Page 107 - They Also Served

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Owen Boyd 1910.
Owen Tudor Boyd was born in
Marylebone on 30th August 1889.
Commissioned from Sandhurst into
the Indian Army on 20th January 1909,
he, as was common at the time, spent a
one-year attachment with a British unit
in India before joining the 5th Cavalry
Regiment. Volunteering for pilot training
soon after the start of the Great War, he
completed his training and embarked for
France on 22nd May 1916, joining 27 Squadron and flying the unpromisingly named Martinsyde G.100 ‘Elephant’ – a single-seat fighter-bomber.
Awarded the MC for his time with 27 Squadron, Boyd was posted to the Sopwith Pup-equipped 66 Squadron, which he commanded for most of 1917. Finally, after gaining experience in staff posts, he commanded 72 Squadron in Mesopotamia from July 1918 to early 1919. Further awarded the OBE, AFC, and MiD in the post-war honours lists, he was granted a permanent commission in August 1919. Steadily rising through the ranks during the inter-war years, Boyd attended the Staff College, Camberley, in 1926 as one of the three RAF officers on the course, then returned as the sole RAF instructor two years later. In 1937, he was promoted to air vice-marshal and awarded the CB for his time as RAF director of personal services. In late 1938, with war looming, Boyd was the first head of RAF Balloon Command, responsible for the operation of thousands of barrage balloons which were to play a huge part in defending static sites during the Blitz. Finally, in November 1940, he was appointed deputy air officer in chief Middle East in the rank of air marshal.
As part of his pre-deployment training, Boyd was briefed on the top secret ‘Ultra’ project by which Axis signals were decoded by staff at sites such as Bletchley Park. However, as he was en route to Egypt with his ADC, Flight Lieutenant John Leeming, the pilot strayed off course and the Wellington Bomber was forced down by Italian fighters, crash-landing in Sicily. Boyd’s captors had no idea of his importance and made little attempt to interrogate him as they revelled in the capture of such a high-ranking officer. At first, imprisoned in a hotel, the portly Boyd tried to escape but became stuck in the window and had to be wrenched free by Leeming. Eventually,
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