Thomas Alfred Oliver
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Thomas Alfred Oliver was born on 10th April 1893 at Loughborough the son of Alfred Samuel, the artist mentioned in the above article, and Annie (nee Kempson). The 1891 census of Ruddington shows Alfred S Oliver aged 23, a lithograph artist, living with his widowed mother and two sisters. Annie Kempson was a 22 year old dressmaker living with her father William, the village Postmaster, her mother and seven siblings.Alfred Samuel and Annie married in Loughborough and Tom was born there. The family returned to Ruddington for several years but by 1911 the census shows that they had moved to The Studio, Capel Curig.
Captain Thomas Alfred Oliver enlisted in the King's Own Royal Regiment (Lancaster) at Loughborough on 1 January 1908. At the outbreak of the war he enlisted into the 6th battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers on 25th August 1914 at Carnarvon.On 17 October 1915, 2nd Lieutenant Oliver received Royal Aero Club Aviator's Certificate 1921 on a Maurice Farman biplane at Military School, Shoreham. Posted to the Royal Flying Corps where he graduated as a pilot in December 1915. He was posted to No. 1 squadron in France and in March 1916 was engaged in his first raid, against a German floatplane base at Zeebrugge. He was clearly a daring pilot, credited with bringing down two enemy aircraft, in one case being part of a dogfight with five German aircraft. He was also a talented artist and painted scenes of the aircraft he flew. Following a rest form operations in the first half of 1917, Oliver was posted to 29th Squadron on 10th August as Flight Commander. Within two days he brought down a further three enemy aircraft. The plane he flew was a Nieuport 17, which was reckoned inferior to the German planes of the time. While on patrol on 14th August 1917, he was shot down and killed by a German plane
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