LEST WE FORGET
Squadron Leader Lewis Arthur John McLEOD DFC
Service No: 413409
Born: Auckland, New Zealand, 13 February 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 17 August 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 97 Squadron (RAF), RAF Coningsby, Lincolnshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 24 March 1944 (Citation Title: No. 50 Squadron (RAF))
Died: Air Operations: (No. 97 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ND451), Germany, 22 June 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Reichswald Forest War Cemetery, Kleve, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Roderick and Bertha McLeod, of Burwood, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Burwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
DFC Citation: “Squadron Leader McLeod has completed numerous sorties on strongly defended targets and has invariably pressed home his attacks with great determination. This officer is a wholly efficient flight commander whose sterling qualities have been reflected in the successes of the flight which he commands. During his tour Squadron Leader McLeod has attacked Berlin on seven occasions.”
The importance which the Germans placed on defence of the synthetic oil plants was amply shown on 21st-22nd June when Bomber Command mounted two raids, this time with smaller forces each of approximately 130 aircraft. The two Waddington squadrons (Nos. 463 and 467) provided 34 Lancasters for the first attack on the hydrogenation plant at Scholven-Buer near Gelsenkirchen but again a heavy undercast spoilt any attempts at precision bombing and only slight damage was inflicted on the plant for an expenditure of 570 tons of bombs and the loss of eight aircraft in the whole force. Few crews on return were able to claim an uneventful trip. No. 467 lost two Lancasters, had two more badly holed by flak and another, piloted by Flying Officer Sayers (1), slightly damaged during two separate encounters with night fighters, one of which was seen to be hit by his gunners’ return fire and plummet down with its port engine on fire. No. 463 lost only one Lancaster but another piloted by Pilot Officer Hattam (2) was heavily engaged by flak during the steady run-in to the target. Flight Lieutenant Baker of No. 97 bombed successfully but then his port-outer engine caught fire and he was soon afterwards hit by ground gunfire and had to evade fighters as well; from the same squadron a very experienced pilot, Squadron Leader Lewis Arthur John McLeod DFC (413409), failed to return. Losses and damage might even have been higher but for a new evasion technique employed by this force during its withdrawal. By prearrangement the force altered course and went down to a lower level, which appeared to cause difficulties for the ground gunners and also to mislead the night fighters, which lost contact.
(1) Flight Lieutenant John Lyall Sayers DFC & Bar (414844) was discharged from the RAAF on 7 May 1946.
(2) Flying Officer Raymond Frank Hattam DFC (410331) was discharged from the RAAF on 2 January 1946.
Extract from Herington, J. (John) (406545) Air War Over Europe 1944-1945, Australian War Memorial, Canberra, 1963 – Pages 202-3
Lancaster ND451 took off from RAF Coningsby at 2325 hours on the night of 21/22nd June 1944, detailed to bomb Gelsenkirchen, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. When the aircraft was outbound to the target it was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed near Grieth on the west bank of the Rhine, 12kms east of Kleve.
The crew members of ND451 were:
Flight Sergeant C Baker (1384015) (RAFVR) (Rear Gunner) PoW
Flight Lieutenant P A Cunningham (135293) (RAFVR) (Navigator) PoW
Flight Sergeant John Bernard Knight (1090507) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Squadron Leader Lewis Arthur John McLeod DFC (413409) (Pilot)
Flying Officer H R Mossop (143942) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner) PoW
Flight Sergeant J H Price (1324364) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber) PoW
Sergeant W Reid (1553112) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer) PoW
No. 463 Squadron lost Lancaster DV280 (Flight Lieutenant Eric Alfred Leith Smith MID (415280) (Pilot)) on 22 June 1944.
No. 467 Squadron lost Lancaster LL971 (Flight Lieutenant Lindsay Russell Brine (406636) (Pilot)) on 22 June 1944.
No. 467 Squadron lost Lancaster ED532 (Pilot Officer Edgar Vincent Dearnaley DFC (414341) (Pilot)) on 22 June 1944.
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, 166/26/488