Royal New Zealand Air Force War Graves in Gelderland
Harderwijk General Cemetery
Gordon Douglas Thomson
F/S G.D. Thomson. Plot 69.British Plot 2. Grave 12.
F/S G.D. Thomson - 42317
Son of James Alexander Thomson and of Catherine Thomson (nee Laird), of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
Son of James Alexander Thomson and of Catherine Thomson (nee Laird), of Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand.
At 23.35 hrs, on the 25th June, 1943, BK768/'AA-L' of 75 (New Zealand) Squadron left RAF Newmarket for a bombing mission to Gelsenkirchen, Germany. At some stage in the flight, the Stirling was attacked by a night fighter and crashed into the Ijsselmeer. The entire crew was killed. F/S Gordon Douglas Thomson, RNZAF, was found on the eastern shore of the Ijsselmeer and was buried here in Harderwijk General Cemetery. Three other crew rest in the New Eastern, Amsterdam:
F/O William Rosser Perrott, RNZAF and captain of the Stirling.
Sgt Gordon William Colyer, RAF
Sgt Harry Squire, RAF
The three other members of F/O Perrott's crew have no known grave:
Sgt William Webster Hilditch, RAF (Runnymede Memorial, panel 153)
F/S Clifford James Whitelaw, RNZAF (Runnymede Memorial, panel 199)
Sgt Charles Cyril Mould, RAF (Runnymede Memorial, panel 160)
F/O William Rosser Perrott, RNZAF and captain of the Stirling.
Sgt Gordon William Colyer, RAF
Sgt Harry Squire, RAF
The three other members of F/O Perrott's crew have no known grave:
Sgt William Webster Hilditch, RAF (Runnymede Memorial, panel 153)
F/S Clifford James Whitelaw, RNZAF (Runnymede Memorial, panel 199)
Sgt Charles Cyril Mould, RAF (Runnymede Memorial, panel 160)
BCL, Vol.V, 1943, p.209