BORN LEEDS 08/07/1894. SON OF WALTER MARGERISON (1868-1942) AND JANE MARGERISON (1868-1922). EMPLOYED AS A CLERK ALSO A FORMER MEMBER OF THE 1ST HULL SCOUT TROOP. HE ENLISTED IN THE 5TH EYR CYCLIST BATTALION. COMMISSIONED AND TRANSFERRED TO THE ROAYL FLYING CORPS. KILLED IN ACTION, ON 13/04/1917, AGED 22.
HIS NAME IS RECORDED ON THE HULL TECHNICAL COLLEGE MEMORIAL, PARK STREET, HULL, ON THE NEW GEORGE STREET MEMORIAL & THE CLIFTON STREET SCHOOL ROLL OF HONOUR. HIS BROTHER GEORGE WILLIAM MARGERISON, DROWNED ON THE STEAM SHIP ‘CHICAGO’ ON 08/07/1918, AGED 22. THEY LEFT A BROTHER, ARTHUR, AND SISTERS, LILIAN AND IVY. MANY THANKS TO NADINE TULL FOR TOM’S PHOTOGRAPHS AND THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION.
Military Service – When war broke out, Tom enlisted in the 5th Cyclist Battalion of the East Yorkshire Regiment in the rank of Sergeant, before transferring to the 1st Huntingdonshire Cyclist Battalion (Medal Card, National Archives ref WO/372/13). His low service number of 697 implies he volunteered to serve at the start of the war. He was photographed in the uniform of Sergeant in the Hunts Cyclists. Battalion orders 41, reported that he was posted to the Hunts Cyclists as Second Lieutenant on 9 March 1915 (www.huntscycles.co.uk). There are photographs of him in his new uniform. In 1917 he joined the Royal Flying Corps, graduating on 18 Feb 1917, and serving as an Observer with 57 Squadron. Two months later he was killed (Casualty Card). 57 Squadron was a fighter-reconnaissance unit based at St Andre-aux-Bois in France since Dec 1916 (http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=180512). On 9 April 1917, the British Army launched the Battle of Arras and aerial reconnaissance information over the area would have been vital. This was very dangerous as the aircraft had to fly at slow speeds and low altitude, and face superior German planes. The average life of a RFC pilot in Arras in April 1917 was 18 hours flying time, and the month became known as “Bloody April”. In total, the British lost 245 aircraft, 211 aircrew killed or missing, and 108 as prisoners of war (http://en. wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloody_April). Tom’s final patrol took place on 13 April 1917 while leading a flight of six F.E.2d machines from 57 Squadron on a reconnissance mission. His plane was No. A5150. The patrol took off from the aerodrome at Fienvillers, about 25 miles east of Abbeville, at 7am, and headed north-east. Two of the six machines experienced engine trouble and had to return to base, a third had to make a forced landing at Arras, a fourth lost formation and encountered eight enemy aircraft which refused combat, and the other two machines, including Tom’s, failed to return (see biography of Cpt L S Platt). Initially Tom was reported missing, but his family were later told that he had been killed when his plane had been shot down over Vitry-en-Artois. He and the pilot, Cpt Platt were initially buried there before eventually being transferred to an official war cemetery. Vitry-en-Artois lay in German territory and had been completely destroyed the day before (Wikipedia). It is likely he had been sent to record the damage. A German fighter ace, Heinrich Gontermann, was credited with the kill. The day, place, and type of plane (FE2d) all match that for Tom Margerison. Gontermann himself was killed that October (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henrich_Gontermann). In Tom’s last letter to his parents, dated 6 April, he tells them not to worry if he is reported missing. Although there is a lot of fighting going on, and they have their share of losses, as most of their flying is done on the other side of the lines, most RFC people who are reported missing have been taken prisoners and are quite safe and sound. Sadly this was not true in his case. Tom is buried at Brown’s Copse Cemetery, Roeux, France, but is also commemorated on the family headstone in Hull.
Combat report 5 April 1917 – A week before they were killed, Tom Margerison and his pilot Lionel Platt shot down a German aircraft while on an offensive patrol at 12,000 feet over Arras and Cambrai. Their combat report reads as follows: “When on Offensive Patrol with 5 F.E.2(d)s, 3 Hostile Aircraft approached from rear. The whole formation turned and the rear machines attacked. F.E.2(s).A/5150 [their plane] dived at a H.A. which was engaged just below, and which presented only a crossing shot. The Observer was able to fire a burst of about 10 rounds at a range of about 50 yards when the H.A. dived to earth apparently under control. The H.A. was seen to land successfully in a ploughed field.”
Headstone Inscription, Margerison family – In loving memory of Lieut Thomas (Tom) Margerison 1st Hunts Cyc Battn, attached RFC, killed in aerial combat at Vitry-en-Artois April 13th 1917, aged 22 years. Also George Wm Margerison 3rd Officer SS Chicago, Ellerman Wilson Line, killed through enemy action off Flamborough Head, July 8th 1918, aged 22 years. Also Elsie Margerison who died Feby 20th 1915, aged 3 years and 8 months. The beloved sons and daughter of Walter and Jane Margerison. Also the above Jane Margerison who died July 18th 1922 aged 56, at rest. Also the above Walter Margerison who died Feb 26th 1942 aged 75. Also Arthur Margerison, their youngest son who died January 26th 1944 aged 42 years. Spring Bank Cemetery, Hull, United Kingdom.
Family life – Tom was the second of six children born to Walter Margerison, an Engineer Fitter, and his wife Jane (nee Walton). His elder sister Lilian was born in Stockton (1892), but sadly died aged three. By then the family had moved to Leeds where Tom was born (1894) and then another son George (1896). The family moved again, for the last time, to Hull where three more children were born, Arthur (1901), Ivy (1902) and Elsie (1911). Elsie died in 1915 aged three.
Death Announcement of Thomas Margerison – Transcript of the Death Announcement of Thomas Margerison, published in the Hull Daily Mail 10 Sept 1917: “Hull Airman Killed” Mr and Mrs Margerison, 18 Goddard Avenue, Newland Avenue, late of 13 Vane Street, have received official notice that their son Lieutenant T. Margerison (22) was killed in an aerial fight in France on April 13th, 1917. He was first reported missing on April 13th, and was at the commencement of the war in the 5th East Yorks Cyclists. Afterwards he took a commission in the Hunts’ Cyclists Battalion, but was later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and went out to France last November. He was educated at the Hull Technical College, and started his business career at the Guildhall, being under Alderman Askew, the Lord Mayor of Hull. Burial: Plot 5, Row F, Grave no 1, Brown’s Copse Cemetery, Roeux, Vitry-en-Artois, near Arras, France.
