Thomas John Davies – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 179 Squadron

Aircraftman Thomas John Davies – Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 179 Squadron

Thomas John Davies was born in 1924 in Skewen, the son of Edgar Davies and Winifred May H. S. Hughes, who had married in 1921. No surviving records shed light on Thomas’s early childhood, and his youth is largely unrecorded in the surviving civilian documentation, a circumstance common among families of the inter‑war years.

Military Service

As a young man, Thomas enlisted in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, serving with 179 Squadron, a unit operating from RAF St Eval, Cornwall. St Eval was one of Coastal Command’s most important wartime stations, tasked with anti‑submarine patrols, air‑sea rescue duties, and long‑range reconnaissance over the Western Approaches. The squadron flew Warwick GR.V aircraft, large twin‑engined machines used for maritime patrol and rescue operations.

Warwick GR.V

Fatal Accident

On 31 December 1944, Thomas was killed when his Warwick GR.V stalled and crashed at Trewolvas Farm, near St Columb Major, Cornwall, during an air test. The accident occurred close to the airfield, a reminder of the dangers faced not only in operational missions but also in routine testing and training flights. Many RAF losses during the war resulted from such incidents, particularly with heavy aircraft operating from exposed coastal stations.

Thomas John Davies 
Coedffranc Cemetery credit - findagrave

Burial

Thomas’s body was brought home to Skewen and laid to rest at Coedffranc Cemetery, returning him to the community from which he had come and where his family could mourn him.