This meaningful project allows students to connect with personal stories and develop a deeper understanding of the past through the lens of real lives and experiences.
This week, we bring you the story of John ‘Jack’ Wilbert McLeod, as told by Ryan Bauer.
•••
John ‘Jack’ Wilbert McLeod was born on September 17, 1923 in Benalla, Victoria.
His parents were Mary Christina O’Farrell and Walter Wilbert McLeod.
As a young boy his family moved to East Kew, Melbourne where he completed his education which led to him working as a forerunner for Australia Post.
At 18 and six months, on May 15, 1942, Jack enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in Melbourne.
Jack was described as having a fair complexion, light brown hair and light eyes, he was 5’ 10” and weighed roughly 67kg.
In the following September, Jack joined the RAAF after passing his aircrew training.
His first posting was in Somers, Victoria, then Western Junction, Tasmania where he began pilot training.
On February 24, 1943 Jack completed his first solo flight where his training continued until May.
He was then promptly transferred to be a gunner due to the high attrition rates of pilots in the war.
After fully completing his training in West Sale, Victoria in August 1943, as part of the Empire Air Training Scheme, he then sailed to England to commence his official service occupation as a Royal Airforce Bomber Command air gunner.
Jack arrived at Elsham Air Base to complete further specialist training.
The base was known for its bombers, especially the Lancaster heavy bombers which Jack operated as a gunner with a rank of Flight Sergeant.
On January 2, 1944, Jack commenced operational duty as a mid upper gunner which was targeting Berlin.
His crew consisted of: Pilot Max Shearer, flight engineer Corbett Drew, air bomber Joe Ford, navigator Arthur Biltoff, wireless operator Victor Fox, and air gunner Arthur Jackson.
He continued in four attacks as part of the Battle of Berlin (RAF campaign) from the March 2 to 24, 1944.
The mission proved challenging, with a solid defensive line and a smoky haze making it difficult to determine the target.
During this operation, the crew experienced a heavy searchlight concentration; an attack by German JU.88, badly damaged both starboard motors causing the undercarriage to be inoperative.
Pilot Max Shearer struggled to control the aircraft but spotted an airfield below.
Fox, the wireless operator, then contacted the field to gain permission for an emergency landing.
They made a crash landing at Ford, and as McLeod records in an air letter to his brother, the crew was “a little shaken up but O.K”.
Joe Ford later noted the team were “absolutely wonderful: no panic, no chatter, and grand company in a crisis”.
Max Shearer developed appendicitis following the crash and consequently the crew did not fly for 37 days, during which time Jack assisted in one attack on Germany.
After Shearer's recovery, they attacked Maintenon, aiming to destroy railway and communication targets.
McLeod was involved in the Lyons Motor Works attack on May 1, 1944 and then the Mailly Military POW operation on May 3, 1944.
Just after midnight on May 7, 1944, the crew was assigned to an ammunition dump at Aubigne Racan, south of Le Mans, referred to by the RAF as the ‘milk run’.
In addition to the usual crew, the group were asked to carry Air Commodore Ronald Ivelaw-Chapman, the current base commander.
The group was not pleased to take additional members as it was a bad omen.
On the Lancaster’s return, approximately 30 minutes from the French Coast, near Alencon, they were attacked by a German night fighter, seriously damaging the aircraft.
Ivelaw Chapman and Joe Ford were able to parachute from the plane successfully, but the remaining crew were killed in action.
Ivelaw Chapman was captured by the Gestapo after the crash, making him the most senior Bomber Command officer taken in the war.
The six crew killed were buried in the Remy Du Val Plain Communal Cemetery and honoured by the community and priest Abbe Andre Serais, who was later arrested for this service.
After the war, they were reburied in the British and Commonwealth war cemetery at Bayeux, Normandy, but a permanent memorial was erected at St Remy Du Val in memory of the group.
The relatives of Squadron 576 now provide funding for a scholarship at the local school.
For his brave service in World War II, McLeod was awarded a collection of medals: 1939-1945 Star, Aircrew Europe Star, Defence Medal (DEF), WAR medal and an Australian Service Medal (ASM).
