Wendell Clifford Waye was born on July 14, 1922, in Newcastle, Northumberland County, New Brunswick, Canada. He was the son of James Henry Waye and Georgie Ellen Drummond Waye.

An apprentice printer by trade, residing (temporarily) in Trout Brook, New Brunswick, Canada [permanent address was R.F.D. 1, Fitchburg, Massachusetts, USA], he enlisted in the RCAF on May 14, 1942, in Moncton, New Brunswick.

Wendell served in the 51 (R.A.F.) Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Warrant Officer Second Class during World War II. He was Killed in Action on June 30, 1944, when his Halifax BIII (#LV782) aircraft, with crew members of seven, took off from RAF Snaith for a daylight operation, involving 266 RAF aircraft, over Villers-Bocage at a key road junction in order to prevent two German Panzer tank divisions from reaching the Normandy area. Though the air operation was a success, LV782 went down after receiving a bomb from another Halifax (the plane was hit in the middle), crashing at Amayé-sur-Seulles, France, and taking the lives of the entire crew. The airmen who perished in this incident were-
RAFVR Sergeant Charles Martin ALLEN,
RAFVR Sergeant Harry BARRON,
RAFVR Flight Sergeant John Robert Alfred COOKE,
RAFVR Sergeant Alfred Edgar JUKES,
RCAF Flying Officer Tony NEGRICH,
RAFVR Sergeant Harry PERKINS and
RCAF Warrant Officer Class II Wendell Clifford WAYE.

Source of information: www.findagrave.com, francecrashes39-45.net