LEST WE FORGET
Pilot Officer Eric William McLEOD
Service No: 404007
Born: Brisbane QLD, 13 September 1911
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1940
Unit: No. 20 Operational Training Unit (RAF), RAF Station Lossiemouth
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 20 Operational Training Unit Wellington aircraft R1155), Moray Firth, 25 March 1941, Aged 29 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William and Florence Margaret McLeod, of Bulimba, Queensland, Australia
Roll of Honour: Brisbane QLD
Remembered: Panel 62, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 126, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
During an operational training flight on 25 March 1941 Wellington R1155 crashed into the sea 4 miles north of Kingston, Moray Firth, Scotland. The body of one crew member was recovered but no trace of the remainder of the crew members was found, and it was recorded that they were lost at sea.
The crew members of R1155 were:
Sergeant William Arthur Crosswell (903426) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Frank Stewart Heathcote Ford (60785) (RAFVR)
Pilot Officer Eric William McLeod (404007) (Second Pilot)
Sergeant Hubert Stephen Murray (976892) (RAFVR)
Flight Lieutenant John Frederic Ritchie (39684) (RAF) (Pilot)
Sergeant Horace Charles Salt (947364) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Alfred James Turner (541403) (RAF)
Sergeant George Whittaker (1107550) (RAFVR)
Sergeant Walter Powney Wilkinson (917136) (RAFVR)
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, 163/47/55