Talfryn Thomas (actor and Lancaster crewman)

[Bombphoon]

Originally Posted by Dave Homewood

It was never the intention of the writers to have Talfryn in the cast long term though. I know the writers personally and have talked especially with Jimmy Perry about it. They simply brought back the Cheeseman character to distract from the gap left by such an important part of the team, and then phased him out again. I have to say I prefer the radio versions where Walker continued in the role (played by larry Martyn) and Cheeseman never appeared as a platoon member. I have nothing against Talfryn but I'm not much of a fan of Cheeseman, the character. he was far too whacky and wierd for the gentle humour of Dad's Army.

Hi Dave

Hmmm. That's not what was said in the past. In several DA books and TV interviews they said John Laurie and one or two other cast complained about Talfryn getting too many laughs. Laurie said 'get rid of him' to Perry and he did.

[Dave Homewood]

Yes that too is true that John Laurie and I believe Arthur Lowe did not like Talfryn in the cast. Perhaps they were worried he'd be given a bigger role if they didn't say something.

After all, they never intended to have the character of Warden Hodges in it more than 2 episodes in the forst series but Bill Pertwee was so funny in th role and got such a reaction they built the part up.

[KM1957]

Let me begin by saying I know practically nothing about RAF Bomber Command so please don't take the following as 100% accurate. I ran across a Wales TV website and it mentioned a documentary film where Talfryn Thomas described a mission to Berlin. The blurb states he flew with 57 Squadron out of East Kirkby and in December of 1943 flew on 11 of the 16 Massed Bomber raids on Berlin. I hope this help.

Kent

[Nick Hector]

Kent,

Many thanks, that gives me a new lead because up until now I had been searching back and forth thru the 1944 volume of BCL several times and had honestly paid very little attention to the 1943 volume.
That he flew with 57 sqn is also very handy to know.

I think it's sad that the other cast members gave him such a hard time, particularly when he had such big shoes (those of the great Jimmy Beck) to fill. I agree that the Mr. Cheeseman character probably didn't fit in too well to what was by then an established series, but nobody deserves to feel unwelcome when they are doing their very best.

[Bombphoon]

Originally Posted by Nick Hector

Kent,

Many thanks, that gives me a new lead because up until now I had been searching back and forth thru the 1944 volume of BCL several times and had honestly paid very little attention to the 1943 volume.
That he flew with 57 sqn is also very handy to know.

I think it's sad that the other cast members gave him such a hard time, particularly when he had such big shoes (those of the great Jimmy Beck) to fill. I agree that the Mr. Cheeseman character probably didn't fit in too well to what was by then an established series, but nobody deserves to feel unwelcome when they are doing their very best.

I know this is getting slightly OT, but I thought Talfryn fitted in perfectly.
Too wacky and weird? What about Frazer, Hodges, Jones... in fact most of the cast also had their moments.

Also loved the way Cheeseman riled Mainwaring by instead of calling him 'Sir', kept saying 'Righto boy!' in reply to his orders!

Anyway, back to 1943...

[RodM]

Originally Posted by KM1957

I ran across a Wales TV website and it mentioned a documentary film where Talfryn Thomas described a mission to Berlin. The blurb states he flew with 57 Squadron out of East Kirkby and in December of 1943 flew on 11 of the 16 Massed Bomber raids on Berlin.

Hi Kent,

are you sure that the program relates to Tal Thomas?

I see a description of the segment at:

http://www.rawcharm.tv/warstories.htm (see number 10.)

The interview was with a 'Tommy Thomas', and, if the interview was recorded in the last twenty years or so, it cannot be Tal Thomas. The documentary was released in 2001.

A second series of the 'War Stories' documentary appears to feature Tommy Thomas' wife Barbara:

http://www.rawcharm.tv/warstories2.htm (see Prog 3.)


A further article on Tommy Thomas' crew (of which he was rear gunner) can be found here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...-a-prayer.html

Cheers

Rod

PS - if you'd found the site with a web search using 'Talfryn' as a key word then it would have come up as a result because one of the segment dirrectors was Huw Talfryn Walters.

[RodM]

Oh I forgot to mention...

if you consult AIR 78/156 at The National Archives, Kew, there should be an index card for Thomas (assuming that he was not an officer). Provided that his christian names are given, and not just his initials, you will get his RAF service number.

Cheers

Rod

[paulmcmillan]

Looked at AIR 78 156

The index has

John Talfryn Thomas
1408581
PD

don't know what PD means Personnel Department ?


By the way his Service number was one issued in range

1400001 to 1424800 Mar 1941 Penarth the next issue to Penarth was 1650001 to 1670000 Nov 1941 Penarth

So you could work out roughly when he joined and maybe work out an average training length and get to the point when he started ops and work from there I would assume start date 1942 ish..

[RodM]

having gone through BCL Vols 1-6, there are no instances of a J T Thomas listed.

A Sgt J Thomas survived a crash landing of 115 Sqdn Wellington X3749 in June 1942, and there were no injures reported in the crew.

I haven't checked the OTU/HCU volume.

Thomas could have been involved in a crash during any stage of his training and may not even have been a member of Bomber Command.

Cheers

Rod

[Alex Smart]

Hello,
May not be relevant.

But found in BCL vol 3, 1942.
115 Sqdn
Wellington III, X3749, KO-D
3-4 June 1942
Crew:
P/O. H.G. Acourt
P/O. J.E. Worth
F/S. E. Bullock
Sgt. E. Williams
Sgt. J. Thomas
T/o 2247 Marham.
Crashed on return to base and caught fire.
No injuries reported.

What more is known of this crash ?
Is it too early ?

And then in BCL vol 8, HCU's.
28 Mar 1944
1651 HCU
Stirling I
EF388
QQ-G
Sgt J. Thornton
Sgt. Brayley
Sgt. Killen
Sgt. Rose
Sgt. Wilcox
Sgt. Peters
Sgt. Thomas
Swung on touch down ran into a hut, sited near a bomb dump. The hut was demolished and the Stirling was damaged sufficiently to warrant its write off.
No mention of any casualties.
Would this one have been too late ?


I looked through all nine vols, and may have missed him.
So unless J.T. Thomas was with Coastal Command the above could be him ?
Alex