WWII Fighter Pilot
Lloyd Duncan THOMAS joined the Royal Canadian Air Force
on September 6th, 1940 at the recruiting office in Toronto, Ontario.
He was one of the many Americans who came north prior to the American entry into
the war on December 8th, 1941. He began his military life on
November 29th, 1940 at the #1 Initial Training School at Toronto
where he took his basic training . At # 1 ITS he was taught how to wear a
uniform, march, and how to shoot a rifle. He was a little older ( at 25 ) than
most of his classmates and this maturity was a benefit that would help him
throughout his career. He graduated 4th in his class on January 4th,
1941 and was selected for pilot training. Lloyd took his basic pilots training at the # 9
Elementary Flight Training School at St. Catherine’s, Ontario. His training
there began with ground school where he learned the principals of flight and how
to read instruments. Eventually he went on to primary flight in the tiny Tiger
Moth bi-plane. He graduated 8th in his class on March 21st,
1941 and was rated an average pilot. In the RCAF and the RAF a pilot’s abilities
was always “understated.” So, and average pilot was actually a good pilot. Lloyd was among the best, so he was chosen to be a
fighter pilot and therefore was sent to the # 6 Intermediate Service Flight
School at Dunnville, Ontario. Here Lloyd was trained on the Harvard (known in
the U.S.A. as the AT-6 Texan) advanced single engine trainer. He graduated 6th
in his class (rated as an above average [or excellent] pilot) on May 16th,
1941. On that day he was awarded his white pilots wings and was promoted to
Pilot Officer. Lloyd then departed for England and training on real fighter
planes. Lloyd arrived in England in early June of 1941 and
waited until a spot at an Operational Training Unit (OTU) came open. On July 21st,
1941 Lloyd arrived at #57 OTU in Wrexham, Wales. It was here that he finally got
to fly a real fighter plane, the Spitfire Mk1. Most of his instructors were
recent Battle of Britain veterans who were there not only to instruct the
students on how to fly a Spitfire, but also how to survive and win in aerial
combat. After completing his operational training Lloyd was
finally posted to an operational fighter squadron, # 132 (City of Bombay)
Squadron, Royal Air Force at Martlesham Heath, England ( he would fly as an
American member of the Royal Canadian Air Force but in Royal Air Force Squadrons
for his entire service) . The recently formed unit was flying the new Spitfire
Mk 2. Upon arrival he was encouraged to start flying immediately, in order to
complete as many hours on the Spitfires as possible before the unit had to
engage the Luftwaffe. In October the Squadron saw its first action, crossing
the English channel to tangle with Jagdgeschwader 26, the famous Luftwaffe
Fighter Group that was then posted in Northwestern France. JG26 were flying
the Messerschmitt BF-109, the Luftwaffe’s best fighter at the time. In late November Lloyd was assigned to join the Middle
East / Far East command. He left on December 2nd, 1941 (five days
before the attack on Pearl Harbor) flying to Freetown, Sierra Leone, Africa.
Once there he was assigned to the Far East (some pilots were assigned to go to
North Africa instead). Finally, on February 2nd, 1942 Lloyd arrived
at Rangoon, Burma where he joined 17 Squadron, Royal Air Force, flying from
Mingaladon Airfield. His new commanding officer was Squadron Leader
C.A.C.“Bunny” Stone, DFC. The Japanese, fresh from success at Singapore were
hitting Rangoon hard and Lloyd arrived right in the middle of it. The Squadron
were flying the Hawker Hurricane Mk 2a. They were fighting a desperate
defensive battle alongside the famous American Volunteer Group (AVG) known as
the Flying Tigers, who were flying the P-40 Warhawk. Unfortunately they were
terribly outnumbered. Although they put up a tremendous fight, they were
eventually driven back to India. (The battle in Burma is chronicled in detail
by Lloyd’s Flight Commander M.C. “Bush” Cotton in his book about 17 Sqn,
“Hurricanes Over Burma”). The squadron, suffering heavy casualties and down to
only a few planes, was reformed at Calcutta, India in June, 1942. Here they
were restaffed and were issued replacement aircraft ( Hurricane Mk2b). Lloyd,
having been in combat for a year (and by now a Flying Officer) was posted to
Headquarters on August 25th, 1942, to work as a staff officer, and to
take a much deserved rest. On October 12th he was posted to #3 A.A.
Flight, then on December 1st he was returned to the duties of a
fighter pilot with #5 Squadron who were flying Curtiss Mohawks from Chittagong
on the Arakan front of India. His commanding officer was Squadron Leader G.J.C.
Hogan DFC. At the time 5 Sqn were involved in air to air combat against the
Japanese who were flying from airfields in Burma. On April 21st, 1943
now Flight Lieutenant Lloyd “Tommy” Thomas was posted as a staff officer again
to the H.Q. at Ramu, India. He returned to 5 Squadron as a flight commander (2nd
in command of the Squadron) on January 1st, 1944. In his absence the
squadron had converted to Hurricane 2Cs fitted with wing racks for carrying 250
and 500 pound bombs and had relocated to Sapam airfield in the Imphal Valley.
These Hurri-Bombers were used in the ground attack mode to go after Japanese
ground troops, airbases and vehicle columns. ( 5 Squadron’s exploits are
covered in detail in Norman Franks book “The Air Battle of Imphal” ) In March of
1944 The Japanese invaded India thus initiating the largest land battle in the
Pacific Theater during World War 2. The Squadrons in the valley operated under
terrible conditions with poor food and airfields covered in mud, while the
Japanese were, at times, less than 200 yards away. On April 18th, 1944 at 2:50 p.m. Lloyd took
off in his Hurricane (Serial # LD 580) leading a flight to attack any Japanese
troops they could find across the mountains in Burma. At 3:50 p.m. Lloyd was
leading the flight as it screamed over the Japanese airfield at Kawlin. As he
dropped down to make his strafing run he was struck by ground fire. His plane
nosed into the ground and exploded into a ball of fire. Lloyd was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for
Gallantry on April 28th, 1944. He is buried with many of his
comrades at the Taukkyan Commonwealth Military Cemetery, Yangon, Myanmar
(formerly Rangoon, Burma)