LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Daniel Ernest LESEBERG
Service No: 425172
Born: Brisbane QLD, 16 August 1922
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 January 1942
Unit: No. 16 Operational Training Unit (RAF)
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 16 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft LN531), Oxfordshire, 11 December 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Oxford (Botley) Cemetery, Oxfordshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest Theodore and Ellen Mary Leseberg, of Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 1728 hours on 11 December 1943 Wellington LN531 took off from RAF Upper Heyford detailed to carry out a night cross country training exercise. At 2303 hours the aircraft emerged from cloud and crashed at the hamlet of Little Rollright, three miles north east from Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of LN531 were:
Sergeant John Foote (R/187590) (RCAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Eric Harris (1802331) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Daniel Ernest Leseberg (425172) (Pilot)
Sergeant Henry Osmond Mitchell (R/171550) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Frederick Nichols (1565538) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant V N Plahte (Royal Norwegian Air Force) (Second Navigator)
Sergeant Bernard Nicholas Redmond (R/185698) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
A Flying Accident report stated “the aircraft struck the ground at approximately 22 degrees at high speed and it was literally level at the time of impact. Both the engines were running under power at the time. The engines disintegrated and were thrown forward. Also the wing tanks were thrown forward and burnt. The reason for the accident is obscure. The aircraft appeared to fly into the ground at about a 20 degree angle and at high speed, literally level with power on.”
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, 166/24/242