Leonard George Gill
Leonard George Gill
Leonard George Gill was born on 16 August 1917 in Cardiff. His father was also called Leonard and his mother was Annie (maiden name Evans). His father was a landscape gardener. Len is understood to have had three sisters: Maud, Margaret and Elizabeth. His mother sadly died in 1934. His father remarried four years later to Nellie Irene Hanbury. In the 1930s the family was living at 14 Kimberley Terrace in Llanishen and they continued to live there after the war. In 1939 Len was working as an Assistant Preventive Officer (customs and excise) with HM Coastguard.
Len Gill joined the RAF Volunteer Reserve after being a Rover Scout with Llanishen and Lisvane. He trained to be a fighter pilot and eventually became a Flying Officer piloting a Hawker Typhoon, a successor to the Hawker Hurricane and was a member of No.3 (Fighter) Squadron.
Part 1 of Len Gill’s RAF service record shows him as born in the parish of Llandaff in Cardiff, Glamorgan. He enlisted with the RAF Volunteer Reserve on 30 June 1940 as an aircraft man and was eventually appointed to a temporary commission (as an officer) on 30 March 1942.
Len’s initial service number was 1056195 and his first list of movements show that he started off at the No.1 Reception Centre (1RC) at Uxbridge, Middlesex and then moved down to No.1 Receiving Wing (1RW) at Torquay in Devon for his initial induction to the RAF. His starting rank was AC2 (Aircraftman Second Class). He was then part of No.6 Initial Training Wing (ITW) from 30 Aug 1940 before being posted to No.50 Group Pool (Flying Training Command) on 25 October in Wiltshire, by which time he had attained the rank of LAC (Leading Aircraftman).
In December 1940 Len went to No 15 Service Flying Training School (possibly at Kidlington in Oxfordshire). He was promoted to Sergeant on 5 May 1941 and a week later joined No.56 Operational Training Unit (OTU) at RAF Sutton Bridge in Lincolnshire. Len then joined No.3 (Fighter) Squadron on 29 August 1941. He was eventually discharged from his training role on 29 March 1942 when he became a “Pilot Officer on probation (emergency). This was confirmed in the London Gazette of 28 April 1942, page 1863, with an effective date of 30 March 1942. He then gained a new service number: 119885.
Len became a Flying Officer on probation (war subs) on 1 October 1942, as announced in the London Gazette on 20 November 1942. Probationary in this case meaning the appointment was subject to ongoing satisfactory service. “War subs” stands for “War Substantial” meaning the officer commission was for the duration of the war only.
Len’s movements as a pilot officer commenced with No 3 Squadron on 30 March 1942 where he undertook training with the 1528 Beam Approach Training Flight. He was then stationed at RAF station at Croydon from 6 Dec 1942 where he was part of No.1 Aircraft Delivery Flight (ADF). He rejoined 3 Squadron on 9 January 1943 where he undertook further fighter pilot training at No 1 SLAI School in March before returning to the operational squadron at West Malling on 17 March, flying Hawker Typhoons. His next entry shows that two months later he was recorded as “missing (FB)”, which means missing in “Flying Battle”, on 18 May 1943.
Model of a Hawker Typhoon Mk Ib, similar to that flown by Len Gill
A history of 3 Squadron, called “Three’s Company” and written by Jack T C Long, describes the final mission of Len Gill, which turned out to be a very bad day for the squadron.
The 5 pilots and planes lost on 18 May 1943 were:
1. R8835 QO-M, 3 Squadron, F/O L.G Gill, shot down by Bf109s South South West of Abbeville (France)
2. R8879 OV-D, 3 Squadron, Sgt V Bailey, shot down by Bf109s near Poix (France)
3. R8979 QO-N, 3 Squadron, F/O D.R Hall, shot down by flak near Metigny (France)
4. DN246 QO-A, 3 Squadron, F/S F.K Whitall, shot down by Bf109s near Poix (France)
5. DN598 QO-Z, 3 Squadron, F/O R Inwood, shot down by Bf109s near Poix (France)
“Lefty” Whitman wrote a verse in 1995 in memory of his friends:
Len's Commonwealth War Grave at Abbeville Cemetery, France:
The photograph below was posted on social media by a relative of Robert Inwood of 3 Squadron and appears to include Len Gill, seated in the middle, as indicated by the notes.
The hand-written caption at bottom reads:
“SEATED: LAWRENCE, HUNT, GILL, WIGGLESWORTH, SMITH (..)”
Robert Inwood is standing at the back in the middle (arrrowed).
HOWARD GARDENS HIGH SCHOOL, CARDIFF
Len was a pupil at Howard Gardens High School in Cardiff and his name is included on the school's memorial, shown below. That school no longer exists and the memorial is now displayed in the main hall at Howardian Primary School in Cardiff, which is sited near where the old high school used to be.
