Reginald John Lane

Reginald John Lane, DSO, DFC*, CD**, was born in Victoria, British Columbia on January 4, 1920. He joined the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) in October, 1940 and completed his pilot training on Tiger Moth and Harvard aircraft. Upon receiving his Wings on June 18, 1941 he was sent overseas.

He was posted to No. 10 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at Abingdon, Berkshire for bomber pilot training, which he completed in September of 1941 with a total of 187 flying hours. The following month he was posted to No. 35 Squadron, Royal Air Force (RAF), Linton-on-Ouse, Yorkshire. His first operation was on November 7, 1941, to Berlin, as second pilot on the Halifax Mark I. Lane completed his first operation as Captain on the Halifax Mark II in March of 1942 and by July 31 had completed his first tour of 30 operations. Included were the thousand-aircraft-raid on Cologne, Germany in May 1942, two daylight attacks on Brest and two low level attacks on the German battleship ‘Tirpitz’, anchored in a Norwegian fjord. Lane was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (D.F.C.) in September of 1942.

In August, 1942 Lane volunteered to stay on operations and, with the rank of Squadron Leader, moved with No. 35 Squadron to Gravely, Hants when No. 8 Group, Pathfinder Force, was formed in Bomber Command. He completed his second tour of operations in April of 1943 and was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O.).

He returned to Canada in July, 1943 for a public relations tour and to fly to England the first Canadian-built Lancaster, KB 700, named "The Ruhr Express".  On completion of that flight, he joined the Pathfinder Force Navigation Training Unit at Wyton, Cambridgeshire as a check pilot.

No. 405 Squadron (RCAF) joined No. 8 Pathfinder Group on January 1, 1943 as the heavy bomber squadron from No. 6 (RCAF) Group. In October, 1943 Lane joined 405 Squadron as a Flight Commander with the rank of Wing Commander. He assumed command of the squadron from John Fauquier in January 1944. It was during this time that the Pathfinders developed the Master Bomber technique in which one aircraft circuited the target throughout each raid directing other aircraft where to drop their bombs. Lane acted in this capacity on a number of operations. He completed his third tour of operations on July 18, 1944 and was transferred to No. 6 (RCAF) Group Headquarters in Yorkshire in the position of Air I, responsible for planning the operational tactics for No. 6 Group, in conjunction with other bomber groups.

Lane was promoted to Group Captain in May, 1944 and was awarded a Bar to his D.F.C. In May, 1945 he was selected to assist in planning the RCAF, RAF and Royal Australian Air Force bomber offensive against Japan. With the end of the war, he was given command of RCAF Station Odiham, Hants, and then command of 120 (T) Wing, which was responsible for air transport to Europe until June 1946. On January 1, 1946 he was Mentioned in Despatches.

After debarkation leave, Lane attended RCAF Staff College in Toronto, Ontario, and in March, 1947 was transferred to the Directorate of Organization and Establishments at RCAF HQ in Ottawa. A year later he was transferred to the Directorate of Operational Requirements. In 1949 he was promoted to Group Captain and was the Senior Air Officer accompanying the Secretary of State for External Affairs, Lester B. Pearson, to the first Columbo Conference in Columbo, Ceylon in January of 1950. Mr. Pearson made protocol visits too many countries and, as a result, the flight became the first around the world flight for the RCAF.

In the summer of 1950, Lane was made Commanding Officer of RCAF Station Edmonton, located at the Municipal Airport before the base at Namao was completed. Two years later he was transferred back to Ottawa as Assistant for Logistics Planning. The RCAF was expanding as a result of NATO commitments and new equipment was being procured, including the Avro Arrow.

In 1956 he returned to RCAF HQ as Director Air Plans and Programmes. A promotion to Air Commodore followed in August of 1958 when he was appointed Chief of Plans and Intelligence. During this time, the North American Air Defence (NORAD) agreement was brought into force. The agreement included the RCAF manning United States Air Force radar stations in Canada in exchange for F-101 fighter aircraft. Lane was responsible for planning the air transport system to be used when the Canadair CL-44D Yukon transport aircraft came into service late in 1959. From 1961 to the end of 1965, he held the position of Air Officer Commanding Air Transport Command. During this period several United Nations tasks were undertaken by the Government of Canada, and Air Transport Command played a vital role in positioning and supporting these overseas operations.

After leaving Air Transport Command, Lane was transferred to No. 1 Air Division HQ at Metz, France and in August of 1966 was promoted to Air Vice Marshal as Air Officer Commanding No. 1 Air Division. During this period the CF-104 came into service in a nuclear strike and reconnaissance role. When all North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces were forced to leave France by April of 1967, he was responsible for moving No. 1 Air Division HQ and No. 1 (F) Wing Marville to Lahr, Germany.

On the completion of his tour as Commander of No. 1 Air Division in the summer of 1969, Lane returned to Canada as Deputy Commander, Mobile Command HQ in St. Hubert, Quebec. At this time tactical fighter aircraft and helicopters were under the operational control of Mobile Command.

In the summer of 1972, Lane was promoted to Lieutenant General and made Deputy Commander in Chief, NORAD, at Colorado Springs, Colorado. On completion of his tour at NORAD HQ, he was made an Officer of the Legion of Merit (USA). In December 1974, after 35 years of service, Lane retired. During his time at NORAD, he worked with Systems Development Corporation (SDC) of Santa Monica, California which prepared various computer programs for NORAD exercises. As a result, he was asked to become a consultant to SDC in Ottawa. This task was completed by the summer of 1976 and General Lane moved his family to Victoria to retire.

Lane was a past president for the Airforce Officer's Association of Vancouver Island and was National Chairman of the Federation of Military and United Services Institute of Canada for twelve years. He participated in the Consultative Group on Disarmament and Arms Control for the Department of External Affairs from 1983 to 1991. Lane served as a Director of the Canadian Institute for International Peace and Security from 1989 to 1992. In 1992 he was appointed Honorary Colonel No. 442 (T & R) Squadron, Comox, BC for a three-year term and was an Honorary Life President of the Aircrew Association.

In 1952 Lane was appointed Honourary Aide-de-Camp to the Right Honourable Vincent Massey, Canada's first Canadian-born Governor General and continued in this position until Massey retired, with the exception of 1955 when he attended the Imperial Defence College in London, England.

He died on October 2, 2003 in Victoria, B.C.

Reginald John Lane was inducted as a Member of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame in 2000 at a ceremony held in Wetaskiwin, Alberta.