LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Leslie Richard JOPE
Service No: 400434
Born: Surrey Hills Vic, 3 February 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 2 September 1940
Unit: No. 2 Squadron, Batchelor NT
Died: Air Operations: (No. 2 Squadron Hudson aircraft A16-169), Timoeka, New Guinea, 3 April 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Ambon War Cemetery, Indonesia
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Ernest and Grace Elizabeth Jope; husband of Christina Lois Jope, of Croydon, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 98, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 3 April 1943, Hudson A16-169 was shot down by ground fire while strafing enemy positions at Timoeka, New Guinea. The five crew members who were all killed are:
Squadron Leader Malcolm Carroll Burns (271331) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Alan Arthur Dean (404328) (Navigator)
Sergeant Robert James Johnstone (410073) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant Kelvin Jones (410240) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Pilot Officer Leslie Richard Jope (400434) (Gunnery Leader)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/21/21
Bibliography:
Bennett, J. (John William) Highest Traditions: the history of No. 2 Squadron RAAF, Australian Government Publishing Service, 1995
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Anson, Hudson and Sunderland in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1992