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Sgt. Thomas S. Colbect
Royal Canadian Air Force 514 Squadron
from:Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Sergeant Thomas S Colbeck was the bomb aimer for the crew of Lancaster PB178 Jl-P of 514 Squadron, Waterbeach Station, RAF.
Other crew members were:
- Flight Sergeant J.E.K. Hannesson RCAF, pilot
- Flight Sergeant B. G. Lee RAAF, navigator
- Sergeant B.A. Brown, WOP/Air
- Sergeant A.L. George, MU Gunner
- Sergeant H.J. Morgan, rear gunner
- Sergeant K.E.A. Fox, flight engineer
On 30th June 1944 Lancaster PB178 Jl-P was returning from a mission over Villers Bocage in Normandy when it collided with a Lancaster from 15 Squadron and crashed at Pittsham Farm, near Midhurst, Sussex. The other aircraft apparently landed safely. Only Sergeant Colbeck and Sergeant Brown were able to bail out before the crash, they were the only survivors.
On 5th July 1944, His Majesty King George VI accompanied Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Her Highness Princess Elizabeth, met bomber crews at RAF Waterbeach at an informal parade. As Tom Colbeck remembers the event: "I was there at that date. They wouldn't let me go on parade as I had just bailed out and was on sick. Rats I wanted to meet the Princess. She was wearing a light robin egg blue ensemble. She was cute. I watched it all from a window."
