Lloyd Trigg

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Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use New Zealand English Template:Infobox military person Flying Officer Lloyd Allan Trigg VC DFC (5 May 1914 or 5 June 1914 – 11 August 1943), of Houhora, New Zealand, was a pilot in the RNZAF during World War II. He was a posthumous recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy for British and Commonwealth armed forces, and received the award for pressing home an attack on a German U-boat in August 1943. He was killed in the action. His award is unique, as it was awarded on evidence solely provided by the enemy, for an action in which there were no surviving Allied witnesses to corroborate his gallantry.Template:Sfn

Early life

Lloyd Allan Trigg, the son of Arthur and Cecelia Louisa Trigg (née White), was born at Houhora, Northland, New Zealand on 5 May 1914,<ref name=vconline>Template:Cite web</ref> or 5 June 1914,Template:Sfn and was educated at Whangarei Boys' High School,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where he served in the school cadet force. He later studied at Auckland University College and then took up farming in the Victoria Valley, as well as serving as a non commissioned officer in the part-time North Auckland Rifles prior to World War II.Template:Sfn<ref name=vconline/>

Military career

Trigg joined the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) as a trainee pilot on 15 June 1941.<ref name=vconline/> On enlistment, his occupation was recorded as "machinery salesman"<ref name=cenotaph/> and he was married with two sons, having married Nola McGarvey in 1938.<ref name=vconline/> After completing basic training at the RNZAF base at Levin, Trigg attended pilot training school at No. 3 EFS in Canada.<ref name=vconline/> Noted for his hard work and willingness to learn, he was recommended for a commission.Template:Sfn He obtained his pilot's wings on 16 January 1942, and was commissioned as a pilot officer. After converting onto the Lockheed Hudson and completing further training at a reconnaissance school,<ref name=vconline/> Trigg was promoted to flying officer and embarked for the UK in October 1942, to join Coastal Command.Template:Sfn

He was posted to West Africa in November 1942 and joined 200 Squadron RAF in January 1943. As a first pilot he took part in over 46 operational reconnaissance patrols, convoy escort flights and anti-submarine patrols.Template:Sfn Having previously operated Hudsons, the squadron later converted to the maritime version of the B-24 Liberator.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn He was an experienced pilot (he had already been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross)<ref>Template:London Gazette</ref> having been involved in two attacks against U-boats in February 1943.Template:Sfn

He was flying his first operational flight in a Liberator V over the Atlantic from his base at Yundumn, West Africa (now Banjul, The Gambia).<ref name=Trigg/> On 11 August, 1943, Trigg took off from Rufisque Airfield in an Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomber on an anti-submarine patrol. When sighted, he engaged the Template:GS under the command of Oberleutnant Klemens Schamong.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> His aircraft received several catastrophic hits from the submarine's anti-aircraft guns during its approach to the submarine and was on fire as Trigg made his final attack.Template:Sfn

After dropping its depth charges, Trigg's Liberator crashed 300 yards behind its victim, killing Trigg and his crew. The only surviving witnesses to Trigg's actions were the U-boat crew members. The badly damaged U-boat sank soon after the attack but a small group of survivors (including Schamong) were spotted by an RAF Short Sunderland of No. 204 Squadron in the dinghy of the crashed Liberator, drifting off the coast of West Africa. They were rescued by a Royal Navy vessel, Template:HMS, the next day,Template:Sfn and the German crew reported the incident, recommending Trigg be decorated for his bravery. On 2 November 1943, Trigg was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.Template:Sfn

The intelligence officer of HMS Clarkia inspects the dinghy from Trigg's crashed Liberator, used by the survivors of the destroyed U-boat.

The Victoria Cross was presented to Trigg's widow, Nola,<ref name=cenotaph>Template:Cite web</ref> by the Governor General of New Zealand, Sir Cyril Newall, on 28 May 1944.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn At his wife's request, the presentation took place at the Trigg family home so that family and friends could be present. It was the last Victoria Cross to be won by a New Zealander; the Victoria Cross for New Zealand, established in 1999, is now the highest gallantry award that can be bestowed on a New Zealand serviceman.Template:Sfn

Since Trigg has no burial place, he is commemorated on the Malta Memorial to the 2,298 Commonwealth aircrew who lost their lives around the Mediterranean during the Second World War and who have no known grave.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Citation

The citation reads as follows:

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Legacy

In 2007, New Zealand researcher Arthur Arculus tracked down Klemens Schamong near Kiel. The commander said of Trigg's effort "such a gallant fighter as Trigg would have been decorated in Germany with the highest medal or order".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In May 1998, Trigg's VC was sold at auction by Spinks of London for £138,000, the highest price ever realised for a VC at that time.<ref name=Spink>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Medal Yearbook 2000 back cover with photograph ISBN 1870192265</ref> The seller was not believed to have been a relative of Trigg and the medals were purchased on behalf of the Michael Ashcroft Trust, the holding institution for Lord Ashcroft's VC Collection.<ref name=Trigg>Template:Cite web</ref> The VC is now on display at the Lord Ashcroft Gallery<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> at the Imperial War Museum.<ref>Template:Cite web </ref>

Trigg Avenue, Rotorua is named in his honour.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Trigg's complete medal awards are:<ref name=Trigg/><ref name=Spink/>

See also

References

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Bibliography

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