The Book “Gone is the Angel”
Author – Major Robert Forbes CD
Former Commanding Officer 151 Chadburn Squadron
“A masterful organization of commemoration”- Douglas Fisher, Legion Magazine
“Well-researched and documented”- Vic Johnson, AirForce Magazine
This is a story that begged to be told. Across the mystic boundary between heaven and earth, the life of this young man beckoned to us. To know who he was and more, what he stood for.
He stands at the forefront of his comrades and yet his arms were linked inextricably with theirs, for they lived, fought, loved, lost and died together. Barely boys when they began their youthful adventure, most were far more than men in the short months, and if they were skilful and lucky, the years to follow as well.
This is the story of such a man. They called him the Wing Commander or Mister Chadburn to his face. Amongst themselves, he was known affectionately as Chad, the Wingco, the old man and prophetically … the Angel.
His life is legend among airmen who knew him and those who knew of him. Wing Commander Lloyd Vernun Chadburn lived almost 25 years but in those short years he stood as an example of what a dedicated leader and unassuming hero could and should be.
People young and old have come to hear the tiny fragments of what little was told to them and yet, that only scrached the surface of the true story about to unfold before you. As you walk, as I did, on the crumbling highland runway in Northern Scotland, you will be carried back to 1941 when young men sought adventure and glory, and the women who loved them sought the closeness and assurance that they would return safely to them again.
Most would return triumphant. One did not, and yet the life he gave means more for its sacrifice than he could ever have known. Open the pages with me and experience the life of “the Angel”.
Gone is the Angel – the official biography of Wing Commander Lloyd Chadburn sanctioned by his family – is currently available at the Squadron for $20.00