LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Leslie James REID
Service No: 406955
Born: Kalgoorlie WA, 1 April 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 May 1941
Unit: No. 1 Operational Training Unit, Bairnsdale VIC
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1 Operational Training Unit Oxford aircraft BG473), near Bairnsdale, 28 January 1943, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Bairnsdale War Cemetery, VIC
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Margaret Llamia Reid, of South Fremantle, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Boulder WA
Remembered: Panel 112, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
On 28 January 1943, Airspeed Oxford BG473 crashed at 6 kms west of Bairnsdale, killing its crew. The aircraft is reported to have “collapsed in the air”. The crew members of BG473 were:
Corporal George Rupert Anzac Kanake (19264) (Fitter IIE)
Sergeant Leslie James Reid (406955) (Pilot)
Pilot Officer John Michael Whitehead (411836) (Second 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, 239