1. Leslie Thomas Manser was born in New Delhi, 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, Hertfordshire.
12 Facts About Leslie Manser
1. 2.
Leslie Manser was a pupil of Victoria Boys' School, Kurseong, Darjeeling and Aldenham School, Elstree, Hertfordshire.
3.
Two days after joining his squadron, Leslie Manser experienced his first operation: as a second pilot, he took part in a bombing raid on Frankfurt.
4.
Leslie Manser served briefly with No 420 Squadron RCAF from March to April 1942 when he rejoined No 50 Squadron then operating from RAF Skellingthorpe, and converted to the new Avro Manchester medium bomber.
5.
Rather than abandon the aircraft and be captured, Leslie Manser tried to get the aircraft and crew to safety.
6.
The aircraft was by now over Belgium, and Leslie Manser ordered the crew to bail out but refused the offer of a parachute for himself.
7.
Leslie Manser remained at the controls and sacrificed himself in order to save his crew.
8.
In pressing home his attack in the face of strong opposition, in striving, against heavy odds, to bring back his aircraft and crew and, finally, when in extreme peril, thinking only of the safety of his comrades, Flying Officer Leslie Manser displayed determination and valour of the highest order.
9.
Leslie Manser is buried at the Heverlee War Cemetery in Leuven, Belgium.
10.
Leslie Manser was the brother-in-law of British Army captain John Neil Randle, who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in 1944.
11.
On part of the old RAF Skellingthorpe airfield from which Leslie Manser flew his last sortie, a new primary school was built.
12.
On 31 June 2004 a Memorial to Leslie Manser was unveiled in natural domain the "Zig", Stamprooierbroek near Molenbeersel, Kinrooi in the north-east of Belgium.