Thomas, Jack H.

John Henry Thomas – Jack – was born September 14, 1923 in Sydney, Australia.  He grew up there during the difficult days of the Great Depression, attending school and playing sports. He recalls that the war came to Australia on September 4, 1939, and that from the beginning he and his friends were aware of the conflict – and that their high school helped to prepare them for the inevitable. During high school Jack worked in war-related industry through the Manpower Directorate.  When his turn to be called up came Jack opted for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and as he was 18 by the time of Japan’s entry into the conflict he enlisted with his mother’s permission and began his training in the Sydney area.  The Empire Training Plan took him to a number of flight schools, and Jack got his wings and headed to Brisbane, where a troop ship took him to San Francisco.  They spent a few days there and boarded trains that took them across the US to New York, where they boarded the Aquitania troop ship to head across the Atlantic.  They arrived in Scotland without incident, heading south to Brighton.  Additional training followed for Jack as he went through an Operational Training Unit and a Heavy Conversion Unit getting ready for the 4-engine bombers.  Jack then reported to 102 Squadron at RAF Pocklington, where he and his crew were assigned to a Halifax bomber.  They began their missions with attacks on V2 launch sites and also did coordinated attacks with ground forces as part of the Battle of Normandy.  The operational flights continued and they began to strike targets deeper into Germany, encountering flak and other dangerous elements of the air war over Europe.  Jack gives a remarkable mission-by-mission analysis here, using his logbook to go into details from 80 years ago!  Jack completed 34 missions, after which he took medical leave for a tonsillitis operation followed by some well-earned travel time in Ireland.  Later in 1945 he returned to Australia, ready to make his mark in the postwar world.  Jack Thomas was interviewed by Zach Dunn and Scott Masters in September 2025.