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Hector Lochhead
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Born at Ridgeville on 6 February 1924, one of seven children of farmers George David Lochhead and Minnie Chanesky, he graduated grade 9 at the Green Ridge School in 1939. He was living at home and working on the family farm when he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force on 9 December 1942.
He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant on 23 July 1943, the day he qualified as an Air Gunner. He proceeded overseas on 22 August 1943 and was promoted to the rank of Flight Sergeant on 23 April 1944. On 12 August 1944, he was commissioned as a Pilot Officer, and, on 16 October 1944, he joined 298 Squadron at RAF Tarrant Rushton, England. On 12 February 1945, he was promoted to the rank of Flying Officer.
Thirteen days after his promotion, on 25 February 1945, he was on Halifax aircraft NA103 when it departed RAF Station Tarrant Rushton on a night supply drop to Norwegian agents in southern Norway. Intense enemy flak was encountered on the return flight while crossing the Norwegian coast and an aircraft was seen to be shot down at 2344 hours. The unidentified aircraft blew up in the air and crashed in the sea off the south coast of Norway, where the wreckage was seen to burn for approximately two minutes. Halifax NA103 was the only aircraft reported missing from this operation and it is assumed that it was the aircraft observed. In August 1988, a cairn was erected on Hisoy Island, Norway, in honour of the crew of Halifax NA103.
He is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial in Brookwood Cemetery in Surrey, England. In 1971, the Province of Manitoba named Lochhead Lake in his honour.
This page was prepared by Robert Nash.
Page revised: 24 May 2024
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