Lloyd Trigg

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Lloyd Allan Trigg, 1943

Lloyd Allan Trigg VC (born May 5, 1914 in Houhora , New Zealand , † August 11, 1943 ) was a New Zealand fighter pilot in World War II .

On August 11, 1943, Lloyd Trigg, in action with his Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber , which was manned by seven other airmen in addition to him, in the British RAF Squadron 200 , the German commanded by Oberleutnant zur See Klemens Schamong Submarine U 468 southwest of Dakar and attacked it with depth charges . The fire was returned by U 468 with its 20 mm flak and the aircraft set on fire. Nevertheless, Lloyd Trigg attacked again with the badly hit, burning Liberator and unloaded the bomb load over the submarine. Depth bombs hitting the water right next to it were enough to hit the submarine so hard that water penetrated it and formed chlorine gas , which meant the death of most of the crew members. The Liberator crashed into the sea with an explosion, killing all of her eight crew members, including Lloyd Trigg - as well as 44 men of the submarine crew. Only seven members of the crew of U 468 - including the commander Klemens Schamong, two other officers and a NCO - were able to save themselves from the sinking submarine in a lifeboat that came from Lloyd Trigg's crashed Liberator . On August 13, the dinghy was discovered by the British corvette HMS Clarkia , and the seven German castaways were taken on board as British prisoners of war . During the interrogations that followed, Klemens Schamong described the duel between Liberator and U 468 to the British officers in detail , in which both fell victim.

Trigg received the Victoria Cross, the highest war award of the armed forces of the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth of Nations for outstanding bravery in the face of the enemy, which can only be bestowed on the recommendation of an officer . For him, and for him alone, the award was made based on the stories of an enemy officer - First Lieutenant Klemens Schamong from U-468 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Lloyd Trigg and crew die as they sink U-Boat. In: ww2today.com. Retrieved February 19, 2017 .
  2. ^ "U 468", Interrogation of Survivors. CB 04051 (85), October 1943, on U-468, Uboatarchive.net.
  3. ↑ LLOYD TRIGG VC. In: victoriacross.org.uk. May 7, 1998. Retrieved February 19, 2017 .
  4. ^ Lloyd Trigg VC. In: nzhistory.govt.nz. Retrieved February 19, 2017 .
personal data
SURNAME Trigg, Lloyd
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Trigg, Lloyd Allan (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand fighter pilot
DATE OF BIRTH May 5, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Houhora , New Zealand
DATE OF DEATH August 11, 1943