Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 145 On 4 June 1944, two Nova Scotia airmen were sent on ‘temporary duty’ to 4 Repair Depot, RCAF, in Scoudouc, NB, from their base in Reykjavik, Iceland. They were tasked with inspecting a brandnew Canso A aircraft and, if the inspection went well, accepting the plane on behalf of 162 Bomber Reconnaissance Squadron of the RCAF. Warrant Officer II Robert Densmore Harvey was from Ellershouse N.S. and Flying Officer Willis Hilson Lloyd was from Berwick. Harvey was a wireless operator/air gunner (WAG) and Lloyd was a pilot. Their squadron buddy Pilot Officer Elliot Watson of Sarnia ON, another WAG, was also along for the trip. On 1 July 1944 the inspection was successfully completed and on 5 July Canso A 11062 with Lloyd, Harvey and Watson on board took off for Reykjavik. Robert Harvey was born in Ellershouse in 1914 and had had held various jobs farming, lumbering and on road construction sites prior to enlisting in the RCAF on 27 June 1941 in Halifax. In January 1943 Robert married Myrtle Evelyn Rooney in Denison, NS. He trained and qualified as a wireless operator/air gunner (WAG) and started serving with 162 BR Squadron in June 1943 conducting anti-submarine patrols from Yarmouth to Halifax . Flying Officer Willis Hilson Lloyd was born in Waterville, NS, in April 1921. He graduated from high school in 1937 and was working as a bank clerk at the Royal Bank of Canada in Berwick when he enlisted in the RCAF. He was trained as a pilot and received his pilot wings on 25 June 1943 at 8 Service Flying Training School, Moncton. In October he was posted to 162 BR Squadron. Lloyd and Harvey arrived in Reykjavik Iceland, with the rest of 162 BR Squadron on 2 January 1944. While 162 BR Squadron continued to search and destroy/suppress German U-Boats east of Iceland to protect the convoys of cargo ships, a new emphasis of concern came to the fore in March. The anti-submarine aircraft of Coastal Command started concentrating on putting a “cork” into all approaches to the English Channel. 162 BR Squadron became part of the air forces dedicated to bottling up the northern approaches to the English Channel. This was part of the Allies’ denial operations in preparations for D-Day. Lloyd, Harvey and Watson delivered the brand-new CansoA11062 to 162 BR Squadron on 6 June. The plane and its crew were posted on temporary duty to Wick, Scotland, on 25 July. On 29 July 11062 took-off from Wick at 1255 hours for anti-U-Boat patrol. RCAF and Shetland historians tell us more of the story: WOII Robert Harvey The short life of Canso A 11062 Story by Gary Silliker PBY-5A Canso FO Willis Hilson Lloyd continued ...
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