New member of the Few named

A new member of ‘the Few’ has been added to the roll of honour of those whose bravery kept this country free from invasion in 1940.

The Battle of Britain Memorial Trust is rightly cautious about giving a precise number for the few, the RAF aircrew who took part in the aerial combat against the Luftwaffe, because there is no definitive record of those who took part. “Just under 3,000” is the only safe answer.

Now the discovery of a logbook has proved that Ronald Thomson, a sergeant (later flight lieutenant) serving with No 616 Squadron during the Battle of Britain, should be numbered amongst those who helped turn the tide of the war against Nazi Germany.

Sgt Thomson’s eligibility for the clasp came to light after author Mark Hillier obtained his logbook and discovered that he had taken part in searching for an unidentified enemy aircraft (known as an ‘X’ Raid) between the qualifying dates of 10 July and 31 October 1940.

The evidence was put forward to the RAF’s Air Historical Branch, which is the only body with the authority to add new names to the ranks of ‘the Few’ and has been accepted. Sgt Thomson’s name will in due course be added to the Christopher Foxley-Norris Memorial Wall at Capel-le-Ferne, along with the names of other aircrew accepted into the ranks since it was unveiled in 2005.

There is a more in-depth account of Sgt Thomson’s eligibility on our Database of the Few page by clicking here.