Enlisted: 04 July 1941 Serv. Nos. R108467 & J/93704 latter as of 01 Jan. 1945
Plyleys records state that he was awarded the Canadian Volunteer Service Medal & Clasp, the 1939-45 Star, Operational Wings and Air Gunner badge. He served with No. 419 Sqdn where he completed one tour and also with No. 405 (RCAF) PFF Sqdn from 01 Oct. 44 02 Jan. 45 when he and his crew aboard PB477 exploded and burned over Rohrau, Germany. Plyley survived and became a PoW at Stalag Luft 1. He was liberated in May of 45.
He returned to Ontario and was repatriated in the RCAF until Aug. 45. A few yrs. elapsed before joining the Canadian Army (1954-56) with the rank of Lieutenant. His army attestation papers show that while he was with the RCAF/RAF he received the CVSM & Clasp (OK), Victory: Operational Wing (OK), Def Britain (??) 1939-45 Star (OK) & NWE Star - whatever that is. There is no mention of either the Def Britain and NWE Star in his air force records that I have. I guess I should not make any mention of these two medals in my report. Also, were Bomber Command airmen interned in concentration camps awarded PoW medals? There is no mention of this in his RCAF records either. Lastly, I believe from what I have read that his family would be eligible to receive the Bomber Command Clasp which has been available since 2013. This was the clasp to what medal?
I would certainly appreciate your comments as this information is important to me.
He has to have the Aircrew Europe Star at a minimum. Given his previous service with No. 419 Sqn I'm not sure he should also have the France and Germany Star (which may be what is meant by NW Europe Star)
I have a list of all 168 Allied airmen held in Buchenwald. As they were all released (to Luft III by late October 1944), I'm not aware of any airmen held in any other concentration camps.
As far as his time at Stalag Luft 1, Barth goes, it wasn't a concentration camp. As you probably know the camp was liberated by the Russians on 1 May 1945. On 12 May, 1945 USAAF B17s evacuated the camp over a period of three days.
In the 1950's, Canada awarded money to ex-POWs. Those are interesting files as they were given x number of dollars for time spent on trains moving to camps, etc. The ones I've accessed for my subjects are very richly detailed.
