LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Leroy Anwyll WATSON
Service No: 425560
Born: Brisbane QLD, 24 December 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 28 March 1942
Unit: No. 7 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Oakington
Died: Air Operations: (No. 7 Squadron Lancaster aircraft JA713), off the Danish Coast, 4 September 1943, Aged 19 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Eric Bertram and Ada Lavinia Watson, of Wavell Heights, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Nundah QLD
Remembered: Panel 194, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 132, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 2012 hours on 3 September 1943 Lancaster JA713 took off from Oakington to attack Berlin. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it did not return to base. It was later established that the aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at 0230 hours in the sea south of the Danish island of Tuno. The remains of tree crew members were recovered and the remaining four missing crew members were recorded as having lost their lives at sea.
The crew members of JA713 were:
Sergeant Percy Barnsley (1370380) (RAFVR) Remains recovered
Flying Officer Anthony Crockford (114241) (RAFVR) (Pilot) Remains recovered
Sergeant Henry Allen Eaton (1583178) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Edward Robinson (1530031) (RAFVR) Remains recovered
Sergeant Gordon Vardy (1438521) (RAFVR)
Flight Sergeant Leroy Anwyll Watson (425560) (Air Gunner)
Sergeant William Charles Luke Wood (1271145) (RAFVR)
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, 166/43/524