Thomas Clifford Davies

Thomas Clifford Davies was born around 1919 or 1920 in Llanelli, Glamorgan, the son of Thomas John and Mabel Clifford Davies, and served in the Royal Air Force as an air observer — a role that combined navigation, bomb-aiming, and aerial gunnery. By June 1940 he had established himself as one of the most capable aircrew non-commissioned officers in No. 226 Squadron, flying Bristol Blenheims on demanding low-level attacks against enemy shipping in the North Sea and Channel approaches; his citation for the Distinguished Flying Medal, gazetted on 25 June 1940, recorded that he had “used his gun most effectively during low flying bombing attacks on convoys” and shown “exceptional navigational ability under difficult conditions by day and night.” Promoted to Flight Sergeant, Davies continued to serve with 226 Squadron into 1941 as the unit transferred to RAF Wattisham and pressed home daylight strikes against German-held targets along the Dutch and German coastline. On the morning of 4 July 1941 he took his place as observer aboard Blenheim IV Z7291, which took off at 0530 hours as part of a raid against the seaplane base on the East Frisian island of Norderney; the aircraft was struck by anti-aircraft fire and came down in the sea, killing Davies, the pilot Wing Commander Ralph George Hurst, and fellow observer Flight Sergeant Reginald John Green DFM. Davies was twenty-one years old. He is buried at Sage War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany (Plot 5. B. 6.), where his headstone carries the inscription “Peace, Perfect Peace.” Note: the decoration held by Davies was the Distinguished Flying Medal (DFM), the non-commissioned equivalent of the DFC; the database entry recording it as “DFC” is an error.