BIOGRAPHY:
Thomas Coogan was educated at St. Hugh’s School, Birkenhead, from where he got an art scholarship, he subsequently took an appointment with Messrs. T. J. Hughes’s, London Road, Liverpool, in the window dressing department.
He joined the Royal Air Force in 1936 and on the outbreak of war became a pilot on heavy bombers.
He was killed when piloting a Lysander aircraft from RAF Kinloss on a cooperation exercise in ground to air firing. The propeller came off the aircraft in flight and though Coogan successfully put the Lysander down on the beach at Findhorn Bay, he was unable to prevent his aircraft from running into some anti-tank concrete blocks. Along with his co-pilot, Sgt. B. Phillips RAAF, Coogan was killed. Both men are interred in the Kinloss Abbey Burial Ground.
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DISTINGUISHED FLYING MEDAL (DFM)
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Rank:
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Sergeant
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Unit:
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77 Squadron RAF
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Awarded on:
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January 17th, 1941
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Action:
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Recommendation:
"Sergeant Coogan has completed 32 operational sorties as second pilot and Captain and had recently been posted to O.T.U. to rest. He has at all times carried out his duties with determination. As a Captain, he has been a fine leader and his efforts in locating targets, pressing home his and returning home under the most adverse weather conditions have set a high standard and example to the other members of the squadron.”
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