Reginald Heber Thomas AFC (11 January 1907 – 14 March 1946) was a Welsh middle-distance runner, who competed at two Olympic Games.

Biography

Thomas finished second behind Cyril Ellis in the 1 mile event at the

1928 AAA Championships The 1928 AAA Championships was the 1928 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 6 to 7 July 1928 at Stamford Bridge in London, England. The Championships ...

. Shortly afterwards he represented Great Britain at the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where he eliminated in the first round of the 1500 metres event. In 1929 Thomas finished second again behind Cyril Ellis at the

1929 AAA Championships The 1929 AAA Championships was the 1929 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 5 to 6 July 1929 at Stamford Bridge (stadium), Stamford Bridge in London, En ...

but became the national mile champion the following year after winning the British

AAA Championships The AAA Championships was an annual track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association of England. It was the foremost domestic athletics event in the United Kingdom during its lifetime, despite the existence of the offi ...

title at the 1930 AAA Championships. Just one month later at the

1930 British Empire Games The 1930 British Empire Games were the inaugural edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, and was held in Hamilton, Ontario, from 16 to 23 August 1930. The event was organized by '' Hamilton Spectator'' sportswriter Bobby Robinso ...

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 and retained his 1-mile AAA title at the

1931 AAA Championships The 1931 AAA Championships was the 1931 edition of the annual outdoor track and field competition organised by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA). It was held from 3 to 4 July 1931 at Stamford Bridge (stadium), Stamford Bridge in London, En ...

. He went to his second Olympic Games at the Los Angeles

1932 Summer Olympics The 1932 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the X Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1932) were an international multi-sport event held from July 30 to August 14, 1932, in Los Angeles, California, United States. The Games were held du ...

, again being eliminated from the first round of the 1500 metres event. At the 1933 AAA Championships, Thomas won his third 1-mile title but did not compete in the

1934 British Empire Games The 1934 British Empire Games were the second edition of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in England, from 4–11 August 1934. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events wer ...

for Wales, because of English objections. He missed the

1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XI Olympiad () and officially branded as Berlin 1936, were an international multi-sport event held from 1 to 16 August 1936 in Berlin, then capital of Nazi Germany. Berlin won the bid to ...

because of injury and also in 1936 secured his eighth and last Welsh title. In 1940, Heber was commissioned in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. On 8 June 1944 Thomas, now a flight lieutenant, was awarded the Air Force Cross (AFC). In 1946 he was a

squadron leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr or S/L) is a senior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence. Squadron leader is immediatel ...

and was killed piloting an

Avro Lancaster The Avro Lancaster, commonly known as the Lancaster Bomber, is a British World War II, Second World War heavy bomber. It was designed and manufactured by Avro as a contemporary of the Handley Page Halifax, both bombers having been developed to ...

bomber; after take-off from

RAF Aston Down Aston Down is in Gloucestershire, South West England, east of Minchinhampton, southeast of Stroud and west of Cirencester. The nearest settlement is the large village of Chalford, 1 mile (1.6 km) to the northwest. The airfield was used ...

all the engines failed and the bomber crashed into a nursing home at Brownshill near Chalford. He was buried at Haycombe Cemetery in Bath.Commonwealth 43825 Squadron Leader Reginald Heber Thomas
War Graves Commission

References

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 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 Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics Commonwealth Games silver medallists in athletics {{Wales-athletics-bio-stub