LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Leslie Lloyd GILES
Service No: 417633
Born: Minlaton SA, 23 June 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 June 1942
Unit: No. 1 Operational Training Unit, RAAF East Sale VIC
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Operational Training Unit Beaufort aircraft A9-303), near East Sale, 13 September 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Sale War Cemetery, VIC
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Claude Roy Giles and Mary Euphemia Giles, of Kapunda, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 112, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Brother of Warrant Officer Donald Bruce Giles (407498)
During circuit training on 13 September 1943, at 0815 hours Beaufort A9-303 dived almost vertically into swamp land 5 kms south east of the East Sale airfield. The aircraft exploded on impact and both crew members were killed.
The crew members of A9-303 were:
Sergeant Leslie Lloyd Giles (417633) (Second Pilot)
Flight Lieutenant Geoffrey Norman Reeve DFC (410018) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A9845, 252
Bibliography:
Lax, M. (Mark) (editor) Always Ready: a history of RAAF East Sale, RAAF Publications Unit Melbourne VIC, 1993
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990