LEST WE FORGET
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Barker LEIGH
From Australia serving in the Royal Air Force
Service No: 46462 (RAF)
Born: Date, Location unavailable
Enlisted in the RAF: Date unavailable
Unit: No. 76 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Middleton St George, Yorkshire
Died: Prisoner of War (Executed): (PoW from the loss of No. 76 Squadron Halifax I aircraft L9516 on 6 August 1941), 31 March 1944, Aged 25 Years
Buried: Poznan Old Garrison Cemetery, Poland
CWGC Additional Information: Son of David and Constance Emily Carena Leigh, of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
On 24/25 March 1944, 76 allied prisoners of war broke out of the Stalag Luft III Prison Camp near Sagan, Germany (now Zagan, Poland) (the Great Escape). All but three were recaptured and of those, 50 including six Australians were executed by the Gestapo. Those six Australians executed were:
Squadron Leader James Catanach DFC MID (400364) (No. 455 Squadron) Executed 29 March 1944
Flight Lieutenant Brian Herbert Evans MID (42745) (RAF) (No. 49 Squadron (RAF)) Executed 31 March 1944
Warrant Officer Albert Horace Hake MID (403218) (No. 72 Squadron (RAF)) Executed 31 March 1944
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Barker Leigh (46462) (RAF) (No. 76 Squadron (RAF)) Executed 31 March 1944
Flight Lieutenant Reginald Victor Kierath MID (402364) (No. 450 Squadron) Executed 29 March 1944
Squadron Leader John Edwin Ashley Williams DFC (40652) (RAF) (No. 450 Squadron (RAAF)) Executed 29 March 1944
Flight Lieutenant Leigh was taken prisoner when Halifax L9516 was believed to have crashed near Glabbeek (Brabant), 8 km north of Tienen, Belgium, on 6 August 1941. One crew member was killed and the remainder was taken Prisoners of War.
The crew members of L9516 were:
Sergeant Robert Brown (952253) (RAFVR) Killed 6 August 1941
Sergeant Thomas Augustine Byrne (748546) (RAFVR) (Pilot) PoW
Sergeant Cyril Bruce Flockhart (RAF) PoW, Escaped
Flight Lieutenant Thomas Barker Leigh (46462) (RAF) (Air Gunner) PoW, Executed: 30 March 1944
Sergeant John Henry Pitt (645871) (RAFVR) PoW
Sergeant George William (940022) (RAVRF) PoW
Sergeant L A Thompson (968105) (RAFVR) PoW
References:
Chorley W R Royal Air Force Bomber Command Losses of the Second World War, Volume 2 Aircraft and Aircrew Losses 1941, Midland Counties Publications UK, 1993
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Bibliography:
Chorley W R, To See the Dawn Breaking: 76 Squadron Operations, W R Chorley Devon UK, 1981