LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Leonard Herbert OPHEL
Service No: 407129
Born: Adelaide SA, 1 February 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 22 June 1940
Unit: No. 100 Squadron, Milne Bay PNG
Died: Air Operations (No. 100 Squadron Beaufort aircraft A9-89), New Guinea, 28 September 1942, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Port Moresby (Bomana) War Cemetery, PNG
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Herbert Henry and Elsie May Ophel, of St. Peters, South Australia
Roll of Honour: St Peters SA
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
On 28 September 1942, Beaufort A9-89 crashed during an operation flight from Port Moresby to Gurney airfield. On board A9-89 were:
Flight Sergeant (later Flight Lieutenant) George Robert Daws (401288) (Wireless Air Gunner) Injured, Discharged from the RAAF: 9 November 1945
Squadron Leader Clifford Sidney Bernard (259) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Colin Gardiner MacDonald (411511) (Observer) Passenger
Flying Officer Leonard Herbert Ophel (407129) (Observer)
Sergeant William Henry Osborne (411513) (Wireless Air Gunner) Injured, Killed in an aircraft accident 11 September 1944
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 A705, 163/50/53
Bibliography:
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990