Jefferson, Thomas Francis
Warrant Officer (Pilot)
No. 1062362, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Killed in an aircraft accident on Friday 5 November 1943 (aged 23)
Buried:
Holywood Cemetery, Co. Down (Grave 561)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Holywood and District War Memorial
First Holywood Presbyterian Church
Sullivan Upper School
Son of Master John Frazer Jefferson, Merchant Navy
BIOGRAPHY
Thomas Francis Jefferson was born on 17 October 1920 and he was a son of John Frazer Jefferson and Margaret Anne Rea Valentine Jefferson and he was a grandson of Francis J. and Eleanor Jane Cowan of Holywood.
John Frazer Jefferson and Margaret Anne Rea Valentine Cowan of 99 High Street, Holywood were married on 29 July 1918 in First Holywood Presbyterian Church. John Frazer Jefferson was a mercantile officer and they lived at 2 Walmer Terrace, Holywood. They had at least two children both of whom were baptised in First Holywood Presbyterian Church:
Kenneth Frazer (born 15 August 1919 at 103 High Street, Holywood)
Thomas Francis (born 17 October 1920 at 99 High Street, Holywood)
Thomas Francis Jefferson attended Sullivan Upper School, Holywood from 1929 until 1936 and then Portora Royal School, Enniskillen. He was a member of 2nd Holywood Boy Scouts and at school he was a member of the Dramatic Society and a keen cricketer and rugby player. He joined the RAF in 1940 and completed his training in Canada. When he was stationed in Northern Ireland, he was a member of Holywood Cricket Club and captained the 2nd XI. He was engaged to be married in December 1943 to Miss Maxine Warner-Watts of London who was serving in the WAAF.
Warrant Officer Thomas Francis Jefferson was 23 and unmarried when he died on 5 November 1943. He was the pilot aboard a Miles Martinet aircraft (MS583) from No. 1617 Flight based at Newtownards which was target-towing off St. John’s Point, Co. Down when it crashed into the sea just offshore from Ardglass. His body was subsequently recovered, and he was buried in Holywood Cemetery on 8 November 1943. He is commemorated on Holywood and District War Memorial; in First Holywood Presbyterian Church and in Sullivan Upper School.