David Hatherell from the United Kingdom stumbled across this website in December 2003.

His query was about a chap who hailed from Toowong.

Dave is a researcher assisting a local museum in France who were planning a commemorative display of the sacrifice of Allied airmen in their locality.

One of them a Thomas Cunnah HOBGEN, who died in 1942 and hailed from Toowong. Dave had traced Thomas' family as: parents Thomas and Daisy. brother John [also killed in action] and sister Jane.

The 1945 AWM commemorative record gave the family address as Sidlesham, Curlew Street, Toowong.

Dave was asking if there might be any relatives in your area?

His task was to try and trace the family which he was doing from several different angles. Dave also said that the French people are very protective of "their airmen's" graves and he knew it would be very heartening for relatives to know the care and esteem that is lavished sixty years on.

Zoom on the museum display and you will see Hobgen's photo on the top shelf. Click on photo to enlarge. It is a large file and may take time to come up.

Prue Firth, a local resident of West Toowong, became interested in Thomas and went to work to help Dave.

Prue knew that there are no Hobgens buried in Toowong Cemetery, so the family may have moved after their tragic losses. She had seen a reference to a Thomas Hobgen as acting headmaster of Goodna State School in 1944. If Thomas snr. was a teacher he may also have been posted to other areas of Queensland.

Prue later sent Dave the news that she had found more info but it is all rather tragic. A Mr Hobgen was the founding head of Surfers' Paradise State School (1934?). A couple of years ago the school was asked if they would accept a share (around A$27000) of the "Hobgen bequest". This was after the death of the only daughter (Jane, presumably), the 2 sons having been killed in WW2. Apparently the daughter spent much of her life in an institution, and there was no other family. The school has built some sort of pavilion to be named after the family. It was completed in 2003.

The other crew members who were with Thomas in WW2 were:

402948
F/Sgt Albert George Grand (captain) Casino NSW

405274
Sgt Athole Douglas MacLeod
(air bomber) Bundaberg Qld

405273
Sgt Albert William Howard (navigator) Bundaberg Qld

405277
Sgt Colin Roderick Donald Lowis (air gunner) Ipswich Qld

National Archives of Australia have been very kind and waived their charges - and you can find their service records on-line at www.naa.gov.au click on record search and click on search now as guest.

Many thanks to David Hatherell from the United Kingdom for kindly forwarding this information to our group. Dave and his colleagues have collected an incredible amount of information and done a marvelous job of conserving and honouring our Australian airmen.

If you have any further information on Thomas or his crewmates please contact us.

Email: sue@smartype.com.au

Telephone: 617 3367 0611

Fax: 617 3368 3017

The culmination (if there is ever such a thing in research!) was a ceremony at Quiberon cemetery at the 6 Allied war graves [3 Brits 1 Australian 1 Pole 1 Unknown] on the recent 2004 D-Day anniversary weekend.

In addition a wreath was cast upon the water of Quiberon Bay in remembrance of the missing of the three crews who did not make it to the cemetery.

My Pictures 0029 [above] shows Hobgen's grave [left] after the ceremony. Hobgen's body was first discovered by a young girl who laid flowers beside it. Sixty two years later, as an elderly lady - now Madame Lanty - laid those flowers you see at the ceremony.

DCN4336[above] shows a wreath laid in honour of the members of the three crews concerned who did not make it to the cemetery.

The spot is where Beaufort wreckage was discovered last autumn.

DCN4396 [above] shows the names of the missing who we were remembering.

Grand, MacLeod, Howard, Lowis were Hobgen's crewmates (all Queenslanders apart from Grand).

Dave