Subject

The Crown of Life

Text

Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of Life Rev. 2:10.

Inscription

To the Glory of God, in honour of members of this congregation who served in World War 1939-45 and in memory of the fallen Cecil Thomas and Stanley Black

Description & History

The window was ordered from Brooks, Robinson & Co. by the Rev. JC Bucknall in 1947. It measured 68 7/8 x 21 1/2 inches and had a semi-circular arch.

Both Cecil Keith Thomas and Stanley Kevin Black served with the RAAF in squadrons of the Royal Air Force. Pilot Officer Thomas was with 514, a part of No. 3 Group of Bomber Command. He was bomb aimer in the crew of Lancaster JI-CMK11, piloted by Brisbane-born Flight-Lieutenant Lloyd Taylor that was part of a successful mission over Aachen, but which did not return to base. He and the rest of the crew were buried at Geraardsbergen Communal Cemetery, Belgium.

Flight Sergeant Black was posted to 106 Squadron that began the Second World War as a training unit, only joining bombing operations over Europe in 1941, swapping its Hampdens for Manchesters for a short time before they too flew Lancaster bombers. In 1944 the squadron flew missions against VI storage caves and the coastal gun battery at St. Pierre du Mont, preparing the way for the Normandy invasion. Black died in a flying battle over France on 11 June 1944 and was buried at Bayeux War Cemetery, France.

References & Acknowledgements

AWM Roll of Honour; Brooks, Robinson & Co., Job Books 1923-c1966; http://www.wingsofmemory.be/Engels/JIC.html; http://www.raf.mod.uk/bombercommand/h106.html Noted in the Veteran Related Heritage Survey Record No. 12.

Thanks to Cecil Keith Thomas's relatives, Ralph, Jean and Wendy Thomas