LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Leonard Gerrard SELLARS
Service No: 409454
Born: Kangaroo Point QLD, 12 September 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 15 August 1941 (at Melbourne VIC)
Unit: No. 1657 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF station Stradishall
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1657 Conversion Unit Stirling aircraft W7586), Stradishall, 22 July 1943, Aged 31 Years
Buried: Haverhill Cemetery, Suffolk
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Harry Roy Gerrard Sellars and Violet Gwendoline Sellars; husband of Mollie Victoria Sellars, of Brighton, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Melbourne VIC
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On 22 July 1943, Stirling W7586 took off from Stradishall detailed to carry out practice circuits and landings. The starboard outer was feathered, and a normal three engined approach was being made. The aircraft overshot, and an attempt was made to go round again. The aircraft stalled and crashed at 1746 hours. All the crew members were killed.
The crew members of W7586 were:
Sergeant John Archibald Campbell (1690312) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Richard George Kings (1185185) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Raymond Henry Murdock (R/128432) (RCAF) (Air Bomber)
Flying Officer Robert Henry Rutherford (133718) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Ernest Henry Benjamin Saker (425224) (Rear Gunner)
Pilot Officer Leonard Gerrard Sellars (409454) (Pilot)
Sergeant George Frank Albert Wix (1804500) (RAFVR) (Mid Upper Gunner)
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, 166/37/149