Thomas Earle

524033, Sergeant (Flight Engineer), 426 “Thunderbird” Squadron. Royal Air Force.

Killed In Action on the 26^th March 1944 aged 22.

Sergeant Thomas Earle and his crew.

Thomas was the son of Thomas & Elizabeth Earle. After joining the Royal Air Force he trained as a Flight Engineer and on completion of his training was posted to No.426 Squadron, a unit of the Royal Canadian Air Force.

He flew a total of 16 Operational flights with his crew but on 18th March 1944 misfortune struck their faithful chariot, Lancaster Mk.II DS 711, which had carried them on many missions. It was damaged in a taxiing accident whilst returning from a raid on Frankfurt. Damage sustained to the Tail, Starboard Wing and Fuselage meant that the aircraft would be out of service and they would be forced to use alternative aircraft.

On the Night of 26th March they took off in the alternative aircraft, Lancaster Mk.II DS789 OW-A, from their base at Linton to attack a target in Essen. Thomas was in his usual Flight Engineer position. The flight was relatively uneventful but, at a point some 10 miles west of Gelsenkirchen, over the town of Boltrop the aircraft received a direct hit from a flak shell and exploded in mid-air.

All the crew were instantly killed and they are buried in the Reichswald Forest Cemetery, Germany.

Crew of LANCASTER Mk.2  DS789 OW-A