Lewis, Gerwyn Winton

Gerwyn Lewis was born on November 17, 1914 in Lethbridge, Alberta to parents William and Catherine Lewis. He had five siblings, Yvonne, Richard, Eira, Edna and Olwen. Mr. Lewis was the foreman at the Animal Research Facility near Coalhurst, and the family lived on the property until his retirement in 1955. The Lewis children swam and skated on the river, and grew up surrounded by numerous animals, everything from buffalo to guinea pigs. They were educated at Coalhurst, but in the winter, the weather was so unpredictable that the four older children stayed by themselves at a house in Coalhurst during the school week. At time of enlistment, Gerwyn was single and employed at Lethbridge Monument Works. On February 10, 1942, Gerwyn Lewis enlisted for service in the Royal Canadian Air Force. After nineteen months training, he qualified as an air bomber on September 17, 1943. On October 16, 1943, Sergeant Lewis arrived in the United Kingdom and was sent to the Royal Air Force for further training. He spent the next six months with the RAF preparing for active air crew duty. On April 1, 1944, Sergeant Lewis was part of a Wellington crew who were participating in a daylight cross-country training exercise. Witnesses noticed an explosion and saw the burning aircraft crash into the North Sea near RAF Lossiemouth. A rescue team was dispatched, but there were no survivors and only one body was located. As his remains were never recovered or identified, Sergeant Lewis is remembered on the Runnymede Memorial to the missing. For his wartime service, he was awarded the Defence Medal, War Medal and Canadian Volunteer Service Medal with Clasp. His mother, Catherine received the Memorial Cross in honour of her son