Captain Thomas Walter Nash DFC

Hi there,

I was wandering through the graveyard at West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and noticed a headstone for Thomas Walter Nash.

I was interested by this and did a google search to find him in your database as having been KIA in Belgium (which matches what is said on the headstone) as well as him having received a posthumous DFC (again noted on the stone).

The cemeteries mentioned however do not include the West Wycombe cemetery so I thought I would post with the additional information.

Don't know if this interests anyone or is useful in any way.

8 victories in Camels he had it seems ! Impressive stuff!

RIP

[Taz]

Above the Trenches by Franks et al shows Capt T. W. Nash flew with 4 Sq RNAS, which became 204 Sq RAF, from 3 Mar 1918 through his fatal flight on 23 Oct 1918. On that date he and 4 other 204 pilots were shot down in an engagement with Fokker D.VIIs of MFJ1 and MFJ2, including aces Sachsenberg (MFJ1) and Zenses (MFJ2) (From The Jasta War Chronology by Duivens et al). Nash's kill total was unusual in that 7 of his 8 kills were actually destroyed, as opposed to out of control, and these included 6 single seaters, among them 5 Fokker D.VIIs. Nash was flying Sopwith Camel D9608 when he was killed near Termonde. D9608 had flown successfully with 210 Sq before going to 204 Sq on 24 Sept 1918 (The Camel File by Sturtivant and Page). An admirable record for both pilot and aircraft.

Taz

[Regulus]

Hi,

Welcome to The Aerodrome! Nash of 204 Sqdn was a rather well known figure, and all of his victory claims were over West-Flanders, one of them being a balloon of the Marinekorps Flandern at Stene. He was shot down by planes of the Marine Feldjasta on the 23rd October 1918, as were 4 other planes of it's unit that day, all pilots being KIA.

Best from Johan

Hmm ! I see that Taz did beat me to it !

Thanks for the info guys!

I was wondering looking at his birth place how he came to be mentioned in West Wycombe cemetery, I think his father must have lived locally as he was added to the headstone himself much much later on (I forget the date).

His father was of exactly the same name by the way.

Hope my little piece of info is of interest to anyone who has read about this extrodinary man and maybe lives nearby the area, I will gladly post exact details of the location of the stone should anyone wish to visit it.

[Graeme]

According to the Commonealth War Graves Commission website, Nash was the son of Thomas W. Nash, of 5, Norfolk Rd. Littlehampton, and the late Iris Amy Nash. The website also states that he is buried in Cement House Cemetery, Langemark-Poelkapelle, Belgium and that there are now 3,576 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in the cemetery - 2,408 of the burials are unidentified.

The other members of No 204 Squadron brought down in the engagement on 23 October 1918 were Sgt C M A Mahon, 2nd Lt Geoffrey Sutcliffe, Lt Frederick Gordon Bayley and 2nd Lt Osborne John Orr DFC; all were killed.

Graeme

Hmm, slightly puzzled and intrigued now as to why there is a headstone etc with his name on at West Wycombe...

[Graeme]

Insight

A possible link for the name and location can be found at

http://home.cogeco.ca/~mcosgrave1/paf2/pafg13.htm#1677C

Quite possibly, Captain Nash's body was returned to the UK for re-interment - hence the record of his burial in both Belgium and England.

Graeme

Thanks for this, the link you have given me seems to refer to Captain Nash's grandfather who hailed from the West Wycombe area which perhaps explains the headstone. Maybe it was a family burial site, I will have to go and look at some of the other surrounding stones to see if this is the case.

Hello, here comes a photo of the grave of Captain T.W. NASH DFC and Bar, Croix de Guerre.
Ludovic

the same, biger !
Sorry for the poor quality.
Ludovic