Members’ Statement
May 1, 2024

Mr. Len Webber (Calgary Confederation, CPC): Mr. Speaker, it is the 100^th Anniversary of the Royal Canadian Airforce.

Today I think of Warrant Officer Lloyd Joseph Stock who joined in 1940, during World War II, at the age of 29. He received his wings in Brandon, Manitoba before going to serve in England.

As part of the Coastal Command’s 220 Bomber Squadron he had to protect the Merchant Marine Ships by hunting German U-boats and submarines. It was dangerous work, a lot more dangerous than his job as a florist before the war.

On a sortie over the Bay of Biscay in 1942, Lloyd’s plane was shot down. His crew had just 35 seconds to bail out into a rubber dinghy.  They survived 30 hours in the cold Atlantic before an Australian Sunderland float plane rescued them.

In spite of his crash Warrant Officer Lloyd Stock completed 22 sorties. Sadly, the rest of his crew did not survive the war. Lest we forget.

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