Leading Aircraftsman Lawrence Reynolds

Leading Aircraftsman Lawrence Reynolds was 20 years old when he died.  He was the gunner/ radio operator in a light bomber called a Fairey Battle, the lead aircraft in a raid on bridges crossing the Albert Canal in Belgium on 12 May 1940.  He is buried in Heverlee War Cemetery near Leuven next to the two other members of his crew, Flying Officer Donald Garland, the pilot, and the navigator/observer, Flight Sergeant Thomas Gray.  Gray was 26 and Garland was 21.

 

The crew were part of No. 12 Squadron, RAF and their flight had been based at the village of Amifontaine, France from the previous December.

The Fairey Battle was a slow and poorly armed aircraft and suffered heavily in the campaign for France that year.  German fighters had better armament, could fly much faster and were far more maneuverable; in reality the bomber was a sitting duck for ground and air defenses.  Two hundred of these aircraft were lost in the fight to defend France in a 6 week period.

The disposition of crew in the long cockpit of the aircraft placed the pilot in front, the navigator/bombardier behind him and the gunner/radio operator at the rear manning the light machine gun. 

During the attack on the bridge, which was heavily defended by the invading German forces with anti-aircraft guns and by fighter aircraft, Pilot Officer Garland led his flight through the defenses to damage but not entirely demolish the bridge.  Only one aircraft made it back to base.  

Garland and Gray were awarded posthumously the highest award for bravery in action for a British serviceman, the Victoria Cross. The formal citation from the London Gazette in the Wikipedia entry provides the details.  Aircraftsman Lawrence Reynolds received no medal yet he made the same journey and died a millisecond and few feet away.

A Vickers VC-10 of 101 Squadron is now named 'Donald Garland VC & Thomas Gray VC'. 

During 2005, to mark its 90th anniversary, No.12 Squadron RAF flew a Tornado GR4 with Garland and Gray's name painted under its cockpit as a mark of respect.

The respect for Lawrence Reynolds can be found in the military cemetery near Leuven, Belgium and in the entry at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.  It says:

 “Lawrence Royston Reynolds, Leading Aircraftman Radio Operator (Air) 550860, 12 Sqdn., Royal Air Force who died on 12 May 1940 Age 20, Son of Arthur Lawrence Reynolds and Harriet Wilson Reynolds, of Onslow Village, Guildford, Surrey.

"Remembered with Honour, Heverlee War Cemetery.”