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208413
P/O Alan Leach
Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve 51 Squadron
from:Coppull, Lancashire
(d.5th Jan 1945)
Alan Leach was born in Coppull in 1921, the son of Sylvester and Emma.
He was brother to Fred, well known in the village. He was a Pilot Officer in the RAF Volunteer Reserve at the age of 19 and a member of 51 squadron.
The aircraft he was flying on 5th January 1945 was a Halifax LV 952, MH – F. It took off from RAF Snaith at 16.47 hours, detailed to bomb Hannover, Germany. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after take-off and it failed to return to base. It was shot down at 19.22 by Luftwaffe pilot Georg-Hermann Greiner, and crashed 19.27 at Leinhausen- Soeckern. He and five of the crew were killed and are buried in Hannover War Cemetery, Niedersachsen, Germany.
The Crew were:
P/O A. Leach (Pilot)
Sgt P Neale (Flight Engineer)
F/Sgt J S Staples (Navigator)
Flt Sgt W G Bowen (Air Bomber)
P/O L A Wilson RAAF (Wireless Operator)
F/Sgt W M Burton (Air Gunner)
Sgt D Ef F Tomsett (Air Gunner)
The only surviving crew member was Sgt Thomsett (Air Gunner)