LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Leonard Harry CHESTER
Service No: 438593
Born: Richmond VIC, 21 July 1925
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 November 1943
Unit: No. 31 Squadron
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 31 Squadron Beaufighter aircraft A8-9), Morotai, 17 February 1945, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Simon and Sara Chester, of St. Kilda, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: St Kilda VIC
Remembered: Panel 102, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1300 hours on 17 February 1945, Beaufighter A8-9 crashed about 20 miles south west of Gela Point, Morotai, Netherlands East Indies. The aircraft was on a non-operational routine and gunnery training flight and both crew members were killed.
The crew members of A8-9 were:
Pilot Officer Leonard Harry Chester (438593) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Murray Scarr (428054) (Pilot)
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 Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/7/855; A9845, 51
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed, Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990