Name
Thomas William Roberts
Conflict
Second World War
Date of Death / Age
05/07/1947
26
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Signaller II
1319644
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
201 Sqdn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
HITCHIN CEMETERY
S.E. Extn. Grave 184.
United Kingdom
Headstone Inscription
STILL TO MEMORY DEAR
UK & Other Memorials
Hitchin Town Memorial, Hitchin Roll of Honour 1939 – 1945 (Book) St Mary’s Church, Hitchin
Biography
He was a Signaller 2 of 201 Squadron and had the Service Number 1319644. He was signaller in the crew of a Sunderland flying boat that crashed off the north of Ireland during large-scale anti-submarine exercises.
He had seen service with the R.A.F. during the war and had re-joined only three months prior to his death. After release from the R.A.F. he had worked for Vauxhall Motors in Luton.
As reported by the Herts Pictorial, in April 1944 he was a member of the crew of a Royal Canadian Air Force Sunderland flying boat that registered a U-Boat kill on their first operational flight. This was almost certainly the U-625 on the 10th March 1944 when it was sighted on the surface west of Ireland by a Sunderland of 422 (R.C.A.F.) Squadron. As the aircraft came in, the boat fired on the aircraft, but the shells fell short. The U-Boat submerged, and the Sunderland dropped six depth-charges. The U-Boat resurfaced moving to the right in circles. The aircraft circled for more than an hour, and the U-Boat crew abandoned ship when it sank. Although the crew was seen in dinghies, there were no survivors from the 54 men aboard.
After the accident causing his death in 194 7, his body was recovered and he is buried in Hitchin Cemetery in Grave 184, Southeast Extension.
At the end of the Second World War, a number of peace treaties were signed over a period of time. A Supplemental Charter was granted to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission whereby the 31st December 194 7 was the final date for the purpose of commemorating Commonwealth war casualties of the Second World War. Hence his commemoration on the Hitchin War Memorial.
His parents were Mr and Mrs W. E. Roberts of Hitchin.
Acknowledgments
David C Baines – ‘Hitchin’s Century of Sacrifice’, Paul Johnson - local historian, ‘U-Boat Operations of the 2nd World War- Vol 2’ by K. Wynn, ‘The War in the Channel Islands -then & now’ by W. G. Ramsey, Herts Pictorial 7th July 1947
