| Thomas Crane was the son of Thomas and Maud Crane.
|
| Thomas was born on 8th July 1922 in Cookstown. He was one of 13 children.
|
| Known family: Thomas Crane, Maud Crane, John Crane, James Crane, Richard Crane, Madge Crane, Ethel Crane, Violet Crane, Marina Crane, Elizabeth Crane, George Crane, Maureen Crane, Doreen Crane, Noel Crane, Thomas Crane (born 8th July 1922, Cookstown).
|
| Thomas was educated at Derryloran and Oldtown P.E.S., in Cookstown, regularly coming first in class.
|
| When Thomas was fourteen, around 1936, the whole family moved to Belfast and along with his father.
|
| He attended the College of Technology in Belfast.
|
| He joined the Harland and Wolf shipyard as an apprentice plater. At nineteen Thomas became the youngest foreman plater ever known at the shipyard.
|
|
| Thomas was always very interested in flying and aircraft. Shortly after his promotion, and unknown to our parents, Thomas volunteered for the Royal Air Force and was accepted. He joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve when he was under the age of enlistment, by forging his father’s signature.
|
| After a lot of argument our father relented and let Thomas join the RAF. He was called up in February 1942.
|
| He was attached to the Queens University Air Training Corps.
|
| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 7th February 1942:
|
|
| Mr Thomas Crane (son of Mr Thomas Crane, Magdola Street, Belfast, and formerly of Cookstown), who was on the Royal Air Force Reserve, has been called up for training as a pilot. He was an apprentice plater in the shipyards, and got a hearty send-off by his chums and workmates.
|
| Thomas eventually passed training as a Spitfire pilot.
|
|
| Thomas was later posted to Canada for training under the Commonwealth Joint Air Training Scheme with Bomber Command. He was nine months in Canada. He received his Navigator’s and Bombardier’s Badge at No. 4 Observer’s School in London, Ontario.
|
| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 11th September 1943:
|
|
| Sergeant Thomas Crane, junior (son of Mr and Mrs Thomas Crane of 51 Magdala Street, Cookstown), who was trained in Canada under the Commonwealth Joint Air Training Scheme, has received his Navigator’s and Bombardier’s Badge at No. 4 Observer’s School in London, Ontario. Sergeant Crane was educated at Derryloran and Oldtown P.E.S., and at the College of Technology, Belfast. He was also attached to the Queens University Air Training Corps prior to his being called up in February 1942. He was nine months in Canada.
|
| Sergeant (Air Bomber) Thomas Crane returned to Europe and served with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a bomb aimer and front gunner with 101 Squadron.
|
| On the night of 28th July 1944, while on a bombing raid to Stuttgart, Germany, the Lancaster Bomber (Serial Number LM462) was attacked by Luftwaffe fighter planes over France. The plane burst into flames before crashing into a crop field near the village of Rebrechien.
|
| All eight members of the crew were killed. Sergeant Crane’s fellow crew members were:
|
Sergeant (Air Gunner) Eric Ronald Brown
|
|
Sergeant (W. Op. Air) Wolf Herman Engelhardt
|
|
Sergeant (Flight Engineer) John Hodgson
|
|
Pilot Officer Peter Joseph Hyland
|
|
Sergeant (W. Op. Air) John Thomas Victor Moore
|
|
Flight Sergeant (Navigator) Clifford Ernest Smith
|
|
Pilot Officer (Air Bomber) Albert William Turri
|
| One of the villagers, Gaston Jahier, who was 23 years old at the time recalled:
|
| ‘The explosion scattered parts all around us. As I got to the crash site I saw the whole area on fire. I can remember the sheaves of wheat burning in the fields. The next morning I went back to see the wreckage and I found an identification picture 50 metres from the crash site. It was a photograph of a young, brown haired, beardless man and one could read the name Smith written on the back.’
|
| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 12th August 1944:
|
|
| Mr and Mrs T Crane, of 51 Magdola Street, Belfast, formerly of Cookstown, have received notification that their son, Sergeant Bombardier T Crane, Royal Air Force, is missing from air operations.
|
| The villagers recovered all the bodies and buried them at Notre Dame de Rebrechien Cemetery. They have maintained the graves ever since. Two pieces of propeller are placed either side of the headstone as a memorial to the men they refer to as, ‘Liberators of France’.
|
| Thomas Crane’s sister, Mrs. Marina Ferguson recalled:
|
| ‘I remember when Thomas came home on leave and I used to have to wait in a long queue of family members to kiss him goodbye when he had to go back. My mother made sure his memory never faded and I remember how heartbroken she was when we were told he was missing in action. She kept a huge photograph of him on the wall which we surrounded with poppies every year. When we all left home she made sure we all had a photo of him to keep his memory alive.’
|
| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated Saturday 28h July 1945:
|
|
| Mr and Mrs T Crane, of 51 Magdala Street, Belfast (formerly of Cookstown), have received official intimation from the Air Ministry that their son, Sergeant Thomas Crane, Royal Air Force, previously reported missing from a raid on Stuttgart in southern Germany on 28-29th July 1944, is now presumed to have lost his life. A letter from his commanding officer to his parents reads as follows:-
|
| ‘Your son had always displayed a splendid courage and determination in carrying out his operational sorties against the enemy, and during the time he had been here he had proved himself to be a most competent and efficient Air Bombardier and Navigator. He was also a popular member of a fine crew, who will all be greatly missed in the squadron.’
|
| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated Saturday 28h July 1945: Roll of Honour
|
|
| CRANE – In loving memory of our dear son, Sergeant Thomas Crane, Royal Air Force, presumed to have lost his life on an operational flight on 29th July 1944. Sadly missed by his father, mother, brothers and sisters, 51 Magdala Street, Belfast; also his brother Richard on active service in the Fleet Air Arm, South Pacific. True hearts that loved you will never forget.
|
| From the Mid Ulster Mail dated Saturday 4th August 1945: Roll of Honour
|
|
| CRANE – Treasured memories of our dear nephew, 1532034 Sergeant Thomas Crane, Royal Air Force, missing from air operations on the night of 29th July 1944, now presumed dead. We shall always remember him smiling. Deeply regretted by his sorrowing aunt and uncle, B and J Forrest; also his cousins Mary, Jim, John and Tom, Cookstown, Belfast, Germany and Burma.
|
| Sergeant Thomas Crane is buried in a communal grave in Rebrechien Communal Cemetery, France along with the rest of his crew. The inscription reads ‘LOVING MEMORIES WE SHALL ALWAYS KEEP. FATHER, MOTHER, BROTHERS AND SISTERS’
|
|
|
|
| Rebrechien is a village and commune some 9 miles (14 kilometres) north-east of Orleans. The cemetery is situated east of the village on the road to Loury.
|
| Sergeant Thomas Crane is also commemorated on a plaque in Rebrechien.
|
|
|
| Sergeant Thomas Crane is also commemorated on Cookstown Cenotaph.
|
| The CWGC record Sergeant Thomas Crane as the son of Thomas and Maud Crane of Belfast, Northern Ireland.
|
|
