Thomas Dennis Duggan – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 101 Squadron

Sergeant Thomas Dennis Duggan – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 101 Squadron

Birth and Family Background

Thomas Dennis Duggan was born as Dennis Thomas Duggan in 1916 at Marylebone, London. He was the son of Thomas Duggan and Charlotte Emily Cross.

1921 Census

At the time of the 1921 Census, the Duggan family were residing at 11 York Street, Swansea. Thomas Duggan (50), born in Bristol, was employed as a billposting working manager with the Swansea & District Billposting Co. Ltd, of 18 Castle Street, Swansea. His wife Charlotte Emily (38), born in Essex, was employed as a caretaker for J. J. Mitchells Co., at 11 York Street. Their only child, Dennis Thomas (4), was attending school.

1939 Register 

In 1939, Dennis Thomas Dugaan married Winifred B. Morgan. In the same year, the 1939 Register records the couple living at Elmhurst Crescent. Dennis, recorded as Thomas D., was employed as a salesman (general store), while Winifred B. undertook unpaid domestic duties.

It appears that he later served using his middle name, being recorded in service as Thomas Dennis Duggan.

Royal Air Force Service

Thomas Dennis Duggan served with the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, attaining the rank of Sergeant. He was posted to No. 101 Squadron RAF, a unit specialising in electronic warfare, and served as a navigator.

By 1944, the squadron was based at RAF Ludford Magna, Lincolnshire. No. 101 Squadron was heavily involved in ABC sorties (Air-Borne Cigar operations), which employed specialised radio-jamming equipment to disrupt German night-fighter communications. These missions were particularly hazardous, as aircraft often operated independently of the main bomber stream and the jamming transmissions could reveal their position to enemy fighters.

Death and Burial

Lancaster I

On the night of 1^st July 1944, Sergeant Thomas Dennis Duggan was serving as navigator aboard a Lancaster I engaged on an ABC sortie in support of an attack on the Vierzon railway yards, a key German transport hub in central France. The operation formed part of Bomber Command’s sustained effort to disrupt enemy movements following the Allied landings in Normandy.

During the return phase of the mission, the aircraft failed to reach base and crashed at St-Doulchard, on the northern outskirts of Bourges. Records indicate that the pilot survived the crash and successfully evaded capture, suggesting that the aircraft may have been damaged but still under partial control at the time of impact. Such circumstances were common among aircraft returning from long night operations, where battle damage, mechanical failure, fuel exhaustion, or extreme crew fatigue could prove fatal even after the target had been reached.

Losses of this nature were a recognised risk of No. 101 Squadron’s Air-Borne Cigar operations, which required extended flying and continuous electronic warfare duties. Although not all such losses occurred directly over enemy targets, they were regarded as operational deaths, reflecting the dangers inherent in night bombing and electronic warfare missions.

Thomas Dennis Duggan
St‑Doulchard Communal Cemetery
credit - findagrave

Sergeant Thomas Dennis Dugaan is buried at St‑Doulchard Communal Cemetery, France.