 Reginald Thomas in 1929 | |||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 11 January 1907 Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Wales | ||||||||||||||
| Died | 14 March 1946 (aged 39) Brownshill, Chalford, Gloucestershire, England | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | ||||||||||||||
| Event | 800–5000 m | ||||||||||||||
| Club | Royal Air Force Milocarian Athletic Club Newport Harriers | ||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | |||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) | 800 m – 1:53.6 (1929/37) 1500 m – 3:53.5 (1937) 3 miles – 14:53.4 (1935) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Reginald Heber Thomas AFC (11 January 1907 – 14 March 1946) was a Welsh middle-distance runner. He competed at the 1928 and 1932 Summer Olympics and the 1930 British Empire Games. He missed the 1936 Summer Olympics because of injury, and did not compete in the 1934 British Empire Games for Wales, because of English objections. At both Olympics he was eliminated in the first round of the 1500 metres event. At the 1930 Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, he won the gold medal in the mile and the silver medal in the 880 yards. He could not compete for Wales because Wales did not have a national athletics association at the time. Welsh track and field athletes could only compete for England in 1930 although Welsh swimmers did compete for their home nation.
In 1931 he broke the 10 year old British record for the mile with 4 mins. 13.4 secs to underline his status as Britain’s leading miler. He also took the AAA mile title three times - in 1930, 1931 and 1933, also winning 8 Welsh titles between 1929 and 1936.
In 1940, Heber was commissioned in the Royal Air Force. On 8 June 1944 Thomas, now a flight lieutenant, was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC).
In 1946 he was a squadron leader and was killed piloting an Avro Lancaster bomber; after take-off from RAF Aston Down all the engines failed and the bomber crashed into a nursing home at Brownshill near Chalford. He was buried at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath.
References
- ^ Reg Thomas. sports-reference.com
- Reginald Thomas. trackfield.brinkster.net
- "No. 36544". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 1944. p. 2648.
- Commonwealth 43825 Squadron Leader Reginald Heber Thomas. War Graves Commission
| Commonwealth Games champions in men's 1500 metres | |
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| 1 mile (1930–1966) |
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| 1500 metres (1970–present) |
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- 1907 births
- 1946 deaths
- Sportspeople from Pembroke, Pembrokeshire
- Welsh male middle-distance runners
- British male middle-distance runners
- Olympic athletes for Great Britain
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1928 Summer Olympics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1932 Summer Olympics
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England
- Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England
- Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics
- Athletes (track and field) at the 1930 British Empire Games
- Welsh aviators
- Royal Air Force squadron leaders
- British World War II bomber pilots
- Royal Air Force pilots of World War II
- Recipients of the Air Force Cross (United Kingdom)
- Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in England
- Medallists at the 1930 British Empire Games
- Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1946
- English athletics biography stubs
- British athletics biography stubs
- Welsh sportspeople stubs