LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Leslie Redford CLISBY DFC
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 40043 (RAF)
Born: McLaren Vale SA, 26 June 1914
Enlisted in the RAAF: 1935
Enlisted in the RAF: 1937
Unit: No. 1 Squadron (RAF), Berry-au-Bac, France
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 11 June 1940
Died: Air Operations (No. 1 Squadron Hurricane I aircraft P2546), Sedan, France, 14 May 1940, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Choloy War Cemetery, France
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert E Clisby and Mabel E Clisby, of North Walkerville, South Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Supplementary Panel 12, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
DFC Citation: “One day in April 1940, Flying Officer Clisby, was the pilot of one of three Hurricanes which attacked nine Messerschmitt 109s, one of which he shot down. The following day he destroyed another ME109. In May 1940, this officer was engaged in six combats against the enemy, in which he shot down eight enemy aircraft. Flying Officer Clisby has displayed great courage on all occasions.” (London Gazette 11 June 1940, Page 3622)
Flying Officer Clisby is the first Australian Air Ace of World War II. He was an Australian Cadet trained for the RAF who embarked for the UK on 22 July 1937.
On 14 May 1940 Flying Officer Clisby in Hurricane P2546 was on patrol over Sedan when he was shot down at 0800 hours in combat with a Me110.
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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
Franks, Norman L R Royal Air Force Fighter Command Losses of the Second World war Volume 1 Operational Losses: Aircraft and Crews 1939-1941, Midland Publishing Leicester UK, 1997
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record AWM65, 730
Newton, Dennis A Few of the Few: Australians and the Battle of Britain, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT 2600, 1990