390904 - Unaccounted Airmen - 04-09-1939

[paulmcmillan]

From the Archive here

http://www.rafcommands.com/archive/14420.php


AC2 T. Thomson - 621153 - 149 Sqn


From 149 Sqn ORB

Mildenhall 4 Sept 21:50 621153 AC2 Thomson and 615404 AC2 Hoey involved in motor cycle accident in Newmarket. Ac2 Thomson died of injuries received AC2 Hoey, seriously injured detained Newmarket Rous Memorial Hospital

[paulmcmillan]

Deaths Sep 1939 (>99%)

Thomson Thomas 18 Newmarket 4a 1146 Scan available - click to view

[wwrsimon]

Reported in the Cambridge Daily News, September 6th 1939:

"The story of how two aircraftmen on a motor cycle crashed into the rear of a stationary lorry and trailer, the lights of which had failed, on Monday night was told at the inquest on the driver of the motor cycle, held at the Newmarket (Suffolk) Police Station on Tuesday evening.
He was A/C Thomas Thomson, and he as killed instantly. His companion, John Hoey, was taken to Rous Memorial Hospital, Newmarket with bad injuries....the jury returned a verdict of accidental death."

There was also a report in the Bury Free Press of Saturday September 2nd 1939 of an AC2 John Gerard Hoey being involved in an aircraft crash near Brandon, Norfolk, NNE of RAF Lakenheath the previous Tuesday - could this be the same AC2 John Hoey?

Regards

Simon

[paulmcmillan]

Yes Same person

AC2 John Gerard Hoey 615404 Air 78-78

He had an eventful fortnight:

Survived Aircraft Crash
Took part in first bombing mission
Survived motorbike Crash

29th August 1939
WELLINGTON L4214 of 149Sqn

" Date: Tuesday 29 August 1939
Aircraft: Wellington Mk Ic, L4214
Call sign: OJ
Squadron: 149 Squadron
Base: RAF Mildenhall
Captain/pilot: Pilot Officer Francis William Scott TURNER, survived
Second pilot: Pilot Officer WATSON, severely injured
Observer: Sergeant Anthony Frederick Adrian FREEMAN, killed #580726 -The 149 Sqn records note:
580726 ( Not sure; rotten handwriting) Acting Sergeant Freeman, Anthony Fredrick Adrian (Observer) died in sick quarters as a result of injuries received in forced landing of Wellington L4214 near Brandon, Norfolk (Map Ref (w) G2507) entry timed at 20.35 on 29 Aug 1939.
Wireless Operator: Sergeant Horace James WELLER, survived - 562377 Weller H.J who known as Wheller H J
he is on CWGC as Horace James Wheller
Air Gunner: AC2 John Gerard HOEY, survived #615404
Air Gunner: AC2 Cecil George BARKER, survived #618162

1939, Aug 31. Times.
The Air Ministry regrets to announce the following flying accident. Sgt Anthony Frederick Adrian Freeman lost his life and P/O Thomas Watson was severely injured in an accident which occurred in East Anglia on August 29 to an aircraft of No. 149 Squadron. P/O Watson was a pilot of the aircraft and Acting Sgt Freeman a member of the crew. P/O Francis William Scott Turner, the Captain of the aircraft and Sgt Horace James Weller, AC2 John Gerard Hoey, and A/C2 Cecil George Barker, the other members of the crew, were not injured

Engine caught fire on departing Mildenhall resulting in forced landing near Brandon, Norfolk where aircraft hit trees. Four days later the survivors were involved in the first operation of WWII"

[wwrsimon]

Wow, he certainly did.

He was in the papers again in 1944, this time for something a little less eventful. From the Daily Herald, October 24th 1944:

"Though congratulated on his marksmanship in killing two pheasants with one shot, John Gerard Hoey, R.A.F. officer, was fined £5 at Kestevan, Lincs, for killing game without licence out of season."

Regards

Simon

[paulmcmillan]

Air Ministry, 1st August, 1944.
ROYAiL AIR FORGE.
GENERAL DUTIES BRANCH.
Appointment to commission.
As Plt. Offs. on prob. (emergency): —
Wt. Offs.

615404 John Gerard HOEY (54957). 27th Apr.
1944.

[Martyn A Critchlow]

SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 2 JUNE, 1944
Distinguished Flying Cross
Warrant Officer John Gerard HOEY (615404), Royal Air Force. No. 83 Squadron.

I presume that he is John G Hoey Sr, who was reported as dying by The Baltimore Sun on 2 Nov 2002:
John G. Hoey Sr., a retired insurance salesman who earned the Distinguished Flying Cross while serving in the Royal Air Force during World War II, died of heart failure Thursday at Good Samaritan Hospital. He was 84.
Mr. Hoey, a longtime resident of Keswick Road in Roland Park, was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. After graduating from high school, he left Ireland for England, and enlisted in the RAF in 1938.
As a radio operator and bombardier, he made history when he was aboard one of the first planes to bomb Germany.
His first mission aboard a Wellington bomber occurred Sept. 3, 1939, three days after the German army overran Poland.
The target of the three Wellingtons that took off from Mildenhall Air Base in England was the German naval fleet anchored at Wilhelmshaven.
Some 97 missions later, Mr. Hoey found himself at Normandy on D-Day in an Avro Lancaster, protecting troops as they landed on the beaches.
"It wasn't spectacular, as far as I was concerned," he told the Baltimore Messenger, a weekly newspaper, in an interview last year. "It was just another raid."
For his wartime exploits, he was decorated with the RAF's Distinguished Flying Cross.
After the war, he remained in the RAF flying repatriated prisoners home and delivering relief supplies to Holland. He also flew a judge to the Nuremberg war crimes trial.
In the late 1940s, he emigrated to Canada and then Baltimore, where he has lived since 1951. He was an insurance salesman for Nationwide Insurance Co. before retiring in 1995.
Mr. Hoey was a member of the Paint & Powder Club and performed in many of its shows.
An avid golfer, he was a member of the Rolling Road Country Club.


Martyn

[Alex Smart]

Hello,

390904 - Unaccounted Airmen - 04-09-1939

From Henk's List -

ISRAEL & PALESTINE ( inc Gaza ).
SLADE, Geoffrey - Lac - 524194 - RAF.
Ramleh War Cemetery, Israel & Palestine ( inc Gaza ).

UK
TOMSON, T. - AC2c - 621153 - RAF - 149 Sqn.
Winchburgh Cemetery, West Lothian.
WALSH, John Joseph - AC1c - 233835 - RAF.
Berwick-Upon-Tweed Cemetery, Northumberland

From CWGC -

GERMANY
BARTON, William Frank - F/Lt( Pilot ) - 34213 - RAF - 107 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
RICKETTS, James Leslie - Cpl( Wop/At) - 519859 - RAF - 107 Sqn.
Becklingen War Cemetery.
ROSS, John Frederick - F/O(Navy) - 39340 - RAF - 48 Sqn.
Becklingen War Cemetery.
[ Blenheim IV - N6184 - 107 Sqn].

EMDEN, Henry Lovell - F/O(Pilot) - 36138 - RAF - 110 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
EVANS, Ralph - AC1c( U/T WOP) - 537187 - RAF - 110 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
GROSSEY, Raymond Charles - Sgt - 516460 - RAF - 42 Sqn.
Runnymede Memorial .
OTTY, Stanley GeorgeMcKenna - Sgt(Obs) - 509143 - RAF - 110 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
[ Blenheim IV - N6199 - 110 Sqn ].

MURPHY, William Joseph - P/O(Pilot) - 39748 - RAF - 107 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
PATEMAN, Edward - AC2c (Wop/At) - 548974 - RAF - 110 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
WARD, Leslie Robert -Sgt ( Pilot) - 564477 - RAF - 107 Sqn.
Hamburg Cemetery Special Memorial.
[ Blenheim IV - N6188 - 107 Sqn ].

PRINCE, Albert Stanley ( Canadian ) - Sgt(Pilot) - 580195 - RAF - 107 Sqn.
Beckingen War Cemetery.
[ Blenheim IV - N6240 - 107 Sqn].

LIGHTOLLER, Herbert Brian - F/O(Pilot) - 37884 - RAFVR - 107 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
HOWELLS, Owen Lobb Dunkirk - Sgt(Pilot) - 564670 - RAF - 107 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
LYON, Ernest William - AC1c(U/T Wop) - 546679 - RAF - 110 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.

BROCKING, George Thomas - AC1c - 546065 - RAF - 9 Sqn.
Runnymede Memorial.
DAY, Kenneth George - AC2c (Wop/Air) - 549741 - RAF - 9 Sqn.
Becklingen War Cemetery.
JARVIS, Donald Edward - Sgt(Pilot) - 565602 - RAF - 9 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
TURNER, Albion John F/Sgt(Pilot) - 561939 - RAF - 9 Sqn.
Sage War Cemetery.
WALTON, Bertie Grenville - Sgt - 550292 - RAF - 9 Sqn
Runnymede Memorial.

BORLEY, Ian Edward Maitland - F/Sgt - 365199 - RAF - 9 Sqn.
Runnymede Memorial.
DORE, Harry - Lac - 531093 - RAF - 9 Sqn.
Runnymede Memorial.
HENDERSON, Robert - AC2c - 618765 - RAF - 9 Sqn.
Runnymede Memorial.
MILLER, George - F/Sgt - 580160 - RAF - 9 Sqn.
Runnymede Memorial.
PARK, William - Cpl - 524855 - RAF - 9 Sqn.
Runnymede Memorial.

GODFREY, Earl Douglas - F/O(Pilot) - 39167 - RAF - 233 Sqn.
Leuchars Cemetery, Fifeshire.
ROBINSON, Guy Percy - F/Lt(Pilot) - 33282 - RAF - 233 Sqn.
Duddon ( St. Peter ) Churchyard, Cheshire.
[ Hudson I - N7239 - 233 Sqn ].

Alex

[alieneyes]

PRINCE, Albert Stanley ( Canadian ) - Sgt(Pilot) - 580195 - RAF - 107 Sqn.
Beckingen War Cemetery.
[ Blenheim IV - N6240 - 107 Sqn].

https://web.archive.org/web/20090331...ca/prince.html

Dave

[Alex Smart]

Hello Dave,
Thank you for adding the link to the old forum (?) Just the job.
Alex