Cousins, Herbert Leslie

Personal Information

Rank P/O
Forename(s) Herbert Leslie
Surname Cousins
Gender M
Age 27
Decorations
Date of Death 24-07-1941
Next of Kin Husband of Elsie Almer Joyce Cousins (nee Becker)- known as Almer- originally of Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria. Father to Herbert Leslie Cousins Jr. who was born after his father's death
COUSINS HL

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Hampden I
Serial Number AE238
Markings PL-

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Illogan (St. Illogan) Churchyard
Grave Reference Row 1. Grave 7.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 149

Enlistment Information

Service Number 88405
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 5
Squadron 144
Trade Navigator
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Miscellaneous Information

Born 8/8/1913 in Sunderland. A Chartered Accountant in civilian life. He joined Price Waterhouse (as it was then called) in 1937 on a salary of £250 per annum. His son, Leslie Cousins Jr. also joined PWC in 1959 as an articled clerk following a letter of recommendation from his step-father to Sir Thomas Robson, the then senior partner. PWC lost 109 members of staff to both world wars, including two bearing the names Price and Waterhouse.
Obituary taken from “The Accountant” dated 23rd August 1941: “Mr. Herbert Leslie Cousins A.C.A. was killed in a daylight raid over Germany, when he was struck by shrapnel. His ‘plane returned safely, and the RAF funeral took place in Cornwall. The Bishop of Barrow-in-Furness held a memorial service for him on Sunday, 3rd August. Born in Hong Kong, Mr. Cousins was educated at St. Bees’ School. After taking honours in both the Intermediate and Final examinations of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, he joined the London staff of Mssrs. Price, Waterhouse & Co. In the first week of the war he volunteered for service with the Royal Air Force and was called up fro duty in May, 1940. A friend writes “The untimely death of Leslie Cousins is a great blow to his many friends, both in the accountancy profession and elsewhere. Excelling in his work and in several games, he possessed those qualities of modesty and self-deprecation so dear to the hearts of true Englishmen. He leaves behind him an impression of kindness and brilliant simplicity, of an exemplary character destined for a great career, and while friends mourn his death, the loss is no less great for our country, for men like Cousins are rare”.
A bronze plaque in the London offices of Price Waterhouse Cooper at 7 More Street bears his name. It is located at the Tooley Street entrance.

Casualty Pack Number Find Out More

AIR 81/7876 (P360848/41)

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The National Archives

Last Operation Information

Start Date 24-07-1941
End Date 24-07-1941
Takeoff Station North Luffenham
Day/Night Raid Day
Operation To attack warships in Brest harbour
Reason for Loss Despite a lengthy account from the pilot (P/O Harrison) in the squadron ORB, it is not entirely clear what killed the navigator. He was said to be unconscious and bleeding profusely and a while later no pulse could be detected. The account does state that the formation were engaged in 'jinking' to avoid A/A fire as they approached the French coastline, so this seems to be the most likely cause. The aircraft otherwise made a safe return to base.
 
 
 
 

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Casualty Pack

IBCC is delighted to introduce a unique facility to link the Losses Database to the relevant RAF Casualty Pack on the National Archives website. This project is the result of on-going collaboration between IBCC, the MOD Records Office and National Archives, Kew. This document describes what Casualty Packs are, when they were created, the process of making them available to the public and then goes on to describe the process by which you can view the contents of the packs. Casualty Packs (CPs) were created by the RAF whenever there was serious injury or loss of life associated with operational activity within the RAF. This includes operational flying losses, enemy action due to air raids, road accidents either on station or even off-station if they involved RAF vehicles. Deaths due to natural causes in service or accidents that did not involve RAF vehicles did not generally give rise to a CP.

CPs were originally given a unique reference number by the RAF. Each begins with the letter ‘P’ and is followed by six digits, then an oblique (forward slash) and the finally the year in which the incident took place- for example P396154/42.

The CPs are in the process of being made available to the general public as they are passed from the MOD Records Office, Portsmouth to National Archives, Kew. This process requires some rework to the files which is very time consuming, so the process of making them all available to National Archives will take several years. They are being made available in increasing date order.

Once CPs arrive at National Archives they are assigned a unique AIR81 number, so each CP has both a P-number and an AIR81 number. Both are searchable on the National Archives website under ‘Search the catalogue’ and both are included on the IBCC website.

The AIR81 reference on the IBCC website is a link to the file on the National Archives website. When you click on it, the relevant page will open in a new tab on your browser.

There is currently no plan to digitise AIR81 files, partly because they are fragile and partly because the information they contain can at times be sensitive, even harrowing, since they may contain exhumation reports and even photographs of corpses. Family members wishing to read the AIR81 files relating to their ancestors are advised to exercise caution and be guided by National Archives warnings where appropriate.

There are two means for accessing AIR81 files- to attend in person or to order a copy by post.

To attend in person, the attendee should first create a Reader’s Ticket. This can be done online by following this link: https://secure.nationalarchives.gov.uk/login/yourdetails. Then click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and click Order in Advance. Enter your Reader’s Ticket number and state the date on which you intend to visit. National Archives will have the file ready for you when you arrive, saving you time. When you visit Kew, you must quote the Reader’s Ticket number and take along two forms of ID- one bearing your signature and one bearing your address. When you view the files, you are permitted to take photographs of each page, should you wish.

Alternatively, if you wish to order a copy by post, please be aware that there is a charge for this service based on the number of pages in the file. Click on the AIR81 reference on the IBCC website and then click Request a Copy. There is an £8.40 charge for National Archives staff to access the file and give you a quotation for the copying service. The process takes around 24 days to complete and can be expensive.

IBCC wishes to thank the staff at the MOD Records Office and National Archives for their engagement and assistance in making this facility available to our website users.