Number RAAF 400820

Unit 156 Squadron RAAF

Place of Birth. Leongatha 23 September 1919

Next of Kin Albert (Norman) Poulton, his father. His mother was Doris Poulton

Date and place of enlistment

8 November 1940 Melbourne

Location on enlistment

Melbourne

Occupation Clerk

Date and place of death

16 December 1943 over Germany

Location of grave or memorial

His names is on the Runnymede Memorial near London, the Leongatha Memorial and the memorial at Leongatha Secondary College (formerly Leongatha High).

Relationship to Woorayl Shire

Tom was the son of the local dentist Norman Poulton and his wife Doris. He attended Glamorgan School in Melbourne as a boarder before starting at Leongatha High School in 1931. Tom was a clerk in the Vacuum Oil Company in Melbourne and spent 2 years in the militia in Australia before joining the Air Force in 1940.

His brother James was also an airman and a past student of Leongatha High School

History

He trained at Somers in Victoria and then went to Salisbury (Harare) in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). He became a pathfinder and served in a Lancaster bomber.

Tom was killed in an operation over Berlin on the night of December 16th and 17th 1943, aged 24. There were seven crew members, four Australians, one Canadian and two British.

He received his Distinguished Flying Medal on July 7th 1943. Details of the DFM were published in the London Gazette 20th of April 1943

The citation read : �This airman has taken part in a large number of operational sorties including attacks on such heavily defended targets as Berlin, Essen, Hamburg and Wilhelmshaven where heavy anti aircraft fire and search light opposition were encountered. Throughout his operational career Flight Sergeant Poulton has shown great coolness in guiding his pilots to the target with complete disregard for enemy opposition and his outstanding enthusiasm has been an inspiration to his fellow bomb aimers.�