Lloyd Gallaway was born on February 16, 1917, the son of Edgar E. Gallaway (born in Creemore, Simcoe County, Ontario) and Gertrude Effie (nee Hoare, born in Georgetown, Halton County, Ontario) Gallaway, of 130 Bright Street, Sarnia. Lloyd had three brothers, Raymond William Thomas (born 1912), Edgar, and Jack, and four sisters, Jean, Helen, Irma and Dorothy. In September 1942, Lloyd’s brother Edgar would celebrate his 20th birthday in England, having enlisted in Sarnia prior to that date, with the Eleventh Field Company, Royal Canadian Engineers, attaining the rank of Sapper. Lloyd Gallaway was a member of St. John’s Anglican Church and would also be a carrier for the Canadian Observer in Sarnia for a time. Lloyd attended Sarnia public schools and Sarnia Collegiate where he was an honour student during his years there. While in high school, Lloyd was on the business staff of the magazine in 1936, attended Air Cadets, was a member of the senior rugby team, and was part of the team that won the W.O.S.S.A. football championship in 1937.
In 1937, Lloyd assumed a position with Walker Stores Limited in Sarnia and was later given a promotion, and transferred to the compnay’s store in Barrie. He later returned to Sarnia, worked for a while with the W.B. Clark Company, and then re-entered the employ of Walker Stores. He would later be transferred to the company’s warehouse in Toronto. Single at the time, Lloyd enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in September 1939 at the Toronto Manning Pool. From that moment on, he loved the air force. In May 1941, Lloyd Gallaway would arrive in England along with three other Sarnia airmen: Sergeants William B. Clark (included in this project), John Bennett and J.D. Murray. Lloyd Gallaway would become a member of RCAF #61 Squadron “Per Puram Tunantes” (Thundering through the clear air), attaining the rank of Pilot Officer, and Wireless Operator/Air Gunner.
By September 1941, Lloyd Gallaway was taking part in bombing operations over German-occupied Europe. Ten months later, in July of 1942, he completed a gunnery leaders course in England. Following that, he was then with Coastal Command, which he described as, “Not very exciting” after being in all the recent “big shows” including bombing operations on “Cologne, Essen and Bremen in three or four nights.” With Coastal Command, rear gunner Lloyd Gallaway would sit in his rear turret hour after hour on the long Atlantic patrols. He described as;
Not very exciting, but it was often quiet back where I was on the bombing jobs. We just sat, first leaning on one side and then on the other to keep from getting cramped up and tired. All the time we kept looking out trying to spot night fighters, if it was a night raid. On some trips we didn’t see a thing and never opened up on anything unless we were pretty certain it was an enemy taking a bead on us. The best thing to do was just sit tight keeping our guns quiet unless we could plainly see a Jerry swinging about taking aim. In that case, according to Lloyd, there was only one thing to do – smack him.
During seventeen months of service Lloyd Gallaway took his place as one of the top-ranking Canadian fliers, and served with Australian and English crews. He was selected for many dangerous jobs and was frequently mentioned in news stories sent by Canadian Press writers from England. In the British motion picture “Target For Tonight” Lloyd was seen as an active airman. Many Sarnia people saw him when the movie was shown in Sarnia.
On October 1, 1942, while a part of a crew aboard a Lancaster aircraft, the aircraft crashed one mile north-east of Gunthorpe, Nottinghamshire. Along with Pilot Officer-Wireless Operator/Air Gunner Lloyd Gallaway, also killed were Sgt. F.G. Bellchambers (RAF), and five other non-Canadian members of the crew. Several days after the crash, parents Edgar and Gertrude Gallaway in Sarnia were advised by air force headquarters that their son Lloyd was killed in action. No other details were given in the message. Lloyd Gallaway would later be officially listed as, Killed during air operations, overseas. Lloyd Gallaway was posthumously awarded the rank of Pilot Officer, his third promotion since enlisting (he was listed as Flight-Sergeant at the time of his death). In a list of promotions prior to his death, the RCAF had mistakenly awarded the promotion to an “L.G. Hallaway”, of Sarnia in February of 1942. It was not until after his death that RCAF headquarters discovered their mistake. On the same day that the remains of Lloyd Gallaway were interred in the English cemetery, a funeral service was held in Sarnia’s St. John’s Anglican Church, which was attended by members of the Gallaway family, relatives and friends. Twenty-five year old Lloyd Gallaway is buried in Newark-Upon-Trent Cemetery, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom, Section P, Grave 305. On Lloyd Gallaway’s headstone are inscribed the words, So he passed over and all the trumpets sounded for him on the other side.
SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, R, 2C, 2D