LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Leslie John SOMMERVILLE
Service No: 401860
Born: Warragul VIC, 6 September 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 26 April 1941
Unit: No. 150 Squadron (RAF), RAF Station Kirmington
Died: Air Operations (No. 150 Squadron Wellington aircraft BK538), Kent, 21 November 1942, Aged 21 Years
Buried: Margate Cemetery, Kent
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Herbert John and Mary Elizabeth Sommerville, of Ivanhoe, Victoria, Australia
Roll of Honour: Oakleigh VIC
Remembered: Panel 130, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Wellington BK538 took off from Kirmington at 1910 hours on the night of 21 November 1942, detailed to bomb Turin, Italy. The aircraft overshot and crashed at 2300 hours while trying to make an emergency landing at Manston airfield, Kent. Four of the crew members were killed in the crash and one was injured.
The crew members of BK538 were:
Sergeant E O Booth (112984, possibly incomplete) (RAFVR) (Air Gunner) Injured
Pilot Officer Trevor Howell (117457) (RAFVR) (Observer)
Warrant Officer II Harris Mansel Lisson (R/84681) (RCAF) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Leslie John Sommerville (401860) (Air Bomber)
Pilot Officer Julian Frederic Sweet (J/8938) (RCAF) (Pilot)
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, 163/163/605