Service Details
- Branch of Service
- Air Force
- Conflict
- World War II (1939-1945)
Personal Details
- Gender
- Male
- Other Name(s)
- Known as 'Thomas' or 'Tom'
- Date of Birth
- 24/11/1911
- Place of Birth
- Moffistfort, Hampshire, England (Nationality shown as United Kingdom on Commonwealth War Graves Commission database)
- Address (at enlistment)
- 'The Oaks', Oaks Estate ACT; later 'Yamba', Cotter Road ACT; 'Uriarra', 'Cooleman' and 'Pine Ridge', Weetangera ACT.
- School(s) Attended
- Queanbeyan Public School (-1927), Canberra Grammar School (1928-29), Telopea Park Intermediate High School [original Canberra High School].
- Occupation
- Farmer. Served in the Palestine Police 1934-36.
- Next of Kin
- Son of Walter Herbert and Marion Louisa Osbaldeston Eddison of "Yamba", Woden ACT. Married Jill Nelder, England, 1940. 1997: Marion Douglas and Pam Yonge (both nee Eddison).
- Burial Place
Bergen-op-Zoom War Cemetery, Netherlands: grave 32. C. 2.
Unit and Rank Details
- Service Number
- 39377
- Final Rank
- Squadron Leader (Pilot)
- Final Unit
- 214 Squadron RAF (RAF Volunteer Reserve, a/to Commonwealth War Graves Commission database)
Fate
Died 9 May 1941 aged 29, missing in action over Germany. Presumed dead 1942.
Commemoration
Canberra High School Memorial Tablet
Canberra Grammar School Roll of Honour 1939-45; and memorial window in the school chapel
St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Reid, plaque on south wall of nave
St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Reid, Book of Remembrance of Canberra parishioners who died in the war of 1939-45, in recess in south wall of nave.Eddison Park, Woden, named in honour of Eddison family
Awards and Honours
Distinguished Flying Cross (Date of London Gazette: 13 March 1942, Page 1163, position 1)
Notes
Died 9 May 1941 aged 29, missing in action over Holland. Presumed dead 1942. Buried at Bergen-op-Zoom War Cemetery, Netherlands: grave 32. C. 2. Sometimes shown as L.H. Eddison. In the St. John's Remembrance Book he is shown as L.D. Eddison. In 1934 he joined the Palestine Mounted Police and a report in 'The Canberran' describes some of his experiences. In 1937 he joined the Royal Air Force. His mother received advice of his promotion to Squadron Leader, but before going to his new command he asked to make one more flight with his squadron in a bombing raid over Germany. At 2am on 8 May 1941 he reported that the mission had been completed, but that was the last communication from him. A report from Dutch authorities after the war states that on 9 May 1941 at 2.45am a plane, thought to be a Wellington bomber, crashed on land owned by a bulb grower by the name of van Oosten at 200 Molenvaart, Breezard, community of Anne Paulowna, 67.4 kilometres north of Haarlem in the province of North Holland. The plane crashed perpendicularly and was buried in the ground. The remains of Eddison were recovered and initially buried at the general cemetery at Huisduinen, community of den Helder.
Eddison was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross his distinguished service, particularly in operations at Brest, Eindhoven and Hamburg.
Two brothers also died in the war: Edward Dalkeith Eddison and Jack Osbaldeston Eddison. Their father, Walter Herbert Eddison, served as a captain in the 56th Battalion in WW1. After the war, he applied for and was granted a soldier settlement block at Woden ACT. He and his wife called the property 'Yamba'. From c1920 until 1928, the family lived at 'The Oaks', Oaks Estate ACT, while the Woden property was being developed.
Note that Tom Eddison does not appear on the AWM Roll of Honour but does appear on the AWM Commemorative Roll as he served with the RAF.
Sources
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Debt of Honour Register. <http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search/>
AWM Honours & Awards
AWM Commemorative Roll
AWM Collections Record : AWM P03469.001
NOT on AWM Roll of Honour (?as gave nationality as English)
Rex Cross, 'Bygone Queanbeyan', revised edition, 1985 (p.232)
Karen Williams, 'Oaks Estate: No Man's Land', Canberra, K. Williams, 1997 (pp.35,37,238 (note 1))
'The Canberran : Magazine of Canberra Grammar School', 1936 (p.32), 1941 (p.25)
Procter, Biographical Register of Canberra and Queanbeyan, p. 88.
Canberra High School. Roll of Honour 1939-1945. [Plaque in school]
Canberra High School. Albums compiled for student project researching names on School Roll of Honour, 1985.
Canberra High School. Unveiling of Memorial Tablet. Friday, 25th April 1947. [Programme]
Don Mountain ed. Monumental inscriptions: Australian Capital Territory, including Jervis Bay. Canberra, Heraldry & Genealogy Society of Canberra, 2001 (pp.40,41)
Fionna Douglas, 'Not without my Corsets', 1996
The Canberra Times - 27 January 1941, 14 February 1942 (p.2)
NAA RecordSearch