Leslie Thomas Manser, VC (11 May 1922 – 31 May 1942) was a British bomber pilot and a recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

, which was awarded posthumously following an attack on the German city of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

Early life

Leslie Thomas Manser was born in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

, India, during his father's employment as an engineer with the Post and Telegraph Department and, when the family returned to Britain, they settled in

Radlett Radlett is a village in Hertfordshire, England, between Elstree and St Albans on Watling Street, with a population of 8,042. It is in the council district of Hertsmere in the south of the county, and is covered by two wards; Aldenham East and ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

. He was a pupil of Victoria Boys' School, Kurseong,

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nepal, ...

and

Aldenham School Aldenham School is a co-educational independent school for pupils aged eleven to eighteen, located between Elstree and the village of Aldenham in Hertfordshire, England. There is also a preparatory school for pupils from the ages of five to ele ...

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the ...

, Hertfordshire.

Royal Air Force

Manser was accepted by the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

(RAF) in August 1940, and was commissioned as a

pilot officer Pilot officer (Plt Off officially in the RAF; in the RAAF and RNZAF; formerly P/O in all services, and still often used in the RAF) is the lowest commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countri ...

in May 1941. After a navigational course and final operational training at No. 14 Operational Training Unit,

RAF Cottesmore Royal Air Force Station Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. On 15 December 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that the ...

, he was posted to No. 50 Squadron operating the

Handley Page Hampden The Handley Page HP.52 Hampden is a British twin-engine medium bomber that was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was part of the trio of large twin-engine bombers procured for the RAF, joining the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley and Vickers ...

RAF Swinderby Royal Air Force Swinderby or more simply RAF Swinderby was a Royal Air Force station airfield opened in 1940, one of the last of the stations completed under the RAF's expansion plans started in the 1930s. It was built near the village of Swin ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

, on 27 August. Two days after joining his squadron, Manser experienced his first operation: as a second pilot, he took part in a bombing raid on

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

. During the next two months he flew six more sorties against targets including

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

, before being posted to No. 25 Operational Training Unit, Finningley on 7 November and a month later posted back to No. 14 Operational Training Unit as an instructor. Manser served briefly with

No. 420 Squadron RCAF No. 420 "City of London" Squadron RCAF was a squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) (and subsequently Canadian Forces) which existed from late December 1941 forwards. The Squadron's nickname was "Snowy Owl". Their motto was ''Pugnam ...

(Hampdens) from March to April 1942 when he rejoined No. 50 Squadron then operating from

RAF Skellingthorpe Royal Air Force Skellingthorpe or more simply RAF Skellingthorpe is a former Royal Air Force station which was operational during the Second World War. It was located just west of the city of Lincoln, England about south-east of the village of S ...

, and converted to the new

Avro Manchester The Avro 679 Manchester was a British twin-engine heavy bomber developed and manufactured by the Avro aircraft company in the United Kingdom. While not being built in great numbers, it was the forerunner of the famed and vastly more successful ...

medium bomber. He piloted one of the new aircraft during a leaflet drop over Paris, and flew a further five sorties during April and May. Manser was promoted to flying officer on 6 May. Participating in Operation Millenium, a bombing raid on

on the night of 30 May 1942, Manser was captain and first pilot of

bomber 'D' for Dog. As he came over the target, his aircraft was caught in searchlights and although he bombed the target successfully from it was hit by flak. In an effort to escape the anti-aircraft fire he took violent evasive action, this reduced his altitude to only but he did not escape the flak until he was clear of the city. By this time the rear gunner was wounded, the front cabin full of smoke and the port engine overheating. Rather than abandon the aircraft and be captured, Manser tried to get the aircraft and crew to safety. The port engine then burst into flames, burning the wing and reducing airspeed to a dangerously low level. The crew made preparations to abandon the aircraft, by then barely controllable and with a crash inevitable. The aircraft was by now over Belgium, and Manser ordered the crew to bail out but refused the offer of a parachute for himself. He remained at the controls and sacrificed himself in order to save his crew. As the crew parachuted down they saw the bomber crash in flames into a dyke at

Bree, Belgium Bree (; french: Brée, ) is a City status in Belgium, city in the Flanders, Flemish province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg, Belgium. In December 2021, Bree had a total population of 16,097. The total area is which gives it a population density of ...

, north east of

Genk Genk () is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality located in the Belgian Provinces of Belgium, province of Limburg (Belgium), Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. I ...

. Pilot Officer Barnes was taken prisoner, but Sergeant Baveystock, Pilot Officer Horsley, Sergeant King, Sergeant Mills and Sergeant Naylor all evaded capture and made their way back to the United Kingdom. The testimonies of the five evaders were instrumental in the posthumous award of the

for Manser. The citation for the award read: Heverlee War Cemetery-29

Manser is buried at the

Heverlee War Cemetery Heverlee War Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) burial ground for the dead of the World War II, Second World War located in Heverlee, Belgium. The Heverlee War Cemetery was established in 1946 and contains 977 Commonwealth of ...

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

, Belgium. Manser was the brother-in-law of British Army captain

John Neil Randle Captain John Niel Randle, VC (22 December 1917 – 6 May 1944) was a British Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth force ...

, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in 1944.

Legacy

On part of the old RAF Skellingthorpe airfield from which Manser flew his last sortie, a new primary school was built. It was opened in 1981 and named the Leslie Manser Primary School.City of Lincoln Council – Lincolnonline
On 31 June 2004 a Memorial to Manser was unveiled in natural domain the "Zig", Stamprooierbroek near Molenbeersel,

Kinrooi Kinrooi (; li, Kinder) is a municipality in the Belgian province of Limburg, between Maaseik and Bree. On January 1, 2006, Kinrooi had a total population of 11,978. The total area is 54.76 km², which gives a population density of 219 inhab ...

in the north-east of Belgium. Manser's Victoria Cross is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

, London.

References

External links

CWGC entry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manser, Leslie Thomas 1922 births 1942 deaths British World War II recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Air Force recipients of the Victoria Cross Royal Air Force officers Royal Air Force pilots of World War II British World War II bomber pilots Aviators killed by being shot down Royal Air Force personnel killed in World War II Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve personnel of World War II People from New Delhi People educated at Aldenham School People from Radlett Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1942 Burials at Heverlee Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery British people in colonial India Military personnel of British India