LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Leslie Jack NAILE
Service No: 415174
Born: Bath England, 9 July 1916
Enlisted in the RAAF: 21 July 1941 (at Perth WA)
Unit: No. 100 Squadron (RAF), RAF Grimsby, Lincolnshire
Died: Air Operations (No. 100 Squadron Lancaster aircraft ED988), Netherlands, 26 June 1943, Aged 26 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Arthur Edward and Bessie Naile; husband of Phyllis Alison Naile, of Subiaco, Western Australia.
Roll of Honour: Busselton WA
Remembered: Panel 193, Runnymede Memorial, Surrey UK
Remembered: Panel 127, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: Cenotaph Undercroft, State War Memorial, Kings Park WA
Lancaster ED988 of 100 Squadron took off from RAF Grimsby at 1123 hours on 25 June 1943 together with 15 other aircraft to bomb Geksenkirchen, Germany. Nothing was heard from ED 988 after take off and it did not return to base. It was established post war that the aircraft had crashed at Middenbeemster, about 7 miles north west of Edam, Holland, about 0100 hours on the 26 June 1943, and that all the crew were killed instantly.
The crew members of ED988 were:
Sergeant Leonard Bennett (650929) (RAF) (Rear Gunner)
Sergeant Cyril Connah (1005899) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Sergeant John Dillon (1126212) (RAFVR) (Wireless Operator Air Gunner)
Sergeant Ronald William Mepsted (1387214) (RAFVR) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Jack Naile (415174) (Pilot)
Flight Sergeant Lawrence George Porritt (416016) (RNZAF) (Mid Upper Gunner)
Pilot Officer Charles Pharaoh Reynolds (132095) (RAFVR) (Air Bomber)
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, 166/29/26