224096 Thomas Michael Duffy Royal Canadian Air Force 407 (Demon) Squadron (d.21st Jun 1942) My great-uncle, Thomas Michael Duffy (aged 29), who was an Australian gunner serving with the RCAF 407 Squadron nicknamed 'Demon'. He was killed on the 21st of June 1942 when his plane was lost at sea presumed shot down. On the shipping raid with him were Pilot Officer Little, a Sergeant Bennett, and Sergeant Lloyd Lawrence Aikenhead (air observer), flying in a Lockheed Hudson FH 346 aircraft out of RAF Bircham Newton, Norfolk. The bodies of Sergeants Aikenhead and Bennett were washed ashore on the East Frisian Islands. The bodies of Pilot Officer Little and my great-uncle have never been recovered. Last year I travelled to Holland and hoped to make it to the cemetery at Delfzijl where Sergeant Aikenhead is at rest to lay some flowers on his grave but I never made it. I'm very sorry I didn't.
|