Floyd Kenneth Relyea was born on December 30, 1921, in Poughkeepsie, Dutchess County, New York. He was the son of Floyd P Relyea and Louise Anna Williams Relyea. He served in the 703rd Bomber Squadron, 445th Bomber Group, Heavy, as a Technical Sergeant and was a passenger on the B-24 #42-50347 at the time of his death.

On October 18, 1944, their airplane was flying from the repair depot in Greencastle, Ireland to Tibenham on a familiarisation flight over Britain. Onboard were 24 replacement crewmen who had been sent to the 445th Bomb Group after the unit had suffered heavy losses on the Kassel mission in September that year. During the flight, the aircraft broke up in mid-air and crashed near the village of Landican, near Birkenhead on the Wirral peninsula in England. All 24 passengers and crew were killed in the crash.

TSgt Relyea is now buried in the Union Cemetery, Hyde Park, Dutchess County, New York, USA.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, https://aviation-safety.net, www.americanairmuseum.com