Dwan, Leonard Stanley Died

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Personal Information

Rank Sgt
Forename(s) Leonard Stanley
Surname Dwan
Gender M
Age 23
Date of Death 03-06-1944
Next of Kin Son of George Charles and Lily Sarah Dwan, of Rotherhithe, London.
DWAN LS

Aircraft Information

Aircraft Handley Page Halifax III
Serial Number LV792
Markings NP-E

Memorial Information

Burial/Memorial Country United Kingdom
Burial/Memorial Place Runnymede Memorial
Grave Reference Panel 228.
Epitaph HIS DUTY FEARLESSLY AND NOBLY DONE. EVER REMEMBERED

IBCC Memorial Information

Map
Directions to panel 158
DWAN LS

Location

Row -
Panel 158
Column -
Line -

Directions From the Chadwick Centre, take the central path towards The Spire.

Phase 2
Panel Number 158

Enlistment Information

Service Number 1335418
Service Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve
Group 4
Squadron 158
Squadron Motto Strength in unity
Trade WOp/AG
Country of Origin United Kingdom

Other Memorials

Location St. James of Compostola Church, Lissett, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Stone & Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Memorial to 158 Sqn, RAF Lissett 28th February 1943 - 17th August 1946
Location St. James of Compostola Church, Lissett, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Stained Glass Window & Inscribed Metal Plaques
Memorial Text A stained glass window in memory of 158 Sqn RAF
Location Adjacent to former airfield, Lissett, East Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Metal Sculpture, Wind Turbines & Info Board
Memorial Text 12 wind turbines named after Halifax Bombers of 158 Sqn and groundcrew who were killed on 2nd July 1943
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Memorial Gardens, Propeller, Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text In everlasting homage to the courage of those who have found their winged victory through the skies of Yorkshire
Location Yorkshire Air Museum, Elvington, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Propeller Unit & Inscribed Marble Tablets
Memorial Text They made the supreme sacrifice so that you & I may go in peace with freedom. 4 Group 1939 - 1945.
Location Heslington Hall, York, North Yorkshire
Country United Kingdom
Memorial Type Inscribed Metal Plaque
Memorial Text Heslington Hall 1941 - 1945, 4 Gp Headquarters Bomber Command. In remembrance of those Air & Ground personnel who made the supreme sacrifice that we all may walk in peace with freedom

Miscellaneous Information

158 Squadron Lost six Halifaxes on this raid
LV792 was Captained by 421635 Pilot Officer Bruce Bancroft, RAAF. The Halifax was one of 128 aircraft on the raid to Trappes, which was intended to produce maximum disruption to German transportation prior to the D-Day landings only 3 days later. The bombers were engaged by German night fighters which destroyed 15 Halifaxes and one Lancaster. A German Junkers Ju 88 raked P/O Bancroft's Halifax from below and from end to end. Bancroft's combat report appeared in Air Ministry Bulletin No 14233: "He set us alight in the bomb bay as well as inside the fuselage, just in front of the rear bulkhead. There was a hole in the floor from one side of the aircraft to the other, three feet wide. Halfway up, the fuselage had been riddled with machine-gun bullets. There was a great hole near the wireless position (and no sign of Leonard) and the inter-com had been shot to pieces. One of the port petrol tanks was leaking. One compass was smashed, another 90 degrees out. In the starboard side of the cockpit there was another big hole. Both turrets were useless. All the hydraulics were gone and, as a result, the flaps dropped. The undercarriage was only held in position by the locks, and the bomb bay doors fell wide open. I had no idea how much petrol we had left. The gauges were useless - one said 10 gallons, enough for only five minutes, but that tank kept us going all the way home. Another showed 140 gallons but that tank was empty. "My rear gunner was jammed in his turret. He hacked his way out with an axe, jumped over the hole in the floor of the aircraft, and went forward - he had heard nothing from us on the inter-com. When he saw us he went back, got parachute and two fire extinguishers and tackled the blaze. The flames were leaping high and he soon used up the extinguishers. Then he beat out the fire with his feet and hands. The navigator and the bomb aimer put out the fire in the bomb bay by squirting another extinguisher through the inspection panel. "The starboard inner engine had also caught fire. I switched it off and feathered the propeller and the fire went out. Then I restarted the engine and it went all right. The whole aircraft was full of fumes and I had to open the window, even though there was that great hole not far from my head. When we got to the French coast we flew right over a town at 3,000 feet without a single gun fired at us. We crossed the sea at 2,000 feet, expecting to have to ditch at any moment. But somehow we made it and got down safely (at Hurn, near Bournemouth), though I found when we landed that the tail wheel had burst. The Halifax slewed in a half circle but I managed to pull it up safely."

The National Archives

Record of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1049/12
Summary of Events (Operational Record Book) AIR 27/1049/12

Last Operation Information

Start Date 02-06-1944
End Date 03-06-1944
Takeoff Station Lissett
Day/Night Raid Night (85% moon)
Operation Trappes- to bomb the railway yards. 128 aircraft, 16 losses (12.5%). Most of the bombing fell in the eastern portion of the target area
Reason for Aircraft Loss Attacked by a night-fighter (Ju 88) on return leg, tearing a large hole in the fuselage and setting light to the aircraft. It is thought that three of the crew fell out of the hole and although Sgt L Cotterell and Sgt K L G Le Heup survived (the former evading capture and the latter becoming a PoW), Sgt Dwan's body was never found
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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.