LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Leslie JOYCE
Service No: 420816
Born: Gillingham, England, 16 August 1918
Enlisted in the RAAF: 5 December 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 622 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Mildenhall
Died: Air Operations: (No. 622 Squadron Stirling aircraft EF123), Cambridgeshire, 19 November 1943, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Cambridge City Cemetery, Cambridgeshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Albert Edward and Elizabeth Joyce; husband of Ivy Joyce, of South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Oatley NSW
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Oatley War Memorial, Oatley NSW
On the night of 19 November 1943, Stirling EF123 took off from Mildenhall detailed to bomb Leverkusen, Germany. On return to base from the mission, the crew were instructed to divert to Bradwell Bay airfield in Essex. However the order was rescinded, and course for Mildenhall was set. On nearing the airfield and letting down in poor visibility, the aircraft flew into trees during fog, and crashed at Flint Farm, Isleham, seven miles south east of Ely, Cambridgeshire. Six of the crew members were killed and one was injured in the crash.
The crew members of EF123 were:
Flight Sergeant Charles William Hannah (417053) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Pilot Officer Peter Francis Hughes (409971) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Joyce (420816) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Sergeant J McSpadyen (527682) (RAF) (Air Gunner) Injured
Flight Sergeant Peter John Ratcliffe (423325) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant Arthur Taylor (966000) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant Charles Frank Thomas (422001) (RNZAF) (Air 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, 166/21/94
Register of War Memorials in New South Wales On-Line