Thomas Rodgers Donaghy

Flight Sergeant [Pilot]

Conflict:

WW2

Additional Information:

Son of Elizabeth Mary Donaghy (née Rodgers); husband of Janet Brown Donaghy (née Buchan), of Wanganui, Wellington, New Zealand.

References:

CWGC

NZ WAR GRAVES

CONTRIBUTED

Public Contributions:

Submitted by: John Donaghy

Relationship to casualty: Son

It all started with Google! My father was a pilot during the war. He was with 75 Squadron flying a Lancaster bomber out of Mepal. He was a New Zealander with an English crew. I was born in 1939 but b...ecause he enlisted in 1942 I never knew my father. He was shot down over France in June 1944. While playing on my computer, one day in 2008, I was looking into the past to try and understand what my father was doing in the war. I entered Lancaster Bomber HK553 into Google. The "Association Forced Landing" website was shown. This was a French site. I read through the content with my limited knowledge of French and was able to discover the intentions of the bombing raid against Dreux the night my father was shot down. To my great amazement as I scrolled down the pages there was a photo of my father and his crew. All their names were listed and the details of the crash were outlined. The details of the only survivor of the crash – Ken Jackson – were shown and even the name of the probable German pilot who shot my father down. This was incredible! I was 4 years old when my father was killed and never knew him. Now I had an opportunity to make contact with the only survivor from that fateful night. Towards the end of 2008 I discovered the address for Ken Jackson and wrote to him in England. Following a short exchange of emails I called him on the telephone and spoke to him about my father. He told me I sounded just like my father – that in itself was a moving experience. My father joined the war as a pilot from New Zealand and his crew were all English. I was in New Zealand so far away from the reality of that war. So the planning began for me to make a trip to France to visit where it all happened 20000 kms away. I made contact with Jean Pierre of the Association Forced Landing early in 2010 and made arrangements to travel to France. Jean Pierre told me I would be an honoured guest and he wanted to make an arrangement for me to meet with the Mayor. Little did I know what that meant! On 20 May 2010 I arrived in Tillieres sur Avre with an appointment to meet the Mayor at 2pm. I spent a few quiet hours in the morning in Tillieres and at the cemetery – I even managed to get a haircut. Jean Pierre, his friend and interpreter Manuel Gorin, and the Mayor Michel Francois were all there to greet me. I was told we were all going to the cemetery which was a few minutes away. We arrived and I noticed a group of about 30 people waiting there – I though there must be a funeral. No – we together all walked into the cemetery where a table had been set up with flags, a wreath, and sashes. The Mayor made a speech, the previous Mayoress made a speech – fortunately the interpreter was able to tell me what was being said. I was then presented with a medal of honour from Tillieres. This was for me! This was too much! I had no choice but to make a speech in reply. We all then went to the grave site where flags had been set up and I was given the wreath to lay on the grace. With a population of only 1200 Tillieres sue Avre is a small village about 80 kms from Paris. But it must have been nearly all their local 'RSA' that had shown up for my benefit – the men mostly dressed in suits and ties and the women in the best clothes. Now you have to realise I am a New Zealander living a casual lifestyle and with a temperature that afternoon of about 29 degrees I was wearing shorts and a T shirt. I was not expecting any of this. It was difficult being embarrassed and yet overwhelmed at the same time. Every year they commemorate those lost in the war and my father's grave with his fellow crew is given special attention every year. They were not finished with me! The ceremony was over so time for all of us to go back to the Mayor's office for champagne and nibbles. I tried to go round and speak with my limited French to everyone who was there that day. The sister of the farmer on whose farm the plane crashed, an old guy who actually saw the plane crash, a father whose son plays rugby and wants to visit New Zealand for the World Cup, another with a wealth of statistics of those killed in the war. All those people were there because they cared. I was certainly treated as their honoured guest. Jean Pierre the President from Forced Landing, without you this would never have been possible. My sincere thanks to you for all the effort and research it must have taken to create the website. I have just had a further look at the Association Forced Landing website. Paul Zorner was probably the pilot who shot my father down. He is 90 years old and still lives in Homburg, Germany. I might need to make another visit! Read More

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Casualty

Service Number:

422267

Name:

Thomas Rodgers Donaghy

Rank:

Flight Sergeant

Additional Rank:

Pilot

Date of Birth:

21 May 1911

Education:

Temuka District High School

Date of Enlistment:

Not known

Occupation on Enlistment:

Clerk

Employer:

New Zealand Railways, Wanganui

Unit:

Royal New Zealand Air Force, 75 (RAF) Squadron

Casualty Details

Cause of Death:

Not known

Date of Death:

11 June 1944

Day of Death:

Sunday

Age at Death:

Conflict:

WW2

Embarkation Details

Embarkation Body:

Royal New Zealand Air Force

Text in italics supplied by Cenotaph Online, Auckland War Memorial Museum

Cemetery

Cemetery:

Tillieres-Sur-Avre Communal Cemetery

Cemetery Reference:

Coll. grave.

Cemetery Location:

France