Davey, Leslie Gerald

Personal Information

Rank F/S
Forename(s) Leslie Gerald
Surname Davey
Gender M
Age 22
Decorations
Date of Death 24-03-1944
Next of Kin Son of Frank Leslie Davey and Mabel Irene Davey (née White). of Westbourne, Manitoba.
DAVEY LG

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number LV841
Markings BM-H

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country Germany
Burial/Memorial Place Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery
Grave Reference 13. D. 2.
Epitaph

IBCC Memorial Information

Phase 2
Panel Number 152

Enlistment Information

Service Number R/177945
Service Royal Canadian Air Force
Group 6
Squadron 433 (Porcupine)
Trade WOp/AG
Country of Origin Canada

Other Memorials

Location Davey Bay, Manitoba; SE tip of Magill Lake
Country Canada
Memorial Type Bay
Memorial Text
View On Google Maps View On what3words

Miscellaneous Information

Leslie was born at Westbourne, Manitoba on 6 January 1922. Both parents were born in Westbourne and his father was a Postmaster. He had two sisters: Frances Irene and Marian Isobelle. The schools he attended in Westbourne were: Landing school, 1929-1938 (General); Westbourne 1938-1939 (Grade 8) A correspondence course at Landing. His sport interests were baseball and tennis and he enjoyed mechanical work as a hobby. Work wise he was into farming, mechanics and trucking. He was working on his father’s farm 1939-1940, as a farmer and trucker for six months in 1940 and then as a mechanic for Cliff McIntyre for two years 1940-42.
Leslie enlisted on 2 July 1942 and after training embarked for U.K.. He arrived at 3PRC on 5 June 1943, 1 (0)AFU 28 June 1943, 24 OTU 10 August 1943, 61 Base 4 November 1943, 1659 CU 19 November 1943 and 433 Squadron 28 December 1943.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

The National Archives

Fellow Servicemen

Last Operation Information

Start Date 24-03-1944
End Date 25-03-1944
Takeoff Station Skipton on Swale
Day/Night Raid Night (1% moon)
Operation Berlin. 811 aircraft, 72 losses (8.9%). Known as the 'night of the strong winds', a very powerful wind from the north tended to push the aircraft south at every stage of the operation. As a result, the bomber stream became very scattered, allowing fighters to pick off stragglers, although 50 of the aircraft Lost were hit by flak. Around 20000 were bombed out but no industrial premises were hit. This was the last major raid on Berlin of the war.
Reason for Loss Presumed hit by flak on return leg and crashed north of Sandersleben, Germany
 
 
 
 

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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.