Club, Pocklington Airfield, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Marble Pillar and inscribed metal plaque
Memorial Text In memory of 102 (Ceylon) and 405 (Vancouver) Sqns. Pocklington Airfield
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Gardens, Propeller, Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text In everlasting homage to the courage of those who have found their winged victory through the skies of Yorkshire
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Propeller Unit & Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text They made the supreme sacrifice so that you & I may go in peace with freedom. 4 Group 1939 - 1945.
Location Heslington Hall, York, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Heslington Hall 1941 - 1945, 4 Gp Headquarters Bomber Command. In remembrance of those Air & Ground personnel who made the supreme sacrifice that we all may walk in peace with freedom

Miscellaneous Information

Tom wrote this to his parents on 10 January 1941: "... to say goodbye to you was not an easy thing for me to do. However, I believe you both will understand that I could not well do anything else since everything that I, as well as both of you, believe in is now in a very precarious position. My training, inclinations, and whatever abilities I may have seem best suited for the choice that I have made. And there is no question of serving Canada to the neglect of my mother country. He who serves Great Britain or any of its Dominions also serves the U.S. and vice versa. Our differences are in arbitrary boundary lines only... Love Tom".

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1787/28
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1787/28

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
Knox J A (Sgt) Died
Potter J V (F/S) Died
Prentice R B (Sgt) Died
Smith W (Sgt) Died
Wood C (Sgt) Died

Last Operation Information

Start Date 26-07-1942
End Date 27-07-1942
Takeoff Station Pocklington
Day/Night Raid Night (99% moon)
Operation Hamburg. 403 aircraft sustained 7.2% losses. Icing en route but target area clear, resulting in extensive damage mainly to residential areas. 823 houses demolished and over 5000 damaged
Reason for Aircraft Loss
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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.