LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Leonard Wentworth LEAN
Service No: 411919
Born: Wentworth Falls NSW, 18 January 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 June 1941
Unit: No. 1661 Conversion Unit (RAF), RAF Station Winthorpe
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 1661 Conversion Unit Lancaster aircraft ED823), Nottinghamshire, 10 April 1943, Aged 22 Years
Buried: Newark-upon-Trent Cemetery, Nottinghamshire
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Samuel Francis and Elsie May Lean, of Lindfield, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Chatswood NSW
Remembered: Panel 125, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
On the morning of the 10 April 1943, Lancaster ED823 took off from Winthorpe for a night training exercise. Shortly after take-off the aircraft crashed at about 0125 hours after flying into high tension wires, off School Lane at the village of Halam, 11 miles from the centre of Nottingham. All on board were killed. The aircraft appeared to be in good flying order with its navigation lights on before the crash. The point of impact indicated the aircraft was straight and level and travelling at speed. The crew was a student crew on their final training exercise before operations.
The crew members of ED823 were:
Sergeant Frank Dunkin (14855) (Fitter 2A/Flight Engineer)
Sergeant William Shearer Lindsay Graham (1345277) (RAFVR) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flying Officer Edward Lambert (127064) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Raymond David Lewis (R/115799) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Leonard Wentworth Lean (411919) (Pilot)
Sergeant Henry Utley Oxspring (1087359) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
Sergeant William George Stephenson (1231524) (RAFVR) (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, 166/24/68