Title Interview with John Henry Thomas. After completing his initial training in Australia he travelled to the UK via America. Further training, including an accident and night vision tests, led to Squadron and a full tour of operational sorties. He tells tales of avoiding anti-aircraft fire, fighter support, being coned by searchlights, V3, crew antics and rum rations.
On return to his homeland he became a quantity surveyor then a farmer before receiving a TPI award as a result of his earlier accident, in John also shares his views on wartime aircraft and policy. Creator John Horsburgh. Date Temporal Coverage Spatial Coverage Australia. Great Britain. New South Wales--Narrandera. New South Wales--Sydney. Victoria--Point Cook.
New South Wales. Germany--Ruhr Region. Coverage Royal Air Force. Royal Air Force. Bomber Command. Royal Australian Air Force. Language eng. Type Sound. Format audio recording. Conforms To Pending review. Pending revision of OH transcription. Contributor Anne-Marie Watson. Maureen Clarke. Identifier AThomasJH John was a pilot with Squadron, Ceylon Squadron, flying Halifax heavy bombers So when were you born? JT: 14th September, , at Waverley, in Sydney. JH: And so your parents, I gather your, your father came out from England originally.
JH: Did he, did he see any service in the first world war? JH: So you were born in Waverley and were you brought up there? And lived in Bondi until I was fifteen and then moved to North Bondi, into a larger house and I went to school initially at Woollahra to the Holy Cross Convent primary school,then at St. JH: So a real Sydney-sider. JT: Yes. JH: And so when you left school what did you do?
JT: I was apprenticed as a cabinet maker to a firm called Ricketson Thorpe. At this stage, it was the start of and I left school in fourth year. Unfortunately, when it came to joining up, enlisting, Ricketson Thorpe had become a reserved industry because they were making parts for aircraft.
