Roll of Honour 2023

P AGE 265

W ORLD W AR II

S T . E DWARD ’ S S CHOOL , O XFORD R OLL OF H ONOUR

Name PETER CECIL THOMAS (Pilot Off)

Roll Number 2902 Died 07:05:1941

Set / House G

Arrive SES 1934

Lef SES 1938

Where LOCH ERNE, NTH IRELAND Serving with 240 SQN, BOMBER CMD, R.A.F.

Age 21

Buried No Known Grave Remembered Remembered on a Commemorative Stone overlooking Loch Erne, The Runnymede Memorial and The St. Edward;’s School WW2 Memorial Born Bath 1920, the son of a Somerset clergyman. He was a House Prefect, an Under Officer in the OTC and in the General VIth Form. ‘We have pleasant memories of him as a high-spirited and engaging lad’ (Chronicle). He left the School for Cranwell in 1939 and the following year was a Pilot Officer (on Probation). Once qualified he joined 240 Squadron, Bomber Command, flying Catalina Flying Boats. He was killed in an aerial accident near Gay Island, Loch Erne, Northern Ireland in May 1941, eventually put down to pilot error as the flying conditions were perfect. The Catalina Seaplane had been returning from a patrol over the Atlantic when it suddenly nosedived into the lake. The official report stated: - ‘Crashed and sank near Gay Island during a night landing in Loch Erne without using flares’.