Sgt. E. M. Leftley . 102 Squadron
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Lt. William Victor Leftley . British Army 30th Btn. Dorest Regiment
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Archie Walter Lefurgey . RCAF pilot 2 (Coastal) OTU. (d.7th Aug 1942) I'm doing family history research on my uncle, Archie Walter Lefurgey, who was a Canadian RCAF pilot training at RAF Catfoss OTU during WWII. He crashed and was reported missing on 7th August 1942 near Withernsea on the east coast of England.
I contacted RAF Holmpton near Withernsea and they were unable to help
Could anyone offer any suggestions on who to contact for any further information on the circumstances surrounding his crash? I'm interested in any information, even of a general nature and including usual crash procedures, that anyone may have. Other questions I have are as follows. Was there any German activity in the area during this time frame, such as German night fighters, bombers, U-Boats or E-Boats? Was his aircraft on fire when it crashed? Is there anyone from the area who is still around that may recall the crash? What are the tides and currents in the area off Withernsea like? Is it likely his body could have been swept away, but not the aircraft debris? Are there any museums in the area that might have information? Do you know where any records by the Observer Corps, Coast Guard or Air Sea Rescue may be kept? Would records even be made or kept of this type of incident? What means did Air Sea Rescue usually use to "positively identify" a downed aircraft?
According to documents and the crash report that I've obtained through Canadian (RCAF)sources and with the help of the RAF's Air Historical Branch and the RAF Hendon Museum, I've learned some of the story. The report states that the crash was witnessed by the Observer Corps, the Coast Guard and possibly by the Bridlington Air Sea Rescue Marine Division.
Details of the crash are as follows:
At about 0330 hrs on 7th August 1942, Archie Lefurgey took off alone (probably) from RAF Catfoss OTU in Blenheim MkIV twin engine aircraft V.6255 with squadron markings "YH". He did 4 touch and go landings and take offs, then left the vicinity of the airfield. He didn't return.
The RAF had "fighter plots" of his aircraft leaving Catfoss and heading NW towards RAF Driffield, then returning over Catfoss, then heading SE towards Withernsea. According to the crash or accident report, his aircraft was seen by both the Observer Corps and the Coast Guard to "fall" or "crash" (not force land) into the sea about 2 miles from Withernsea at 0505 hrs. His aircraft had ample fuel for several more hours of flying. Bridlington Air Sea Rescue was preoccupied with another crash in the general area, then later attended at my uncle's crash site at 0630 hrs. There was "much debris" and his aircraft was "positively identified". The report desn't say how the debris was identified, but my guess would be that they saw the aircraft's markings on the debris. A search of the area failed to reveal my uncle's body.
My dad was an RCAF Wireless Op/Air Gunner who had just returned from India when his brother went missing. He went to Catfoss and asked about the crash. One of the air traffic controllers recalled hearing Archie Lefurgey make a radio transmission after he passed over Catfoss heading towards Withernsea. He made a comment about "seeing something and going to investigate". I have no real idea or hint of what he may have seen.
My uncle's personal diary records that there were a number of German bombing attacks in the area during the weeks before his crash, so there may have been some German activity when & where my uncle crashed. If there was any German activity during this rough time, how likely would it be that there would be any before or near dawn?
I also understand that a number of the aircraft used in training units, such as the OTU, were aircraft that had been retired from active service and were well-used, so the possibility of mechanical failure exists.
The liklihood of pilot error exists, but is small, I think. My uncle was one of those who followed the rules and wasn't prone to "fooling around" in the aircraft. The fact his aircraft was seen to "dive" into the sea makes me think that pilot error wasn't the cause. Perhaps he fell victim to some mechanical failure or enemy fire. We likely won't ever know that for sure.
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AC Legder . British Army AC Legder served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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1st.Lt. Marion Edwin Legendre . United States Army Air Force 12th Photo Recon Squadron from Wilmington, California (d.7th October 1943) I have just received an accident report on my uncle Marion E. Legendre who is listed as Missing in Action on 7th of October 1943.
From what I gather 1st Lt. Marion E. Legendre was on a Photo Mission to Trieste, Italy with 3rd Photo Recon Group. The report states that he had lunch at Grottalia, Italy refueled and proceeded to Trieste at 1330 hours. He failed to return to Grottalia or his own home base. He was stationed in Tunisia or Algeria. I have his flight book, APO 520 for the dates of summer and fall of 43 list Algeria and Tunisia with Foggia listed in late October of 1943. The last place he was sighted was at Grottalia by 1st Lt. John Mark 0-733930. Marion was my mother Lois's only sibling.
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F/O. Legett . Royal Air Force 460 Sqd.
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AH Legg . British Army AH Legg served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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AR Legg . British Army AR Legg served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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FG Legg . British Army Hampshire Regiment FG Legg served with the Hampshire Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Sgt Kenneth George Legg . RAF 12Sqd. (d.24th May 1943) Mid Upper Gnr. Kenneth Legg was killed on 24th May 1943 in Lancaster I W4861 PH-M of 12sqd
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PJ Legg . British Army Royal Engineers PJ Legg served with the Royal Engineers British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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WJ Legg . British Army 5th Regiment Reconnaissance Corps WJ Legg served with the 5th Regiment Reconnaissance Corps British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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A/Ldg.Sea. John Leggate . Royal Navy HMS Capetown from Strathaven My uncle, John Leggate, served onboard the Capetown from Jan 1941 'till June 41. He had be moved from HMS Carthage to HMS Capetown.
After the torpedo attack on HMS Capetown he was then posted on board the battleship HMS Rodney in Jan 9143 'till May 1945. By this time he was Petty Officer and finished as Commissioned Gunner in 1947 to 1954 having been in the Navy from 1938.
He passed away in Greenock in 1982.
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Bill Legge . Royal Air Force 21 Sqd. We have the Bill Legge's observers and gunners flying log book, his Goldfish badge and card and a couple of photos. Of note is the entry in his log of his Ventura ditching in the North Sea on the 6th December 1942 after the Eindhoven raid. This story has been well told on the BBC WW2 Peoples War site from the war recollections of Flt/Lt Albert Ricketts. I would very much like to get in touch with his son Peter Ricketts as his father and my father-in-law saw active duty together between October 1942 to September 1943 and I hope that we may find some more information from Flt Lt Ricketts memoirs. Any help contacting Peter Ricketts would be appreciated.
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Lt. Commander Geoffrey Legge . Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve Fleet Air Arm (d.Nov 1940) I am the younger son of Lt. Commander Geoffrey Legge RNVR who in fact owned the 50 acre site of St Merryn Aerodrome, St Merryn, Cornwall, before the war through his business together with William Rhodes Moorhouse. At the time he owned property at Harlyn Bay (which is still in the family) and kept various aircraft there including his Percival Q6 reg: G-AFFE, Whitney Straight etc which he kept in the black hanger there (which still stands today). This hangar is also where Nick Grace
rebuilt his Spitfire Mk 9 which Carolyn flies today. The Admiralty
requisitioned St Merryn airfield to become HMS Vulture II in 1940 together with the Q6. Regrettably my father was killed whilst in the Fleet Air Arm, flying a Proctor from Lee on Solent down to his old base, St Merryn. Due to bad weather, this happened somewhere near Exeter in November 1940. He is buried in the graveyard at St Merryn. As a boy I grew up at Harlyn Bay and used to cycle up to the airfield, fascinated by the aircraft, and Mother of course, knew a number of the servicemen at Camp as we called it, and we made a lot of friends there.
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AB. Edward Leggett . Royal Navy HMS Pembroke from 8 Wake Street, Lambeth Edward Leggett served with the Royal Navy in WW2. He was originally posted to HMS Ajax but was then posted to HMS Pembroke and never sailed on Ajax. He was a sonar operator.
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Cpl. Ernest Robert Leggett . British Army 145 Special Service Coy. Royal Norfolk Regiment from Great Yarmouth Ernest Leggett was wounded in Burma. I would like to find anyone with any information or knowledge of Mr Leggett.
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Gnr. Louis Joseph Leggett . British Army 68th (South Midland) Field Regiment Royal Artillery from Dublin
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TGA Leggett . British Army TGA Leggett served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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WA Leggett . British Army WA Leggett served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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William John Leggett . Bevin Boys from Brighton William Leggett served as a Bevin Boy during World War Two.
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Brigadier-Chef. Marcel LeGuen MMe, CdG.. French Army 11th Cuirassiers from Plouegat-Moysan, Finistere, Brittany, Fance On 12th of June 1940, while serving with the Cavalry Division of the French 11th Cuirassiers (Armoured Division) and attached to the 51st Highland Division, Marcel Le Guen, aged 23, was captured at St Valery en Caux near Dieppe. He was imprisoned at the Citadelle de Cambria.
Six months later he escaped by hiding in a coal truck and stayed with cousins in Paris before returning to his home in Brittany. While working in the family farm, he joined a local Resistance movement. Tired of in-fighting within the local units, eighteen months later he decided to make his way to the British Embassy in Barcelona, Spain and from there join the Free French in England. On 6th December 1942, after crossing the Pyrenees on foot, he was arrested near Gerona as an escaped prisoner of war and incarcerated in the prison camp of Miranda del Ebro.
He persuaded British embassy officials, who were reporting on conditions in the camp, that he was a French-speaking Canadian named Marcel le Goen of Quebec and in June 1943 he was released and made his way to Gibraltar where a representative of General de Gaulle arranged for his transport to England on the troopship Highland Princess. Marcel Le Guen joined the Forces Francaises Libres in London on 2nd July 1943 as a Soldier Second Class, Number 35948, attached to the FAFC l'Infanterie de l'Air, 2nd Company, lst Battalion. He was trained somewhere in England, possibly Dean Camp, Camberley, as a parachutist and took part in several campaigns in Holland and Belgium in 1944. In 1945 he was parachuted into Normandy with 21st Army Group during the invasion, fought at Arnhem and served behind enemy lines in Holland and Germany. After his demob on 1st June 1946 he joined the French Diplomatic Service. He died in Berne, Switzerland on 12th October 1958 from TB he had contracted in 1940, probably at Cambrai.
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Gnr. Daniel Joseph Lehane . British Army 73 L.A.A. Regiment, 218 Bty. Royal Artillery from Macroom (d.9th November 1942) Daniel Lehane was the son of Cornelius and Mary Lehane of Macroom.
He was 26 when he died and is buried in the Ballyvourney Churchyard, Ballyvourney, Co. Cork, Ireland.
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Capt Antony Robert John Lehmann . British Army Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (d.8 October 1944)
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AJ Leigh . British Army Royal Armoured Corps AJ Leigh served with the Royal Armoured Corps British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Sgt B B Leigh . RAF 12sqd
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E Leigh . British Army East Kent Regiment E Leigh served with the East Kent Regiment British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Ernest Leigh . British Army Queen's Rgt. (West Surreys) from Lancashire My father served with the Queen's Regiment in Burma and India. He survived the war but sadly passed away some years ago. I have heard lots of stories that these men were not supposed to come home because of the conditions, heat etc., and were sent to do the job whatever the outcome. Does anyone remember him?
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H Leigh . British Army H Leigh served with the British Army. I have his unissued dogtags, made in preparation for deployment to the Far East and would love to get them home to his family. I am happy to cover all costs. If you are a family member or can put me in touch with them please get in touch. Update: The Wartime Memories Project is no longer in contact with Dan , his website, facebook page and email have all ceased to function. But if you can add any details about the person listed, please use the add to record link below.
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Nathan Leigh . United States Navy SC748 I am searching for crewmates who served on board the SC748 in the South Pacific in 1942-44. Where are Jim `Heenie' Heenman, Radtke `Rat' ____Dierdorf `Flags', Henry `Hank' Mancini, ____Cantino `Fingers', and `Pappy' Leigh. I would love to hear from anyone.
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