Identity
Person No.
31277
Old ROH no.
2119
Service No.
P1/40323
Last Name
First Name
Douglas Raymond
Initials
D R
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
23
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,781
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, in North American F-51 Mustang #307. On 7 February 1951, 2Lt D.R. Leah was flying one of four Mustangs, led by Commandant S. Theron, on a reconnaissance of the Wonsan-Hamhung area, on the east coast of North Korea. After expending their bombs on a supply dump, the patrol found three camouflaged vehicles on a road just north of Yonghong, which they proceeded to strafe with their machine guns. During 2Lt Leah's second attack, he pulled out to the right but his starboard wing struck the ground, causing his aircraft to cartwheel into the ground and burst into flames. The wreckage was scattered over a wide area
Military Service
Branch
Air Force
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Regiment
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
UDF 24,808
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Tanggok, Nam District, Busan, South Korea
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
Panel 13
Unit History
Part of
Notes
ref. 85 years of SAAF
Research notes
5 Sep 2026: Unit "2 Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.
Citations
Unknown
External References
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea
open source ↗
United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea (UNMCK), Busan — South African Korean War dead.
Stories 1
On 7 February 1951, 2Lt D.R. Leah was flying one of four Mustangs, led by Commandant S. Theron, on a reconnaissance of the Wonsan-Hamhung area, on the east coast of North Korea. After expending their bombs on a supply dump, the patrol found three camouflaged vehicles on a road just north of Yonghong, which they proceeded to strafe with their machine guns. During 2Lt Leah's second attack, he pulled out to the right but his starboard wing struck the ground, causing his aircraft to cartwheel into the ground and burst into flames. The wreckage was scattered over a wide area.
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.