Thomas William Gilbert Head

EXPLOITS OF THOMAS WILLIAM GILBERT HEAD Jnr DURING 1940-1945 March 24 CONC th 1940 (Easter Sunday) Married June 1940 RAF Hawkinge, Folkestone. ( CONC Fighters) With the Dunkirk Evacuation came Intelligence Officers. On CONC e such TWGH h ad to drive to London HQ ASAP. The officer was still i CONC n battle dress. T hey drove at breakneck speed in the blackout throug CONC h many checkpoints w ithout stopping. The officer was so impressed tha CONC t TWGH won a commendat ion and promotion to Corporal. July - Septembe CONC r 1940 Selection for a joint Army/RAF Signals Unit as a driver, and tr CONC aining i n Lancashire (Morecambe) September 1940 Sailed from Liverpoo CONC l; destination Egypt, via Capetown & Suez Canal. (M editerraneantoo d CONC angerous) November 1940 Arrived in Abu-Suier, Egypt. Early Decembe CONC r 1940 Sailed for Athens on HMS Gloucester (Gloucester later sunk in t CONC he Battl e for Crete) Late December 1940 Fled Greece, one of the las CONC t to leave,on an aged, leaky and listing D utch Steamer named the 'J CONC ohannes de-Witt'. Landed back in Egypt. The North Africa Campaign a CONC s the 13 WU (Wireless Unit) January 1941 Sailed down the Suez Cana CONC l & Red Sea on the 'Clan McArthur' toEritrea. T our of service in Eth CONC iopia, Eritrea, Sudan and then from Wadi-Halfa to L uxor on a Nile Ste CONC amer, back to Abu-Suier. 1940 Western Desert Tobruk Campaign and retr CONC eat to El-Alemain. Caught Malaria and Sand Fly. 1941-1942 Red Sea & S CONC inai Patrols 1942 Western Desert & Push-Back. This included an expe CONC rience where TWGH was clearing-out his Italian-mad e machine guns whic CONC h proceeded to jam, when down the wadi came a pair o f German ME 110' CONC s doing the same thing. He ducked down as he was withou t weapons, an CONC d could see the pilots in their cockpits as they passed by . Had his g CONC uns not have jammed he would have 'bagged' a pair of fighter s. 194 CONC 3 Tripoli & Tunis. September 1943 Victory in North Africa & Disbandin CONC g of 13 WU Return to Egypt and home to England via Suez & Mediterranea CONC n. End 1943-1945 Various RAF Bomber Station duties. (Ground crew an CONC d driver for spare parts.) '6 Group' Bomber Command, Witchford, nr. E CONC ly. Daughter Anita Jacqueline b orn at Ely Maternity Hospital, 28th Au CONC gust, 1944. '1 Group' Bomber Command, Elsham Wolds, North Lincolnshir CONC e. RAF Woodbridge (briefly). June 1945 Posted to Okinawa, Japan, bu CONC t this was cancelled due to the Atom Bomb d rops and the final surrend CONC er of Japan in August, 1945. Concluded service at RAF Wing, nr Leight CONC on Buzzard, Hertfordshire.