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R.A.F. 42768 Flight Lieutenant Thomas Douglas Inglis ROBISON. (surname underlined)
Parents Mr. & Mrs. W. Robison of Invercargill.

Born at Invercargill on the 14th February 1918, Thomas Robison received his secondary education at Southland Boys' High School passing the Matriculation examination in 1935. He played cricket for his school first eleven and other sports of his were rugby and swimming. After leaving school he accepted an appointment as a clerk with the Southland Frozen Meat and Produce Export Co., Ltd., Invercargill. In June 1938 he applied for a Short Service Commission in the Royal Air Force and on being provisionally selected embarked on the "Rimitaka" at Lyttleton on the 27th June 1939 to proceed to the United Kingdom.

On arriving in England he reported to Air Ministry where he was confirmed in his appointment to a Short Service commission for four years from the 8th August 1939 in the commencing rank of pilot officer and instructed to proceed on the same date to No. 18 Elementary and Reserve Flying Training School, Gatwick, Surrey. This preliminary training completed, he was posted on the 9th October to the Royal Air Force Initial Training Wing, Hastings, for a short course in service procedure. Following this he proceeded on the 21st October to No. 3 Service Flying Training School, South Cerney (was South Arney), Gloucestershire for training on service type aircraft. While here on the 31st January 1940 he was awarded his Flying Badge. His next posting was on the 28th April 1940 to No. 10 Operational Training Unit, Abingdon, Berkshire to crew-up and receive his operational training on Whitley bomber aircraft prior to being posted on the 29th June 1940 to No. 58 Squadron, Linton-On-Ouse, Yorkshire, and commencing operational flying. With this squadron as pilot of a Whitley bomber he took part in thirty-two operational flights including attacks on Kiel, Leverkusen, Wismar, Bremen (2), Hamburg (4), Jena (2), Berlin (3), Regensburg, Osnabruck, Madgeburg, Gelsenkirchen, Rilitz, Weesemunde (2) and Rhuland all in Germany; Rotterdam and Gravenboich in Holland; Zeebrugge in Belgium; Le Havre in France, and Milan, Turin (2) and Genoa in Italy. This tour of operations completed, on the 16th December 1940 he was posted to No .35 Squadron also stationed at Linton-On-Ouse. It was while he was with this squadron that on the 28th April 1941 he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant. During April he attended an instrument flying course with No. 1 Beam Approach Training Flight, Abingdon, Berkshire at the conclusion of