Lane, Reginald John

Date of birth:: January 4th, 1920 (Victoria/British Columbia, Canada)
Date of death:: October 2nd, 2003 (Victoria/British Columbia, Canada)
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

Reginald Lane went to public school in Victoria and after graduating worked for the Hudson Bay Company. He joined the RCAF in September of 1940. After pilot training in Canada, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan, Lane arrived in England in July of 1941. He flew his first mission in November of that year, as a second pilot on a Halifax.
His last operational flight was just before D Day in June 1944 when he acted as the master bomber over Caen in Normandy.
After the war he stayed on in the air force, attending the Imperial Defence College in England in1946. He rose in the air force hierarchy and took command of the RCAF base in Edmonton. Later he returned to Europe twice, the second time as chief of staff of the RCAF’s No.1 Air Division at Metz, Germany.
When the Army, Navy and Air Force became the Canadian Armed Forces on February 1, 1968, his rank changed from Air Vice-Marshal to Major-General.
In August 1969 he became Deputy Commander of Mobile Command in Montreal, then commander of the transport base at Trenton, Ontario. In 1972, with the rank of Lieutenant-General, he moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado as deputy commander of the North American Air Defence Command (NORAD).
After retiring he worked for a while as a defence consultant before moving full time to Victoria. He was active in air force associations in Canada and in England. He was a patron of the Yorkshire Air Museum, which has the only surviving Halifax.

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Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Acting Flight Lieutenant
Unit:: No. 35 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Awarded on:: September 22nd, 1942

Recommendation:
"This officer has carried out a total of 23 operational sorties involving a total of 137 flying hours. Targets attacked include Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne (3), Mannheim, Bremen (3), two daylight raids on the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau at Brest, and two low level attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz in Aason Fjord at Trondheim. These attacks were carried out from a height of 150 feet (on consecutive nights) in the face of intense opposition from the battleship and gun batteries on both sides of the fjord.
Flight Lieutenant Lane's tour of operations has proved to be one of steadfast determination to reach his target. The operational work of his crew has been outstanding for the accuracy and consistency with which it has been carried out. His skill as a pilot and his coolness under enemy fire and also in bad weather conditions has inspired his crew with extreme confidence and made him a captain who is of outstanding value to his squadron.
For this record of fine service, courageous devotion to duty, and his unquestionable fine qualities of captaincy, Flight Lieutenant Lance is strongly recommended for the non-immediate award of the Distinguished Flying Cross."

Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Squadron Leader
Unit:: No. 35 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Awarded on:: April 1943

Citation:
"Squadron Leader Lane has been engaged in operational duties for a long period and over a wide range of targets. His missions have been marked by unvarying success. As a flight commander, Squadron Leader Lane has rendered most valuable service and his leadership and example have been inspiring to all the aircrew with whom he has come into contact. This officer has recently been employed in pathfinder duties of a highly specialised nature over such targets as Berlin, Stuttgart and Munich and by his courage and devotion to duty has achieved many outstanding successes. "

Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC)

Period:: Second World War (1939-1945)
Rank:: Acting Group Captain
Unit:: No. 35 Squadron, Royal Air Force
Awarded on:: November 14th, 1944

Citation:
"Group Captain Lane has completed many attacks on heavily defended targets in Germany. He has constantly displayed a fine fighting spirit throughout his operational career and has proved himself an officer of outstanding ability whose courage, cheerfulness and keen sense of duty have been an inspiration to his crews."

Awarded as a bar.