Thomas had qualified as a civil aviator before the war so in 1939 he naturally joined the RAF and following training was posted to 64 Squadron at RAF Leconfield in October 1940 as a Sergeant Pilot flying the Supermarine Spitfire during the Battle of Britain: thus he became one of ‘The Few’.

Thomas was commissioned in August 1941 and posted to 92 squadron based in Malta from June 1943 where it provided air cover for the 8th Army during the campaigns in Sicily & Italy. Whilst on an operational sortie in Spitfire JL182 he went down in the sea on Saturday 10^th July 1943 whilst engaged in a dogfight with a JU88 that was attacking Allied shipping, although there is a possibility that he was hit by friendly fire. Thomas was 23 years old and is commemorated on the Malta Memorial, Floriana, Malta.

Mentioned in Despatches.

Son of George Savage & Dora Savage of Porthill, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.

Thomas is also commemorated on the Battle of Britain memorials in London & Kent.

'Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed
by so many to so few'
Winston S. Churchill: 20^th August 1940

A copy of this story is available for download here.

See also the Commonwealth War Graves Commission permanent digital memorial, ‘Evermore: Stories of the fallen’ relating to:- 
Flt-Lieutenant Thomas Wood SAVAGE