LEST WE FORGET
Sergeant Leslie Lindsay RODGERS
Service No: 405771
Born: Fitzroy VIC, 17 August 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 25 May 1941 (at Brisbane QLD)
Unit: No. 429 (Bison) Squadron (RCAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 429 Squadron Wellington aircraft BK173), North West Europe, 27 January 1943, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of James and Catherine Rodgers; husband of Lesley Ethel Rodgers, of Merlynston, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 197, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington BK173 of 419 (Bison) Sqn RAF took from RAF East Moor at 1717 hours on 26 January 1943 to raid L’Orient, France. The aircraft carried 2 x 1000 lb (pound) (440 kg) General Purpose and 3 x 500 lb (220 kg) bombs. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it did not return to base. In 1949 it was recorded that the missing crew had lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of BK173 were:
Sergeant Albert George Allen (1376825) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator)
Sergeant George Amos (1314428) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant Charles Davies (1235336) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Sergeant Desmond Lewis (1414771) (RAFVR) (Bomb Aimer) Aged 17 Years
Sergeant Leslie Lindsay Rodgers (405771) (Pilot)
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, 166/36/14