LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Roy Vincent BOYD
Service No: 421786
Born: Grafton NSW, 15 December 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 March 1942
Unit: No. 58 Squadron (RAF), operating from RAF Station Brawdy, Dyfed
Died: Air Operations (No. 58 Squadron Halifax aircraft JP296), Atlantic Ocean, 21 August 1944, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Alfred Paul and Daisy Elizabeth Boyd, of Grafton, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: South Grafton NSW
Remembered: Panel 260, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 119, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: NSW Department of Education Teachers and Trainees WW2 Honour Roll, Sydney NSW
At 1955 hours on 20 August 1944 Halifax JP296 took off from RAF Station Brawdy to carry out an anti-submarine patrol north west of Bordeaux, France, between the mouth of the Gironde and La Pallice. The last signal was received from the aircraft at 0150 hours on the 21 August 1944, and it did not return to base after the mission.
The crew members of JP296 were:
Flight Sergeant Roy Vincent Boyd (421786) (Second Navigator)
Pilot Officer William Hugh Cockburn DFM (54764) (RAF) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Wing Commander J B Grant (33313) (RAF) (Pilot) Rescued
Warrant Officer Stanley Grieg (1207318) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
First Lieutenant C D Hendrickson (USAAF) (Second Pilot) Rescued, Killed in an Aircraft Accident: 16 October 1944 (in which Pilot Officer Henry Holmes Chapman (425488) was killed)
Flight Sergeant Mervyn Leonard Knight (1600010) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant G Martlew (RAF) (Flight Engineer) Rescued
Warrant Officer William Storrie Martin McKean (1020539) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator/Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Douglas Phillips DFC (143573) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Survivors later reported that while the aircraft was attacking 3 enemy submarines, JP296 was struck by fire from one of them, and the seriously damaged aircraft came down on the sea. Owing to the force of the impact the survivors were dazed and their recollections confused. But Flight Sergeant Boyd and three others were not seen again after the aircraft struck the sea. The dinghy was lost and the 5 survivors endeavoured to support themselves on small pieces of wreckage in the rough sea and the rain. Two of the five died before help arrived. After 10 and a half hours in the water the remaining three survivors were rescued by British warships, but they could find no trace of the other missing crew members.
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/6/665
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line