Well, this is VERY EMBARRASSING! I've looked again, and I think this chap's surname might be 'Eyres' not 'Byers' - I should have gone to Specsavers! It seems highly likely that he was Ron Eyres, who had flown missions as a Sgt. pilot with No.50 Squadron before rupturing an ear drum and been forced to serve as an instructor for the rest of his career. He next shows up as a F/Sgt and flying an Avro Manchester with No.1485 B&G Flight on 11 Feb 1943: when he had to execute an emergency landing due to an engine failure. This is particularly interesting as No.1485 B&G Flight was renamed as No.1690 B(D)TDF in February 1944 so F/Sgt R Eyres could have still be at the renamed unit, and promoted to W/O status, some eighteen months later, in August 1944. If anyone can add to this information to complete the picture, I'd be extremely grateful. Cheers, Andrew