Lloyd Trigg is the only serviceman to have been awarded the VC on the ‘recommendation’ of an enemy. A salesman from Whangarei, he joined the RNZAF in June 1941. After undertaking pilot training in Canada he was seconded to the RAF and posted to Coastal Command, flying anti-submarine patrols from West Africa. During an operational sortie on 11 August 1943, Trigg sighted U-468 on the surface. Despite being hit repeatedly by anti-aircraft fire, Trigg pressed home his attack and fatally damaged the German submarine with depth charges. His crippled Liberator then crashed into the sea with the loss of all eight crew. German survivors praised Trigg’s courage after they were picked up by an Allied ship. Their evidence was instrumental in the New Zealander being awarded a posthumous VC.