- Died
- 17 May 1943, aged 32
- Fate
- Killed in action
Biography
Pilot Officer Vernon William Byers was a Canadian serving in the Royal Canadian Air Force, and one of the last pilots to join No. 617 Squadron before the Dams Raid, with little time to train for it. On the night of 16/17 May 1943 he flew Lancaster ED934 ‘K for King’ in the second wave, detailed against the Sorpe Dam. Crossing the Dutch coast at low level near the island of Texel, his aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and shot down into the sea at around 11 p.m. — the first crew lost on Operation Chastise. Byers has no known grave and is commemorated on the Runnymede Memorial.
Burial / commemoration
- Cemetery
- Runnymede Memorial, United Kingdom
Operations on this date. 2 raids in this archive were flown on the night of 17 May 1943: Operation Chastise · Operation Chastise - The 'dambusters' Raid. (Cross-reference by date — not in itself confirmation this airman flew it.)
Timeline
-
16 May 1943
Flew Operation Chastise
Pilot, ED934 AJ-K — Crashed outbound -
17 May 1943
Died
aged 32
Crew & operations
Flew as Pilot with No. 617 Squadron (Dambusters).
- Operation Chastise (16 May 1943) — aircraft ED934 AJ-K (Avro Lancaster) — Crashed outbound
Crew: Arthur Neville Whitaker (Bomb aimer) · Alastair James Taylor (Flight engineer) · Charles McAllister Jarvie (Front gunner) · James Herbert Warner (Navigator) · James McDowell (Rear gunner) · John Wilkinson (Wireless operator)