LEST WE FORGET
Flying Officer Leonard Laurence DEED DFC
Service No: 403983
Born: Newcastle NSW, 15 November 1913
Enlisted in the RAAF: 31 March 1941
Unit: No. 156 Squadron (RAF), RAF Upwood, Cambridgeshire
Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), 15 September 1944 (Citation Title: No. 156 Squadron RAF)
Died: Air Operations: (No. 156 Squadron Lancaster aircraft PB209), Germany, 13 August 1944, Aged 30 Years
Buried: Rheinberg War Cemetery, Kamp Lintfort, Nordrhein-Westfal, Germany
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest Snowdon Deed and Anne Deed, of Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia.
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 121, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Newcastle Boys High School Memorial Entrance World War II, Waratah NSW
The Citation for the DFC awarded to Flying Officer Deed was a General Citation promulgated in the London Gazette of 15 September 1944, Page 4272.
Lancaster PB209 took off from RAF Upwood at 2201 hours on the night of 12/13th August 1944, detailed to bomb Russelsheim, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take off and it failed to return to base. It was later determined that all the crew had been killed.
The crew members of PB209 were:
Warrant Officer William Thomas Alsbury (977330) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Leonard Lawrence Deed DFC (403983) (Air Bomber)
Flight Lieutenant Stewart Leigh Dennis DFC (403914) (Navigator)
Flying Officer Donald William Dunham (406522) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Sergeant Ernest William Hunter (1825464) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Lieutenant James Neil McDonald DFM (407529) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Robert Henry Valencia (1814417) (RAFVR) (Rear 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 Veteran’s Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/9/373
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line