No regrets in a remarkable life
A RETIRED Gold Coast pilot whose service career saw him made a Member of the Order of Australia has been remembered as a patriotic Australian, staunch friend, mentor and devoted family man.
A distinguished, decorated and skilled military pilot, Hedley Robert Thomas passed away at the Gold Coast Private Hospital on March 14, his wife Donna and family by his side. He was 77.
Mrs Thomas had been at her husband’s bedside since he was hospitalised after suffering an abdominal aneurysm on Australia Day.
Mr Thomas is survived by his four children with first wife Diana (who died in 2005) – son Hedley and daughters Rebecca Frizelle, Peta Peters and Kate Whittaker – stepson Cameron and grandchildren Candice, Ben, Georgia, Alexander, Alexandra, Sarah, James, Olivia and Mia.
Mr Thomas was farewelled by family and friends at a celebration of his life on the Gold Coast at the weekend following a private cremation.
Hedley Thomas Jnr, an award-winning journalist and author, told the gathering his father was “a man who was miles wide and miles deep”.
“He understood and remembered just about everything he learned and read,” Mr Thomas said in his eulogy.
Born in Orange in 1940, Mr Thomas Snr was a NSW state champion swimmer whose coach, Forbes Carlysle, saw a potential Olympian.
He joined the RAAF in 1958 and was posted to No.9 Squadron, RAAF, in Vietnam in May 1968. He served with distinction as a 28-year-old chopper pilot in Vietnam, where his courage under fire saw him twice mentioned in dispatches.
“He would perform rescues known as ‘hot extractions’ of Australian, Kiwi and US soldiers as the sky around him lit up with enemy rockets and tracer fire,” Mr Thomas said.
“These experiences left him with lasting stress and torment which he bore with private stoicism, helped greatly by the love and patience of Donna.”
Mr Thomas Snr, who was made a Member of the Order of Australia on January 26, 1978, instructed hundreds of pilots in Singapore, Saudi Arabia, the US and Australia and was a decorated commanding officer of a UN force in the Middle East in the late 1970s.
His many friends from aviation included Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston, who sent a warm condolence note to Mrs Thomas following his former colleague’s death.
“I first met Hedley in 1972 when he took me sailing and we capsized spectacularly directly in front of the sailing club in Canberra,” he wrote.
“We became good friends and I was privileged and very lucky to serve and fly under him when he was commanding officer No.5 Squadron.
“He was an outstanding commander who always led by example and worked tirelessly for the welfare of squadron members. More than that, he was the complete officer and a gentleman.”
Free with his time and wisdom, Mr Thomas Snr was also an astronomer, cross-theworld solo yachtsman, motorcycle enthusiast and mentor and ‘sounding board’ to many.
“He was very funny, confident, self-deprecating, full of wisdom,” Mr Thomas Jnr said.
“He had no regrets after a truly remarkable life.”