LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Leslie Ernest ZIERSCH
Service No: 417690
Born: Horsham VIC, 8 December 1923
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 June 1942 (at Adelaide SA)
Unit: No. 190 Squadron (RAF), RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 190 Squadron Stirling aircraft LJ822), Dorset, 11 April 1944, Aged 20 Years
Buried: Brookwood Military Cemetery, Surrey
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Ernest Ewald and Bertha Magdalene Ziersch, of Eudunda, South Australia.
Roll of Honour: Eudunda SA
Remembered: Panel 133, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
Remembered: World War II Honour Roll, National War Memorial of SA, North Terrace, Adelaide
Stirling LJ822 took off from RAF Fairford, Gloucestershire, on the night of 11 April 1944, detailed to carry out a special operations night flight. The aircraft crashed at 2309 hours on the 11th April at Knighton Farm, Hampreston, near Wimborne, Dorset, and all the crew members were killed. The aircraft dived into the ground and burst into flames when it hit the ground.
The crew members of LJ822 were:
Flight Sergeant Peter Croudis (415239) (RNZAF) (Pilot)
Flying Officer Robert Stewart Hadley (J/26622) (RCAF) (Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant John Willie Mitchell (1591883) (RAFVR) (Flight Engineer)
Flight Sergeant Kenneth Stanley Nunn (418459) (Wireless Air Gunner)
Flight Sergeant Douglas John Sampson (422571) (RNZAF) (Navigator)
Flight Sergeant Leslie Ernest Ziersch (417690) (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, 166/45/48