LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Leonard Ernest CAVANAGH
Service No: 415377
Born: Claremont WA, 14 June 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 9 October 1941
Unit: No. 158 Squadron (RAF), RAF Lissett, Yorkshire
Died: (No. 158 Squadron Halifax aircraft JD259), Belgium, 23 June 1943, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Schoonselhof Cemetery, Antwerp Belgium
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James Thomas Cavanagh and Alma Irene Cavanagh, of Swanbourne, Western Australia
Roll of Honour: Perth WA
Remembered: Panel 120, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Remembered: Honour Avenues, Kings Park WA
Halifax JD259 took off from RAF Lissett at 2309 hours on the night of 22/23rd June 1943, detailed to bomb Mulheim, German. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. The aircraft crashed at 0230 hours on 23 June 1944 at Leest (Oost Vlaanderen), 5 kms west of Mechelen, Belgium. All the crew were killed and they are buried in the Schoonselhof Cemetery.
The crew members of JD259 were:
Flight Sergeant Leonard Ernest Cavanagh (415377) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer Daniel Valentine Elliott (133653) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Thomas Ridley Forster (1411102) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Walter Richard Green (1217286) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Ronald Albert Charles Maund (151179) (RAFVR) (Mid Gunner)
Sergeant Robert James Sage (572568) (RAF) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Oliver William Todd (R/110314) (RCAF) (Rear Gunner)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records (RAAF Casualty Information compiled by Alan Storr (409804))
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/7/133