Pilot Officer William Ferguson Reid
Royal Canadian Air Force
Oyen, Alberta
Died: May 22, 1944
Commemorated at Runnymede Memorial, England
William Ferguson Reid, born June 26, 1922 at Oyen, Alberta, completed his education at Beaver Flat School in 1937 before working on the family farm near Oras, Alberta. Following enlistment at Calgary, Alberta July 30, 1942, Reid served with the Royal Canadian Air Force attached to No. 75 (New Zealand) Squadron (Ake Ake Kia Kaha) as a Pilot Officer (Air Gunner) during the Second World War. Part of No. 3 Group Bomber Command, the No. 75 operated Stirling and Lancaster bombers, carrying out minelaying missions over Hamburg, Essen, Nuremberg and Berlin.
On May 22, 1944, Pilot Officer (Air Gunner) William Ferguson Reid died while on air operations over Duisburg in the Ruhr valley in Germany. Taking off from RAF Station Mepal, Cambridgeshire, England, Reid and his aircrew disappeared without a trace. Reid is commemorated at Runnymede Memorial, Surrey, England and on a Memorial at RAF Station Mepal. Son of John and Edith L. (nee Gale) Reid; brother of Signalman Thomas Alexander Walter Reid (RCCS, died January 17, 1945), Edith L. May Reid and John Reid; he was 21 years old. Citation(s): 1939-45 Star, Air Crew Europe Star, Canadian Volunteer Service Medal and Clasp, War Medal 1939-45.
