Identity
Person No.
3411
Service No.
79689V
Last Name
First Name
John Leonard
Initials
J L
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
25
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
AA 1,737
Aircraft accident
Cause of Death
Died in Aircraft Accident, Halifax II JN912, while carrying six crew and four Squadron personnel as passengers, ditched in the Gulf of Taranto, 20 miles off Cape Spulico, after the port inner engine caught fire. On hitting the water JN912 nosed over on to its back. The dinghy failed to inflate, but the RAF wireless operator-air gunner and an LAC passenger swam together towards the shore for 19 hours. They were picked up by a fishing boat when within a mile of land. The wireless operator-air gunner died shortly afterwards and is buried at Bari, leaving the LAC as the sole survivor
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Unknown
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Notes
Son of Cyril Gordon and Hilda Caro, of Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa. Born Cape Town. A merchant.
Research notes
5 Sep 2026: Unit "614 (R.A.F.) Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.
Citations
Unknown
External References
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