When Bill graduated in mid-July, he joined RCAF No. 405 Squadron, located at Driffield, Yorkshire, 25 kilometres north of Hull. Like the OTU, the squadron had been formed in April and had been operational since the middle of June. Bill's first sortie was on August 5 to Karlsruhe as the second pilot. At this point in the war, the bombing targets were railroad infrastructure, docks and military installations. Bill flew five missions as second pilot to get accustomed to being in action on a Wellington and on September 7 he flew his first mission as pilot. His was the sole Wellington from the squadron to attack the dock area of Boulogne, France. The Wellington set out at 2012 hrs and dropped at least five bombs from 3700 metres at 2211 hrs. The crew encountered considerable flak from the ships in the harbour, but they safely returned to Driffield ten minutes after midnight.

 

In the fall of 1941, the 405 Squadron's aircrews did not have a specific Wellington to fly, nor were the crews together for more than three or four missions at a time. The weather always dictated whether the squadron would be flying, but by the beginning of December, Bill had completed approximately fourteen successful missions. The targets were wide-ranging – mainly German (Dortmund, Berlin, Kiel, Frankfurt, Mannheim, Essen), but also a flight over Turin, Italy where the crew was awestruck by the sight of the Alps. Most of the flights were uneventful, but on October 10 Bill and his crew were flying in bad weather and the Wellington was struck by lightning. The only damage was the loss of the trailing aerial, which burned up. A month later, Bill's Wellington was struck by flak over Berlin. It put the plane's intercom out of service but the plane returned safely.

 

Driffield airfield was shared with the RAF's No. 104 Squadron, which also flew Wellingtons. In October 1941 a detachment was sent to Malta and in December Bill was transferred to the unit from the 405. By the middle of February the part of the 104 Squadron which remained at Driffield was renumbered No. 158 Squadron. Bill continued flying with crew members who would rotate in and out. On January 31, 1942, his Wellington was bombing the dry dock in the harbour of Brest, France. Once the bombs were dropped Bill had to take violent evasive action to avoid being hit by flak. He had two other eventful missions. The first was on March 13 while bombing Cologne, Germany. His Wellington was damaged by flak. The squadron record noted “starboard tyre damaged, ASI and U/S hydraulic pipeline damaged. “ The wireless operator was wounded in the stomach and Bill safely landed the plane at the closest airport over the English coast to get the airman medical help. The second incident took place on April 5, also targeting Cologne, and anti-aircraft fire put a hole through the tail of the plane. Once again luck was on Bill's side and he returned the crew safely to base.

 

On April 8 Bill flew his last mission to complete his tour of duty. He had successfully completed twenty-five missions – five as the second pilot and twenty as pilot. Once pilots completed a mission, they would become instructors at an operational training unit or back in Canada, as their experience in battle was an asset. Bill had leave and reported on April 24 to No. 26 OTU, located thirty kilometres west of Oxford. It had a newly formed satellite unit to train night bomber crews on Wellingtons – and the first day of training was April 25. Bill was considered “a very confident officer and a leader.”

 

The OTU, along with others, participated in the “Thousand Bomber” raids – May 30/31 to Cologne, June 1/2 to Essen and June 25/26 to Bremen. Bill flew at least one of these missions. The proximity to London allowed him to meet up with Toronto friends who were in England with the army and his friend Harold Irving who was also in the RCAF. When Harold spoke to the East York students in 1999 , he recalled: “The last time that I saw Bill we were in London, England around June 1942. We went to Trafalgar Square and later to an Irish pub in the Strand. We stayed at the Regent Palace which is in Piccadilly Circus where Bill dropped me off. I had had enough socializing for one night and I did not see Bill until the next morning when we parted ways.”

 

During his time as an instructor, Bill was promoted to Flying Officer. As his teaching period ended, he could return to Canada or sign up for another tour of duty. He requested the latter and was posted to RCAF No 428 Squadron on December 9. Its nickname was the Ghost Squadron and it was a new Wellington squadron, formed the previous month at RAF Dalton, 25 kilometres south-west of Driffield, Bill's former airfield. Soon after arriving, Bill was promoted to Flight Lieutenant. Over the next two months personnel and Wellingtons trickled into the squadron. The unit was setting up and along with training the crews on the few planes they had, mundane but necessary details were established such as a shuttle bus to the nearest train station. Their Christmas Eve dance had to be cancelled because not enough Women's Auxiliary Air Force members could be found to attend. However, Christmas dinner was a success,and many WAAFs were available to join the men.

 

Training continued when the weather permitted but on January 3, 1943, Bill was landing his Wellington as a service transport truck was crossing the runway. The plane's starboard engine hit the truck and killed two of the four men on it. The next day a court of inquiry was held and Bill was not blamed for the accident.

 

On January 26, the squadron finally had a sufficient number of trained crews and Bill and his five crew mates bombed the submarine base at Lorient, France. The routine of bombing French and German targets continued. Bill was the highest ranking pilot of the squadron and in March he was appointed squadron leader. On April 3 near Kiel, Germany, Bill encountered a German fighter plane but the rear gunner scared it away. The next flight was equally eventful over Stuttgart, where very heavy flak caused twenty small holes in the plane at 3400 metres. Again the plane landed safely back at the base. The crew watched a plane on fire in the spotlights over Duisberg and gliding to the ground on May 13. One of the squadron's Wellingtons didn't return that night. Bill's crew was usually the same but occasionally the second pilot would change as he graduated to a Wellington of his own. Bill and the crew flew with several of the pilots in the squadron and knew all of them. The possibility that a Wellington wouldn't return was a reality for the bomber crews. Bill had been incredibly fortunate, whether through luck or ability, to have survived as many sorties as he had. By 1943, only 25% of night bomber crews survived long enough to complete one tour.

 

The 428 was going to upgrade to the Halifax bomber, a larger, four-engined aircraft which could fly at 6000 metres and carried a crew of eight. On May 24, Bill and many of the squadron's crews were sent to No. 1659 Conversion Unit at RAF Leeming to learn to fly on Halifaxes. Leeming was 15 kilometres north of RAF Dalton. Most of Bill's crew remained with him, but they added a flight engineer and another gunner and by July 3 Bill and his crew were back in the air, bombing German targets.