McCloud, Thomas James (Tom)

Sergeant (Observer)

No. 1066739, 18 Squadron, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve

Killed in an aircraft accident on Friday 6 November 1942 (aged 24)

Buried:

Comber Cemetery, Co. Down (Section 7 Grave 86)

Commemorated:

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Comber and District War Memorial

First Comber Presbyterian Church

Regent House School Newtownards

Family grave headstone in Comber Cemetery

BIOGRAPHY

Thomas James McCloud was born on 29 March 1918 and he was the only son of Samuel and Martha McCloud (nee McClurg) who later lived at 5 Brownlow Street, Comber.  Samuel McCloud was a plumber and labourer and he and Martha McClurg were married on 14 September 1917 in Second Killyleagh Presbyterian Church.  Samuel McCloud (a minor) from Castle Street, Comber was a son of John McCloud, a painter.  Marth McClurg from Brae Side, Comber was a daughter of Thomas McClurg, a spinning master.  Samuel and Martha McCloud (nee McClurg) had two children:

Thomas James (Tom, born 29 March 1918 in Glen Road, Comber)

Johnina (Ina, born 8 May 1919 in Glen Road, Comber)

Thomas James McCloud attended Comber Public Elementary School and then Regent House School in Newtownards from 1930 until 1935.  A keen gymnast and all-round sportsman, he was an active member of First Comber Presbyterian Church.  Before joining the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, he worked for Messrs G. Cohen and Sons (Scrap Metal Merchants), Sydenham Road, Belfast and also for some time with Messrs W. McCalla (Shipping Agents), Belfast.

During the Second World War Sergeant (Observer) Thomas James McCloud (No. 1066739) served in Bomber Command and on 6 November 1942 he was one of a three man crew aboard a Bristol Blenheim Mark V aircraft (BA818) that crashed at 3.10 pm at Newton Toney in Wiltshire whilst on a training flight.  The other two crew members who died that day were:

• Sergeant Robert Calder Gibson (aged 20) from Clarkston, Lanarkshire
• Sergeant Herbert Edward Shaw (aged 25) from Kennington, London

Sergeant (Observer) Thomas James McCloud’s death was registered in Salisbury, Wiltshire and he is commemorated on Comber and District War Memorial; in First Comber Presbyterian Church; in Regent House School and on the family grave headstone in Comber Cemetery which bears the inscription:

AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN THE MORNING

 WE WILL REMEMBER THEE