Profile image
Military service
Service number:
J/93539
Age:
21
Rank:
Pilot Officer
Force:
Air Force
Unit/Regiment:
Royal Canadian Air Force
Division:
550 (R.A.F.) Sqdn
Death:
May 22, 1944
Burial/memorial information
Grave reference:
Grave 32975.
Additional information
Son of Frederick George and Maude Lilian Towsley, of Fort William, Ontario, Canada.
Digital gallery of Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
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Entrance
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Grave Marker
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Grave marker
St Niklaas Communal Cemetery ... May 2019 ... photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Memorial reads: Here rest seven crew members of the 550 Sqdn RAF North Killingholme who gave their lives for our freedom. Lancaster LL851 took off from North Killingholme (Lincolnshire) on May 21 1944 at 10:40 pm for a bombing mission to the industrial area of Duisburg in the Ruhr. In spite of a thick cloud cover over the target, the objectives were accurately met, paralysing all industrial activity in Duisburg for one year. During the return flight, the Lancaster was probably shot down by a German night fighter and crashed on May 22 1944 at 02:15 am at Heimolen, some 3 km south of Sint-Niklaas. All crew members perished and were buried in the town’s communal cemetery. P/O P J Dukelow – Pilot Sgt D S Bruty – Flight Engineer P/O L R Dunham – Navigator Sgt L R Towsley RCAF – Bomb Aimer Sgt D A W Mayo – Wireless Operator Sgt S A Jarvis – Air Gunner P/O H E Macduff – RCAF Air Gunner We Will Remember Them ... photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Memorial to 550 RAF Squadron - St Niklaas Communal Cemetery ... photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Father J P Lardie's comments as inscribed on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Memorial
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley is also commemorated on the Bomber Command Memorial Wall in Nanton, AB … photo courtesy of Marg Liessens -
Photo of LESLIE ROBERT TOWSLEY
Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Document
Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Correspondence
Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Identification
Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me -
Document
Submitted for the project Operation Picture Me
Digital gallery of
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
Digital gallery of
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
Digital gallery of
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
Digital gallery of
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
Digital gallery of
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
Digital gallery of
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
Digital gallery of
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
Digital gallery of
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
Digital gallery of
Pilot Officer Leslie Robert Towsley
In the Books of Remembrance
Commemorated on:
Page 464 of the Second World War Book of Remembrance.
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