26/1044 ~ WILLIAM MANSON
Retired New Zealand Army Officer Huia Ockwell, a born and bred Dunedin-ite, served in the NZ Army’s territorial and regular forces from 1955–1972. He served as a member of both the Royal NZ Artillery and later the Royal New Zealand Infantry Regiment. Commissioned as a Territorial Force officer in 1956, Huia was inspired to continue in Army service as a territorial soldier following his attendance at Compulsory Military Training (CMT) in 1955. By 1963 he had advanced to the rank of Captain and Quartermaster of his Regiment, whilst maintaining his primary employment as a commercial subject’s tutor at King’s High School in Dunedin. In March 1963, Captain Ockwell was seconded to the NZ Army’s Regular Force for an overseas posting to Malaya as the Paymaster of the 1st Battalion, RNZIR during the Malayan Emergency. This was a guerrilla war fought in the Federation of Malaya from 1948 until 1960, a conflict between Commonwealth armed forces and pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Army, the military wing of the Malayan Communist Party.
Accompanied by his wife and two children, Huia spent the next three and a half years at Terendak, a large British Army camp located on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula in the state of Malacca. Terendak Camp served as the base from which British, NZ, Australian and Malaysian forces mounted counter-insurgency operations against the communist terrorist attempting to penetrate the Malay-Thai border, air or sea-borne incursions into any of the 12 mainland states of the Malay Peninsula, and the two Malaysian provinces of Sarawak and Sabah across the South China Sea on the western coast of Borneo. The remainder of Borneo is shared by Indonesia and the independent Nation of Brunei.
Captain Ockwell spent the last three years of his six year SE Asian posting, in Singapore at Headquarters, NZ Force South East Asia (NZFORSEA) as the Ministry of Defence Finance Officer and Treasury Representative, a posting that saw him working with his Pay & Finance staff deployed in Malaya, Borneo, Thailand and latterly in South Vietnam. On returning to NZ in 1970, the offer of a posting to Wellington held little appeal for this southern man and his family, so Huia returned to Dunedin and a new appointment at King’s High School, as the Careers Adviser.
Guardianship of a war medal
When Huia Ockwell retired and eventually moved to the Northgate Lodge in Chatswood, Mosgiel, one of the residents he knew was Peter Bodkin, the former primary school Principal of George Street Normal. Huia and Peter had known each other for many years through their respective education professions and musical interests. Peter approached Huia one day and showed him a First World War medal that he had kept for many years. The medal had been handed in to him whilst at George Street Normal after it was found at the school. Peter said he thought the medal may have been brought to the school by a pupil some years ago as part of a wartime study project. Students apparently had been invited to bring along subject related items to discuss and research for inclusion in a display. The medal was located in the school several years later and passed to the Principal for safe-keeping. All attempts by Peter to identify an owner proved fruitless. Realising it was of some importance to someone’s family, he had held on to the medal in the vain hope a claimant would eventually come forward – no-one ever did.
Not quite knowing what to do with the medal, Peter kept it in his office and as time passed, forgot all about it. It wasn’t until Peter went to Chatswood in 2006 that he came across the medal again. Knowing Huia was a former military man, Peter gave the medal to Huia along with a comment of expectation, “you’ll know what to do with it”, and with that had deftly transferred responsibility for the medal’s future to a rather surprised Huia. Not one to let a challenge go by, Huia has since made several attempts to locate a Manson family descendant but without success.
Salvation arrived in the form of an advertisement in the RSA Review newspaper for the services of Medals Reunited New Zealand – Huia called me to discuss the way ahead for William Manson’s war medal.
Note: Little did Huia know that there was a Manson descendant almost under his nose AND, as it transpired, a near descendant whom he actually knew. This he learned only when I had finished my research into William Manson’s family connections.
‘The road to the Lord is far from straight’
When the medal arrived I first confirmed the impressed data on the edge was correct: 26/1044 CPL. W. MANSON N.Z.E.F. was NZ Rifle Brigade soldier who had enlisted in Dunedin. William’s archived military file provided the basics of his profile and the beginnings of the Manson’s family tree that would hopefully point me towards a living descendant family. Otago and Southland families have a tendency to be slightly easier to trace in many cases as the industries and wealth generated as a result of gold and coal mining, farming and timber production in the 1800s, had the effect of concentrating families, businesses and employment which resulted in a relatively stable commercial population, particularly of those who married. Roading and other transport options were still underdeveloped pre-1900 so personal movement also tended to be limited, thereby increasing the chances of locating and following family members in the census and electoral rolls.
Naming issues are always a challenge with common the names like Smith, Jones, Brown etc and even more so in early Otago and Southland with countless names that began with Mc–this, or Mac-that. These don’t make a search any easier in a city with a Scottish heritage like Dunedin or Invercargill but it can improve the chances of finding a connection.
William Manson
William Manson’s enlistment application gave me the basis for finding his family in the public records. I started with his parents, James and Christina Manson. With the help of an Ancestry Family Tree** I was able to confirm who most of their children had been and so could start to trace each individuals movements through the decades. I started with the youngest child and subject of my research – William Manson.
Note: ** Tip: never assume family trees are correct; compare the available data and then re-prove them until you are satisfied the persons on the tree are supposed to be there (or not), and add those who are missing. If you don’t do this, you could be perpetuating any errors the original tree author has made (often cut ‘n’ pasted from someone else’s tree). Trees are helpful to get you started if you do not have much to go on; accuracy of dates is the critical key to ensuring you have the correct person and family, but do not rely on the spelling).
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William Manson was born in Dunedin on 17 February 1888, the youngest of six children to ex-patriot Scottish parents James MANSON (1851-1904), a Blacksmith from Reay, formerly a part of Thurso located about seven kilometres north-east of Reay in the north-eastern Scottish highland county of Caithness. James was married in 1878 at Newington in Edinburgh city to Christina BERTRAM (1860-1911), also a native of Edinburgh. The newly-wed couple immigrated to New Zealand in 1879. Their first NZ born child Christina (1878-1879) born in Scotland died en route to New Zealand. Annabella (1880-1952, known as Annie), the Manson’s first born in Dunedin, married Robert James PUGH. George Manson (1882-1966) and his following siblings were born at Tokomairiro, Milton. George married Isabel Gray BENNETT (1894-1959). His life-long, bachelor brother James Manson jnr (1884-1959) came next. Jessie Renton Manson (1885-1964, married William Reid RUTHERFORD (1879-1952), and last of the six was William (1888-1918).
As the Manson family grew so too did their need to move to Dunedin. James Manson Snr. moved his family from Tokomairiro around 1887 to a hill-side house in Dunedin’s North East Valley that would become the family home for the forty years – No.12 Baldwin Street (the infamous world record-holding ‘steepest street in the world’ as verified by the Guinness Book of Records in 2019 following a temporary title loss to a Welsh challenge, which ultimately failed). James established a Blacksmithing forge in Tay Street with his eldest sons George and James Jnr. – Jas. Manson & Sons, Hardware Merchants. The youngest, William Manson, once of working age took a different path by moving from Dunedin to Waimate in South Canterbury.
When James Manson Snr. died in 1904 at age 55, sons George and James took over the business which was re-named G & J. Manson. When their mother Christina died seven years later in 1911 at age 51, George being the eldest and head of those still living at home inherited the title to 12 Baldwin Street. The Mansons brothers opened an Ironmongers (hardware) store at 185 Princess Street with a separate engineering workshop at 203 Crawford Street, near the central Dunedin city wharves. After nearly 40 years at Baldwin Street, with his siblings (except James Jnr.) grown and gone, George and Isabel’s family left No.12 around 1921. After 18 months at 207 Crawford Street near the his workshop, George and his family returned to the North-East Valley circa 1923 and moved into No.21 Royston Street which was to be their home for the remainder of their lives.
War comes to the Mansons
The New Zealand Dominion was the first of Britain’s allies to answer the King’s call for support against German expansionism aims after it invade one of Britain’s allies, Belgium. Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and NZ responded with an offer of an Infantry Brigade. Regular army soldiers were the first to be mobilised and were sufficient for immediate needs however reinforcements would be necessary for a protracted war. All single-men up to the age of 35 (this was extended to 40 in 1917) were placed on a National Register as potential man-power for war service. Volunteers were not in short supply until reality struck home with the first reports of high casualty rates on Gallipoli and the return of the first shiploads of war wounded. Numbers of volunteers dropped markedly to the point where Conscription had to be introduced in Oct 1916.
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William Manson (26) and his older brother James Jnr.** (30) were the only other eligible Manson men to serve overseas. George (32) was age eligible however as he was married, the sole bread-winner, a critical business owner, and had his mother to care for, was exempted from service. But George contributed to the war effort in other ways. He was never busier than in the engineering business as he was called upon to carry out all manner of engineering tasks both for military training purposes and for units preparing to deploy overseas.
October, 1915
William (27) and James (31) were both eager to enlist so didn’t hesitate to volunteer when the opportunity arose. William Manson was the first to go overseas. At the time of his enlistment he was living in Waimate where he worked as a Drapery Assistant for Cameron Brothers. William travelled to Wellington and enlisted at Trentham on 13 Oct 1915 as a Rifleman (Rflm.) with the 4th Battalion, NZ Rifle Brigade (NZRB). As both parents were deceased, brother George Manson would become the designated next of kin (NOK) for both William and James. The nominated NOK being the person to whom any news would be sent by the Secretary of Defence should a tragedy befall either William or James whilst in camp or overseas.
The Western Front
Following the mandatory twelve weeks of military training a Trentham and Featherston Camps, the 4th Battalion’s Reinforcements (3rd and 4th) were sent home on leave in preparation for their call forward in Feb 1916. The 3rd and 4th Reinforcements, NZRB embarked on HMNZT 42 Ulimaroa at Wellington on 05 Feb 1916 and sailed for Suez, Egypt via Freemantle, Western Australia to convoy north with their A.I.F counterparts. The NZEF’s reinforcements at this point were transiting through Egypt as the German submarine threat prevented troops being shipped direct to England for training and deployment to France. The Ulimaroa arrived at Suez on 13 March and disembarked the Reinforcements who were then loaded onto canal barges and taken up the Canal to the city of Ismailia, situated on the western side of the Suez Canal. Camp Moascar, the NZ and Australian Mounted units base depot was situated a few kilometres west of the city.
On 1st March 1916, the New Zealand Division came into being. The formation of the NZ Division for operations in the Sinai & Palestine, and on the Western Front, necessitated a re-organisation of the NZEF, particularly for the Infantry battalions and the Rifle Brigades. For Rifleman William Manson, the re-organisation meant he was transferred from an Infantry company to the newly formed NZ Machine-Gun Battalion (NZM-G Bn) on 8 Mar 1916. The NZMGC had been formed to constitute MG Battalions which was to provide dedicated machine gun companies for each of the Infantry and NZRB battalions. Thus, each would have a fire support capability that could be used independently of the battalions. Rflm. Manson was assigned to a Specialist Machine-Gun Section in the 3rd NZ Machine Gun Company (3/NZMGC) which served the 3rd (NZ) Rifle Brigade.
A Machine-Gun Section was comprised 2 x three man crews (incls 1 x Cpl and 1 x L/Cpl) equipped the British Vickers heavy machine gun: 1 x Gunner to fire, 1 x Loader to feed the ammunition. The Vickers was designed by Hiram Maxim, the designer of the earlier .303 calibre Maxim Gun that was mounted on wheels or a tripod and used extensively from 1866-1914 in the colonial India, Sudan, China and South African wars. The water cooled Vickers had a reputation for great solidity and reliability. Ian V. Hogg, in Weapons & War Machines, describes an action that took place in August 1916, during which the British 100th Company of the Machine Gun Corps fired their ten Vickers machine guns continuously for twelve hours. Using 100 barrels, they fired a million rounds without a failure!
Messines, June 1917
Rflm. Manson arrived in France on April 6th 1916. Four days later he was in the field with his unit, the 1st Battery, NZA. The Battle of Messines was William’s ‘trial by fire’. The battle commenced on 07 June 1917 with a massive underground explosion from mines secreted in tunnels under a German stronghold of Hill 60, south of Ypres, Belgium. The explosion resulted in the deaths of over 10,000 German soldiers. On 10 June during a counter attack, Rflm. Manson experienced his first and only encounter with the German’s newest weapon of terror – Mustard Gas.** Fortunately his degree of exposure was not life-threatening. He was evacuated by No.10 Field Ambulance to a field dressing station where he was kept for three days. William recovered sufficiently to return to his unit the day prior to the closing stages of the battle.
On 7 July, Rflm. Manson was promoted to Lance Corporal (L/Cpl.) and which happily for him, also signalled the start of an eight week leave of absence that started the following day. This was his first period of allocated leave in England since his arrival in France. L/Cpl. Manson was indeed most fortunate to be sent on leave at this time because he would avoid the most disastrous battle for in terms of New Zealander’s lives lost, our country’s “darkest day” – the Battle of Passchendaele on 12 October 1917.
Note: ** Mustard Gas was not technically a gas but a toxic sulphur-based agent dispensed by artillery shells, that when released into the air caused large blisters to form on exposed skin and in the throat and lungs. The term “dry land drowning” was coined as a person’s lungs would blister to the extent they filled with liquid, and the victim would suffocate by ‘drowning’. Mustard Gas or Sulphur Mustard as it was often called, was originally assigned the name “LOST” after the scientists Wilhelm Lommel and Wilhelm Steinkopf, who developed a method of large-scale production for the Imperial German Army in 1916.
L/Cpl. Manson spent a week getting to England and 20 days on uninterrupted leave before returning to France and eventual return to his unit in the field. After five weeks away William had barely arrived back in the field when he was admitted to the 2nd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) with Myalgia (recurrent muscle pain caused through overuse of a muscle or group of muscles). Sent for treatment to the 50th CCS at Bohain (20kms N-E of Saint Quentin), a recurrence of Myalgia had him again admitted to No.6 (BR) General Hospital at Rouen followed by a few days at No.2 Convalescent Depot, Buchy (30 kms N-E of Rouen). By mid December 1917, L/Cpl. Manson had returned to the NZM-G Battalion base in Camiers before re-joining the 4th Battalion in the field in the first week of January 1918.
On 24 Jan 1918, L/Cpl. Manson managed to blot his copy book when he failed to be wearing his Gas Respirator (as was the mandatory requirement at the time), giving some implausible excuse for the omission which clearly was believed to be untrue. Whilst a relatively minor offence in peacetime, on active service it attracted far harsher treatment, punishments almost disproportionate, in order to make the point and reinforce the message of the need for vigilance and personal safety. L/Cpl. Manson was charged with disobeying an order from his superior and, making a false statement with respect to same – “No Respirator, Contrary to Orders, and Making a False Statement to the CO.” Found guilty of both charges, he was awarded seven days of Field Punishment No.2 (with Hard Labour) and a commensurate loss of pay.
‘Hard Labour’ often entailed a temporary transfer to an Entrenching Battalion as a means of reinforcing the CO’s displeasure, and to demonstrate that any recurrence would be most unwise. The work was indeed hard, long hours and filthy. New trenches were constantly in need of construction and/or repair as the tactical situation changed. Front-line fire trenches, supply and communications trenches required a regular supply of manpower to assist the NZ Engineers with this work which also included maintenance of roading (which was a shambles in winter) and included temporary tracks, duck-board placement and clearance of access-ways across the pulverised land. L/Cpl. Manson was dispatched to the NZ Works “C Group” to work out his penance with No.3 Entrenching Battalion. In March he returned to the NZM-G Bn which was then based at Abele, just metres from the French–Belgian border in West Flanders, and given command of an MG Section in ‘C’ Company of the 4th Battalion.
Note: ** Field Punishment was introduced in 1881 following the abolition of flogging, and was a common punishment during World War I. A commanding officer could award field punishment for up to 28 days, while a court martial could award it for up to 90 days, either as Field Punishment Number One (FP1) or Field Punishment Number Two (FP2).
In Field Punishment Number Two, the prisoner was placed in fetters and handcuffs but was not attached to a fixed object and was still able to march with his unit. This was a relatively tolerable punishment. In both forms of field punishment, the soldier was also subjected to hard labour and a loss of pay.
1918 – the end in sight
In May 1918, with his indiscretion well behind him, L/Cpl Manson was promoted to Corporal in command of an M-G Section (2 x 3 man crews) with the 4th Battalion’s 3rd M-G Company. In June, the three Western Front MG Companies were formed into the New Zealand Machine-Gun Battalion (NZM-G Bn) in June 1918.
Whilst with 4 Battalion’s 3rd MG Company, Cpl. Manson had managed to survive some significant battles while in France. These had started with the Somme Campaign at Flers-Courcelette in June 1916. This was followed by Transloy (01-18Oct17), through to Messines (07-14 Jun 17), Polygon Wood (26 Sep-03 Oct 17) and Broodseinde on 04 Oct 1917. William had re-joined his unit after in the field after eight weeks away, on 14 October 1918, just in time for the battles of Selle (17-25 Oct 18), and Sambre on 04 Nov 1918. All of these battles he had survived without so much as a scratch. This was about to change.
Battle of Sambre
The Battle of Sambre was to be the last major push by the NZ Division in France during the “Advance to Victory” phase of the offensive. It was believed the Allied forces had the Germans on the back foot at this time and were pushing them backwards at an alarming rate, but not without significant Allied casualties. Sambre would be an attempt to sweep all before them and eventually encircle Cambrai. Standing between victory and the massed infantry and artillery of the 37th Division (Britain, France & Belgium) on the right, and the NZ Division on the left of the Axis of Advance (a north-easterly direction), were the heavily defended towns of Le Cateau and to a lesser extent, Lesdain, and the German garrisoned town of Le Quesnoy, situated about 27 kms ESE of Cambrai.
The NZ Division was placed centrally in the attack formation and had responsibility for taking the major objectives spread over a distance of some 10 kilometres. The battle would be initiated by an early morning artillery barrage that would involve the longest infantry advance under a creeping barrage the NZers had ever undertaken – about four kilometres from their Start Line! The NZ battalions were positioned for the advance – the 4th Bn on the right, the 1st Bn in the centre and the 2nd Bn on the left, with the 3rd Bn in Reserve. The 4th Battalion’s first task was to clear the village of Lesdain, immediately opposite its right flank.
The Battle of Sambre commenced at exactly 0430 hours on 4 Nov 1918 with a rolling artillery barrage. As fate would have it, during the 4th Battalion’s clearance of Lesdain, Cpl. Manson sustained multiple gunshot wounds from an enemy machine-gunner’s burst. Bullets penetrated his abdomen, right thigh and scrotum – his wounds were critical. He was evacuated from the battlefield to No.3 (BR) Casualty Clearing Station at Caudry, 10kms east of Le Cateau. For the next two days his life hung in the balance. Cpl. William Manson (30) succumbed to his wounds on the the 6th of November and was buried in the nearby Caudry British Cemetery, Nord, Pas-de-Calais, France.
Medals: British War Medal 1914-18 and Victory Medal + Memorial (‘Death’) Plaque sent to the Next of Kin.
Service Overseas: 2 years 275 days
Total NZEF Service: 3 years 34 days
Note: ** 18297 Gunner James MANSON, NZ Field Artillery – James enlisted in June 1916 at the age of 32. He embarked for Southampton, England in June 1917 and on arrival was sent to the NZ Field Artillery Depot at Chadderton where he was employed not as a Gunner, but as a Fitter (Mechanic) until June 1917. Posted to the NZ Divisional Ammunition Column (NZ DAC) in October as a Driver (of horse drawn vehicles) carrying/delivering ammunition to the artillery batteries (howitzers and trench mortars). Gnr. Manson was posted first to No.1 Battery in Aug 1917 and then to No.15 Battery in Nov 1918. After his unit was withdrawn from the field back to Sling Camp in England, Gnr. Manson continued to work in his Fitter (Mechanic) role from June 1919 until he returned to NZ in August.
Gnr. James Manson returned to NZ after 2 years 186 days overseas and discharged from the NZEF on 17 Sep 1919. For his war service James was awarded the BWM and Victory Medal. James died on 22 Nov 1959 at age 75 and is buried in the same plot with his parents and grand-parents in the Northern Cemetery, Dunedin.
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The generation game
Once I had assembled those whom I believed to be James and Christina Manson’s children and their spouses, I looked for a family that had the best prospects of locating a living descendant, a family that had a large family. Their eldest son George Manson’s family of seven appeared to be the most prolific. The majority however were female and would therefore have changed their surname on marriage. Working down the list of George and Isabel’s children from oldest to youngest, most obvious to hardest to find, I concluded the most traceable name was the married name of their eldest daughter, Phyllis SCOTT. Born Phyllis Elizabeth MANSON (1916-2006) she had married Presbyterian minister, the Reverend Arthur Robert “Bob” SCOTT (1909-1996) ** from Woodlands in Southland, in August 1941. Being a clergyman, Bob Scott’s name was easy to trace, not only because of his church appointments in Otago, but also because his tenure in these tended to ensure stability for a number of years so a limited number location variations in the Electoral Rolls.
Usually I would follow the male descendant line of a medal recipient because the surname is perpetuated for each generation there are male off-spring. If there are no obvious males descendants, I will then default to the eldest female available. As there are no publicly accessible records on-line for current living family members, it is then necessary to consider what is available in the way of Family Trees in Ancestry. It is necessary to then confirm the family members that I had selected as belonging to the families, hopefully tallied with one of the Trees. To progress my research of this family I found a suitably near complete Manson Tree linked into another authored by Lawrence (Laurie) Moore of Wellington whom I contacted for advice.
Laurie very kindly put me in touch with a Mrs Christine CANNAN, a daughter of the late Phyllis and Rev. Bob Scott. Christine was most helpful in guiding me to connect the Manson family dots of which only family knowledge can know the detail of. Most of the descendant family I had derived from William’s elder brother George Manson, however Christine’s revelation that her aunt Margaret McMASTER was alive and living in Dunedin was music to my ears. Why was this important? Christine’s aunt Margaret McMaster, the wife of the late Harold Hyde Harris McMaster (1926-2008), is also William Manson’s only living niece! The decision of who the medal would go to was settled!
Christine keeps in regular contact with her Auntie Margaret who is resident at the Yvette Williams Retirement Village in Roslyn, Dunedin. Margaret recently celebrated her 90th birthday on May 18th, 2020, just after Christine had given her the news she would soon be receiving her Uncle William Manson’s war medal. Margaret was thrilled at this ‘birthday present’ and has been eagerly awaiting its arrival.
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I called Huia Ockwell to give him the good news and asked him if he would care to present Margaret McMaster with the medal. As he had ‘owned’ the medal since 2006, it seem very appropriate that he have the honour of returning it to William Manson’s descendant niece. Huia was honoured to do this, not just because the Yvette William’s Village was at hand but because he realised he actually new Margaret McMaster. Because he had never known Margaret’s maiden name of Manson, only ever knowing her as Margaret McMaster, Huia did not make any connection between Margaret Manson and the name of William Manson. This was quite a coincidence – and even more reason Huia was enthusiastic at the prospect of returning William Manson’s medal to Margaret in person.
Medal reunited
I am pleased to report that Huia was able to present the heirloom medal to Cpl. Manson’s 90 year old niece this week, 101 years and 8 months after William died of wounds in France. The happy event was captured in words and pictures by an ODT reporter which appeared on the front page of the weekend Otago Daily Times, the Saturday & Sunday edition, 18–19 August, 2020 (see Medals in the News).
Thanks also to Laurie Moore for his guidance in steering me towards the Cannans, and specifically to Christine and Dave for their guidance, advice and facilitating the medal presentation, an occasion I think Margaret and Huia will long remember. Finally, my thanks to Huia for entrusting MRNZ with the medal, and for doing the honours on behalf of MRNZ by presenting Margaret with her uncle William Manson’s medal.
The reunited medal tally is now 332.
Note ** Phyllis (Manson) Scott’s younger brother Sergeant (Pilot) Thomas Irvine MANSON (1919-1942) – RNZAF & 57 (RAF) Squadron was a Dunedin Clerk who trained in New Zealand as a pilot for WW2. After gaining his Pilot’s Badge (wings) on 8 Nov 1941, he was promoted to Sergeant Pilot on 20 Dec 1941 and embarked for the UK on 11 Jan 1942.
On arrival Sgt. Manson went to an operational training unit at RAF Elgin in the Scottish highlands near Inverness for anti-shipping experience followed by learning the basics of flying to No.12 (Pilots) Advanced Flying Unit at RAF Hixon in Staffordshire, he was posted to No.57 Squadron to fly the Bristol Blenheim light bomber.
The Squadron began the Second World War as a Bristol Blenheim light bomber squadron, and in September 1939 was one of the first RAF squadrons to move to France, where it operated as a strategic reconnaissance unit. The Squadron served as a Blenheim squadron during the battle of France in 1940, followed by a period of anti-shipping operations. In November 1940 the Squadron moved south to RAF Feltwell in Norfolk to convert to the Vickers Wellington heavy bombers. On 13 January 1941 the Squadron flew its first night bombing mission, the role it would continue to perform for the rest of the war.
Sgt. Manson completed his first operational bombing mission in the Vickers Wellington on 7 July 1942. The Squadron moved to RAF Scampton in Sep 1942 when Avro Lancasters were received, the Squadron then joining the Battle Order of Bomber Command’s No.5 Group.
On 17 December 1942, Sgt. Manson (23) was piloting Avro Lancaster 1654 HC-U on a training flight over Cornwall with his crew (1 x RNZAF, 2 x RAAF, 4 x RAF). The aircraft crashed at Kerrier near the south-eastern tip of Cornwall and all crew perished. The seven-man crew are buried together in a collective grave at Cornwall’s Helston Cemetery.
Sgt. (P) Manson was award the following medals: 1939/45 Star with “Bomber Command” clasp, Aircrew Europe Star, Defence Medal, War Medal 1939/45 and NZ War Service Medal. In addition to their son’s medals, George and Isabel Manson received a boxed, silver Memorial Cross with mauve neck riband, and a condolence card from the New Zealand Government, in memory of Thomas’s sacrifice.
~ Lest We Forget ~