Spencer Andrew Boyd was born on August 16, 1923 in St Louis, MO. At the outbreak of WWII he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force and became an instructor. He returned to the US in 1942 and served first in the US Navy and then in the US Air Force.
In the Spring of 1948, he volunteered to serve in the Israel Air Force and arrived in Israel at the end of June. On July 18, 1948 he flew a plane with a number of wounded passengers from Sodom to Tel Aviv. Nearing Rehovot, the plane had mechanical problems and approached the landing in Sde Dov. The pilot, Murray Weissberg, went to get help. When he returned a few hours later, all those in the plane had been murdered by a passing group of Arabs.
After his death Spencer was granted the rank of airborne officer (lieutenant). He was buried in the Protestant cemetery in Jaffa and his tombstone was engraved with the emblem of the Israel Defense Forces on the side of the Christian cross. On April 16, 1951, he was laid to rest in a special section of the Haifa military cemetery.
