Speyer, Lloyd George (Flight Lieutenant)
Killed in Action 1944-January-21
Birth Date: 1922-April-18
Born:
Parents: Son of Boris and Etta Speyer, of Toronto, Ontario.
Spouse:
Home: Toronto, Ontario
Enlistment:
Enlistment Date: unkown date
Service
RCAF
Unit
405 (PFF) Sqn- Squadron
Ducimus We Lead
Base
Gransden Lodge
Rank
Flight Lieutenant
Position
Navigator
Service Numbers
J/16300
Toronto, Ontario
Canadian Virtual War Memorial
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
www.findagrave.comCrew or Other Personnel
Lancaster JB188
Mission
Lancaster Mk.III JB188
Bombing Magdeburg germany 1944-January-21 to 1944-January-21
405 (PFF) Sqn (RCAF) Gransden Lodge
Battle of Berlin
648 aircraft - 42 I Lancasters, 224 Halifaxes, 3 Mosquitoes - on the first major raid to this target. The German controller again followed the progress of the bomber stream across the North Sea and many night fighters were in the stream before it crossed the German coast. The controller was very slow to identify Magdeburg as the target but this did not matter too much because most of the night fighters were able to stay in the bomber stream, a good example of the way the Tame Boar tactics were developing, 57 aircraft - 35 Halifaxes, 22 Lancasters - were lost, 8Ã"šÃ‚·8 per cent of the force; it is probable that three quarters of the losses were caused by German night fighters. The Halifax loss rate was I5.6 per cent!
The heavy bomber casualties were not rewarded with a successful attack. Some of the Main Force aircraft now had H2S and winds which were stronger than forecast brought some of these into the target area before the Pathfinders' Zero Hour. The crews of 27 Main Force aircraft were anxious to bomb and did so before Zero Hour. The Pathfinders blamed the fires started by this early bombing, together with some very effective German decoy markers, for their failure to concentrate the marking. No details are available from Magdeburg but it is believed that most of the bombing fell outside the city. An R.A.F. man who was in hospital at Magdeburg at the time reports only, 'bangs far away'.
source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt
Lancaster aircraft JB 188 missing from night operations over Madgeburg, Germany. Pilot Officer K.C. Wilson, Flight Lieutenant L.G. Speyer, Sergeants W. Good (RAF), J.H. Paul (RAF), R.rR,Stevens, B.R.Morrison and N. Pyke (RAF) were killed.
Lancaster serial: JB188
Avro Lancaster Mk. X RCAF Serial FM 213
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum
The Avro Lancaster is a British 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 the same specification, as well as the Short Stirling, all three aircraft being four-engined heavy bombers adopted by the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the same wartime era.
The Lancaster has its origins in the twin-engine Avro Manchester which had been developed during the late 1930s in response to the Air Ministry Specification P.13/36 for a capable medium bomber for "world-wide use". Originally developed as an evolution of the Manchester (which had proved troublesome in service and was retired in 1942), the Lancaster was designed by Roy Chadwick and powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins and in one version, Bristol Hercules engines. It first saw service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and as the strategic bombing offensive over Europe gathered momentum, it was the main aircraft for the night-time bombing campaigns that followed. As increasing numbers of the type were produced, it became the principal heavy bomber used by the RAF, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within the RAF, overshadowing the Halifax and Stirling. Wikipedia
Lancaster Bomber
Wikipedia
Harold A Skaarup Web PageUnit Desciption
405 (PFF) Sqn Ducimus ("Vancouver")
History of the Squadron during World War II (Aircraft: Wellington II, Halifax II, Lancaster I, III & X)
This was the first RCAF bomber squadron to be activated at Driffield, Yorkshire, England 
and flew its first mission on 12/13 June 1941. At that time it was a member of 4 Group of Bomber Command, and flew successively from Driffield, Pocklington and Topcliffe, Yorkshire, England. With Code Letters LQ It flew Wellington Mk II aircraft until converting to Halifax II in April 1942, in time for the first 1000-bomber raid on Cologne. In October 1942 it was transferred to Coastal Command No 18 Group, flying over the Bay of Biscay from Beaulieu, Hampshire. Returning to Bomber Command, the squadron joined No 6 (RCAF) Group and flew from Topcliffe and Leeming, Yorkshire in March and April 1943. It was then seconded to No. 8 (Pathfinder) Group and for the rest of the war flew from Grandsen Lodge, Bedfordshire, UK . Its first Pathfinder mission was on 26th April 1943, and its last on 25th April 1945. It was slated to become part of the "Tiger Force" to attack Japan, but the surrender of Japan precluded that, and the Squadron was disbanded at Greenwood, Nova Scotia on September 5th, 1945. One of the aircraft that flew briefly with the squadron was the first Canadian-built Lancaster Mk. X, KB700, christened the "Ruhr Express", which was subsequently transferred to 419 Sqn RCAF in December 1943.
Overall, the squadron flew 4427 sorties, of which 349 were with Coastal Command and 41 were in Operation Exodus, the repatriation of POWs. Nearly 25000 operational hours were logged together with 12,000 non-operational, and 12,856 tons of bombs were dropped. In the course of operations, 167 aircraft were lost with 937 aircrew. In the course of its history, squadron members were awarded 9 DSO's, 161 DFC's and 24 Bars to DFC's, 38 DFM's, 2 CGM's 2 BEM's and 11 MiD's. Battle Honours were: Fortress Europe 1941-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1941-45, Ruhr 1941-45, Berlin 1941; 1943-44, German Ports 1941-45, Normandy 1944, Walcheren, Rhine; Biscay 1942-43.Moyes, Kostenuk and Griffin
Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)
Maps for Movements of 405 Squadron 1941-45
MAP 1: 405 Squadron Movements in Yorkshire 1941-45 (right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab)
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MAP 2: 405 Squadron Movements in England 1941-45
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405 Sqn History Summary 1941-45
405 Sqn History Summary 1941-45 Page 2
History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Lancaster X, Neptune, Argus I & II, Aurora)
The squadron was re-formed as No 405 (Maritime Reconnaissance) Squadron at Greenwood, Nova Scotia on 31 March 1950, and redesignated No 405 (Maritime Patrol) Sqn on 17 July 1956. The squadron was the first of four formed in Maritime Air Command. It flew modified Lancaster Mk. X aircraft until mid-1955, when they were replaced by P2V7 Lockheed Neptunes, which gave an enhanced anti-submarine capability. and the first to fly Lancaster, Neptune and Argus aircraft on East Coast maritime duty. In April 1958 the squadron was given the distinction of being the first to fly the Canadian-built CP-107 Argus. The squadron made its last flight in the Argus on 10 November 1980 before introducing the CP-140 Aurora. On 1 February 1968 the squadron was integrated into the Canadian Armed Forces. It is now designated No 405 Long Range Patrol Squadron, flying from Greenwood, NS.
The squadron’s primary combat functions are Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) and Anti-Surface (ASUW). The Squadron regularly trains for its roles by participating in a number of naval exercises at home and abroad. However, most of its time is taken up in a number of non-combat roles, including search and rescue and support to other government departments, including counter-drug operations with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and fisheries patrols with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Year-round, the Squadron carries out sovereignty patrols covering the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and maritime areas of interest . During these patrols, 405 LRPS crews maintain a constant vigil for ships that discharge pollutants illegal at sea. Similarly, its crews verify that foreign and Canadian fishing vessels abide by their Canadian licensing agreements and report suspected violators to DFO patrol boats.
405 LRPS regularly deploys to a number of allied bases for an assortment of exercises and missions. Among its international training sites are US NAS Keflavik (Iceland), US NAS Sigonella (Sicily, Italy), US NAS Oceana (Virginia, USA), US NAS Jacksonville (Florida, USA), US NAS Roosevelt Roads (Puerto Rico), UK RAF Kinloss (Moray, Scotland),UK RAF Station St. Mawgan (Cornwall, England) and NL NAS Valkenburg (Netherlands).