Cook, Leo Frederick (Flight Sergeant)

Killed in Action 1943-September-27

Flight Sergeant Leo Frederick Cook RCAF

Birth Date: 1920-December-09

Born: Lindsay, Ontario

Parents: William & Philomenia Bissette Cook

Spouse:

Home: Lindsay, Ontario (parents)

Enlistment: Toronto, Ontario

Enlistment Date: 1941-November-28

Service

RCAF

Unit

432 (B) Sqn- Squadron
Saeviter Ad Lucem Ferociously toward the light

Base

RAF Skipton-on-Swale

Rank

Flight Sergeant

Position

Navigator

Service Numbers

R/144405

Home
Google MapLindsay, Ontario (parents)
Target
Google MapHanover Germany
Memorial Location
Google MapRunnymede Memorial Surrey
Panel 181

Took off from Skipton-on-Swale at 19:38 in Wellington Mk X (Sqn code QO-K Bomber Command) on an operation to Hanover Germany.

Aircraft was shot down by a night fighter and crashed at Schulenburger Landstraße street, Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Killed includes Cook: Pilot Officer Stanley Kyle Atkinson RCAF J/18229 KIA Runnymede Memorial Panel 175. Flight Sergeant Irvine Charles Randolph Bowden RAF KIA Runnymede Memorial Panel 135. Pilot Officer Alfred William Chubb RAF KIA Runnymede Memorial Panel 131.

There was an additional RAF crewman on the aircraft who's name was not found.

POWs: Flying Officer William Alexander Grant RCAF J/18813 POW Dulag DL Wetzlar. Sergeant Shelton C Bybee RAF POW camp not listed.

Canada Source Canadian Virtual War Memorial

Commonwealth War Grave Commission Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Commonwealth War Grave Commission International Bomber Command Centre

Find-A-Grave Finadagrave.com

Canada Primary Source Library and Archives Canada Service Files (may not exist)

Crew or Other Personnel

Wellington HE817

Pilot Officer Stanley Kyle Atkinson RCAF

Pilot Officer Atkinson, Stanley Kyle (RCAF)
Pilot
Killed in Action
1943-September-27
Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK

Flight Sergeant Irvine Charles Randolph Bowden RAF

Flight Sergeant Bowden, Irvine Charles Randolph (RAF)
2nd Pilot
Killed in Action
1943-September-27
Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK

Master Sergeant Shelton Colvin Bybee USAAF

Master Sergeant Bybee, Shelton Colvin (USAAF)
Air Gunner
Prisoner of War
1943-September-27
cemetery unknown

Pilot Officer Alfred Willliam Chubb RAFVR

Pilot Officer Chubb, Alfred Willliam (RAFVR)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner
Killed in Action
1943-September-27
Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK

Flight Sergeant Leo Frederick Cook RCAF

Flight Sergeant Cook, Leo Frederick (RCAF)
Navigator
Killed in Action
1943-September-27
Runnymede Memorial Surrey, UK

Flying Officer William Alexander Grant RCAF

Flying Officer Grant, William Alexander (RCAF)
Bomb Aimer
Prisoner of War
1943-September-27
cemetery unknown

Mission

Wellington B. Mk. X HE817

Bombing Hannover Germany 1943-September-27 to 1943-September-27

432 (B) Sqn (RCAF) RAF Eastmoor

Battle of Berlin

678 aircraft - 312 Lancasters, 231 Halifaxes, 111 Stirlings, 24 Wellingtons. 5 B.17s also took part, 38 Bomber Command aircraft - 17 Halifaxes, I0 Lancasters, I0 Stirlings, 1 Wellington - lost, 5.6 per cent of the force, and 1 B-17 also lost.

The use by the Pathfinders of faulty forecast winds again saved the centre of Hannover. The bombing was very concentrated but fell on an area 5 miles north of the city centre. No details are available from Germany but R.A.F. photographic evidence showed that most of the bombs fell in open country or villages north of the city.

source: The Bomber Command War Diaries, Martin Middlebrook and Chris Everitt

Wellington X aircraft HE 817 QO-K failed to return from night operations over Hanover, Germany. The aircraft was coned by searchlights over the target and possibly hit by flak. The Wellington was attacked by a night fighter which collided with the bomber during the attack and it crashed at Schulenburger, Landstrasse, Hanover, Germany

Only two crew members survived

FS LF Cook (RCAF), Pilot Officer SK Atkinson (RCAF), FS ICR Bowden (RAF), and Pilot Officer AW Chubb (RAFVR) were missing, presumed killed in action

The missing have no known graves and are all commemorated on the Runnymede War Memorial

Sergeant WA Grant (RCAF), and M/Sergeant SC Bybee (USAAF) survived and were taken as Prisoners of War

Unvetted Source Daily Operations 6bombergroup.ca

Unvetted Source Aviation Safety Network

Unvetted Source 432 Squadron Wellington X HE817 QO-K P/O. Atkinson, Hanover...

Unit Desciption

432 (B) Sqn Saeviter Ad Lucem ("Leaside")

History of the Squadron during World War II (Aircraft: Wellington X, Lancaster II, Halifax III, VII)

The Squadron was the twelfth RCAF bomber squadron to be formed overseas in WWII. It was formed on May 1, 1943 at Skipton-on-Swale, Yorkshire, UK as a unit of No 6 (RCAF) Group of RAF Bomber Command: indeed, it was the first bomber squadron to be formed directly into No 6 Group. Using the squadron identification letters QO it flew Vickers Wellington Mk X medium bombers until it moved to East Moor, Yorkshire on 19th September 1943, when it re-equipped with Avro Lancaster Mk II aircraft. East Moor was part of No 62 (RCAF) Base. The squadron re-equipped with Handley Page Halifax Mk III aircraft in February 1944, and with Halifax Mk VII in July of that year, and continued with them until the squadron was disbanded at East Moor on May 15, 1945.

In the course of operations the squadron flew 246 missions, involving 3130 individual sorties, for the loss of 73 aircraft. 8980 tons of bombs were dropped. Awards to squadron members included 2 DSOs, 119 DFCs,1 Bar to DFC, 1 CGM, 20 DFMs and 1 Croix de Guerre (France). Battle Honours were: English Channel and North Sea 1943, Fortress Europe 1943-44, France and Germany 1944-45, Biscay Ports 1944, Ruhr 1943-45, Berlin 1943-44, German Ports 1943-45, Normandy 1944, Rhine, Biscay 1943.Moyes, Kostenuk and Griffin

Squadron History (Bomber Command Museum PDF)

Maps for Movements of 432 Squadron 1943-45

MAP 1: 432 Squadron Bases 1943-45 (marked in green). Right-click on image to display enlarged in new tab

432 Squadron History Summary 1943-45

History of the Squadron Post-WWII (Aircraft: Canuck)

The squadron was re-formed at Bagotville, Quebec as an All-Weather Fighter unit on 1 October 1954. The squadron flew Avro CF-100 Canuck aircraft on North American Air Defence until it was disbanded on 15 October 1961.