Lloyd Vernon "Chad" Chadburn DSO &

Bar Bar or BAR may refer to: Food and drink * Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages * Candy bar * Chocolate bar Science and technology * Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment * Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud * Bar (u ...

, DFC (21 August 1919 – 13 June 1944) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

fighter pilot A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained to engage in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground combat and sometimes electronic warfare while in the cockpit of a fighter aircraft. Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and ...

Biography

Birth

Lloyd Chadburn was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

on 21 August 1919, later moving with his parents to

Oshawa, Ontario Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...

as an infant. He grew up there and in

Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), also commonly known as the polar lights, is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras display dynamic patterns of bri ...

. He worked as a bank clerk at the

Bank of Toronto The Bank of Toronto was a Canadian bank that was founded in 1855 by a group of grain dealers and flour millers. On February 1, 1955, it merged with The Dominion Bank to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank, which is now known as the present-day TD Ban ...

and as a salesman for the Red Rose Tea Company.

Career

Chadburn applied to enlist in both the Army and Navy in 1939, but was turned down both times. After a spell working for General Motors and with the Bank of Toronto, he was accepted by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) as an Air Gunner in April 1940, but re-mastered as a

Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

. He graduated from the Number 2 Flight Training School in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

on 9 October 1940 as a

Pilot Officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

. In December 1940 Chadburn was posted to ''Number 112 (Army Cooperation) Squadron'' flying

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

s and made his first operational flight in March 1941. He was posted to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1941, and joined ''412 Squadron (RCAF)'' in June 1941, moving to ''19 Squadron (RAF)'' in September. In February 1942 Chadburn was posted to ''Number 416 (RCAF) Squadron'' in

Peterhead Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phàdraig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

as a

Flight Lieutenant Flight lieutenant is a junior commissioned rank in air forces that use the Royal Air Force (RAF) system of ranks, especially in Commonwealth countries. It has a NATO rank code of OF-2. Flight lieutenant is abbreviated as Flt Lt in the India ...

. Days later he took over command of the squadron, becoming the first graduate of the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...

to lead a Fighter Command squadron. He was also the youngest

Squadron Leader Squadron leader (Sqn Ldr in the RAF ; SQNLDR in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly sometimes S/L in all services) is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many countries which have historical British influence. It is also ...

in the RCAF at the age of 21. Promoted to squadron leader, Chadburn and ''416 Squadron'' flew defensive missions over

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...

on 19 August 1942, covering the Canadian and Allied raid and claiming his first air victories. He was then awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. After a period of leave in Canada, he was posted to ''No. 402 Squadron'' and then ''No. 403 Squadron'', prior to his promotion to

Wing Commander Wing commander (Wg Cdr in the RAF, the IAF, and the PAF, WGCDR in the RNZAF and RAAF, formerly sometimes W/C in all services) is a senior commissioned rank in the British Royal Air Force and air forces of many countries which have historical ...

for the RAF Digby Wing in June 1943. He led the Wing in flying escort to American bombers and the RAF medium bombers of

No. 2 Group No. 2 Group is a Group (military aviation unit)#United Kingdom, group of the Royal Air Force which was first activated in 1918, served from 1918–20, from 1936 through the Second World War to 1947, from 1948 to 1958, from 1993 to 1996, was react ...

. He was supposedly dubbed ''The Angel'' for his escort would assure the bomber crews a safe passage to and from the target. On 3 November 1943 the Wing claimed seven Bf 109's of II./

JG 3 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 3 (JG 3) "Udet" was a '' Luftwaffe'' fighter wing of World War II. The ''Geschwader'' operated on all the German fronts in the European Theatre of World War II. It was named after Ernst Udet, an important figure in the dev ...

(five were actually lost), with Chadburn claiming two personally. By the time Chadburn left the ''Digby Wing'' in December he had received the

Distinguished Service Order The Distinguished Service Order (DSO) is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, as well as formerly of other parts of the Commonwealth, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typ ...

twice, the first RCAF officer to be so decorated and was one of only four in history. In early 1944, he was appointed Wing Commander, Fighter Operations at RCAF Group Headquarters Overseas. He was sent back to Canada for a War Bond drive in the spring and upon his return was made wing commander of ''Number 127'' Wing RCAF, comprising 403, 421 and 416 Squadrons.

Death

On 13 June 1944, Chadburn was killed in a mid-air collision with another Spitfire pilot while taking off from a landing strip in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. He was 24 years of age.

Honours

Chadburn's record includes five enemy airplanes destroyed (three shared), five aircraft probably destroyed (one shared), seven aircraft damaged (two shared), two

E-boats E-boat was the Western Allies' designation for the fast attack craft (German: ''Schnellboot'', or ''S-Boot'', meaning "fast boat") of the Kriegsmarine during World War II; ''E-boat'' could refer to a patrol craft from an armed motorboat to a lar ...

destroyed, and another two damaged, as well as a destroyer damaged. Chadburn was made a Chevalier (

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

) in the French

Légion d'honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

and awarded the Croix de Guerre avec Palme. Only three RCAF officers received the Légion d'honneur, and Chadburn was the only one to receive the Croix de Guerre. His name is listed on the memorial in

Northern Secondary school Northern Secondary School (often referred to as Northern Secondary, Northern, or NSS) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It teaches grades 9 through 12. It is a part of the Toronto District School Board (TDSB). Prior to Amalgama ...

in Toronto Ontario which he attended.

Sources

Gone is the Angel - Biography of Lloyd Chadburn

References

External links

Canadian Aces - Lloyd Chadburn
Resting place {{DEFAULTSORT:Chadburn, Lloyd 1919 births 1944 deaths Canadian World War II flying aces Canadian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Military personnel from Montreal Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom) Royal Canadian Air Force officers Canadian military personnel killed in World War II Royal Canadian Air Force personnel of World War II