210444 William B. Lloyd Royal Air Force 106 Squadron from:Toronto, ON. My grandfather, William B Lloyd, served as both a Rear and Mid-Upper Tail Gunner in World War II. He was trained at No. 3 B & G school in Macdonald' Manitoba. Then embarked from Halifax to go overseas in October of 1943. He was staying in Bournemouth for a few months and was in and out of the hospital due to severe bronchitis.
From his logbook it states that he was at No. 17 O.T.U Turweston from December 14 1943 - February 20 1944 and was in the hospital again for the rest of Feb and March of '44. In April - May 1944, he was stationed at No. 1661 Heavy Conversion Unit in Winthorpe and then at the end of May and June 1944 at RAF Syerston where he started with the following crew:
- Pilot Jack Netherwood
- Navigator H S Wyatt
- Bomb Aimer Glen Hendry
- Wireless A.G L.J Lucas
- Mid Upper A.G A.R Parisani
- Rear A.G - W.B Lloyd
From June of 1944 through to February of 1945 he was stationed at RAF Metheringham in Squadron 106. He completed 13 Ops with his original crew and then became grounded from flying due to bursting his ear drums and severe colds while the rest of his crew finished their tour. Once cleared to fly again he completed 6 Ops as a "Spare Bod" gunner flying with any crew that needed him. The next 11 Ops he completed with an Australian crew and Skipper by the name of Gord Laidlaw.
In March of 1945 he and the Australian crew were stationed at RAF Coningsby as part of the Pathfinder Force, Squadron 83. They completed 3 Ops there. In total my grandfather completed 18 OPS as a rear gunner, and 15 as a Mid Upper. A total of 33 trips.
I was fortunate enough to conduct an interview with him about his time in the war a few years before he passed away. As well he kept his flying logbook in great condition and his mother kept all the letters he wrote home to her as well. With these documents I have spliced together his war time experience. I am honoured to have a grandfather who was proud to fight for his country and freedom and survive as well. I hope my contributions to this website are insightful in some way.
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