LEST WE FORGET
Warrant Officer Leonard George ROBINSON
Service No: 420274
Born: Edinburgh, Scotland, 30 March 1920
Enlisted in the RAAF: 11 October 1941 (at Sydney NSW)
Unit: No. 450 Squadron
Died: Air Operations: Mediterranean and Italian Fronts 1944-5 (No. 450 Squadron Kittyhawk aircraft FX710), off the Italian Coast, 26 December 1944, Aged 24 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of William Charles and Catherine Emily Robinson; husband of Joan Isobel Robinson, of Maroubra, New South Wales. Australia
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 16, Column 1, Malta Memorial, Malta
Remembered: Panel 105, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
After bombing an ammunition dump near Padua on 26 December 1944, Kittyhawk FX710 flown by Warrant Officer Robinson reported on radio that the engine temperature was rising. He flew out to sea and baled out and was seen to be floating with his Mae West jacket inflated. A Walrus aircraft was sent out to pick him up, but with rough seas the aircraft was unable to get close enough to recover or identify his body which at that stage was floating face down. The attempt was given up after the Walrus broke up in the rough sea and the crew had to take to their dinghy. Other searches found no trace of Warrant Officer Robinson.
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, 166/34/428