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- He owned a printing works in Fort Victoria which developed out of a hobby he had. Another hobby he was very interested in was stamp collecting.
He was a navigator for No 44 (Rhodesia) Squadron during World War II. He navigated Lancaster aircraft and he ended the war as Flying Officer.
Of the 8 men from the Somabula area who served in the Rhodesian Air Force during the second world war, there were only 3 survivors — Liford Houltom, Cyril Whittal and Leslie Edwards.
After returning from the war he joined the Customs Department until 1948 when he moved to Fort Victoria and opened a sports shop with his Uncle. In the 1950’s he started a youth club and in 1954 he developed his hobby of printing which he had practised in his home with a small hand machine, and later opened his own printing shop in Fort Victoria. His other interests included stamp collecting and caravanning
The following is an extract of a cable received by His Excellency the Governor, Salisbury, from the Secretary of State, London :
“His Majesty has been pleased to approve the award of the Distinguished Flying Cross to Pilot Officer Leslie Houltom Edwards, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve, 44 Squadron, for gallantry and devotion to duty in execution of air operations. He has completed allotted tasks with coolness and courage on every occasion. His efficiency as a navigator frequently enabled his captain to reach and bomb the objective despite heavy opposition and adverse weather. His total disregard for danger, together with his gallantry and devotion to duty have been an inspiration to his crew.”
He received this medal on 7/12/1943.
An excerpt taken from page 268 of the book ‘A Pride of Eagles’ by Beryl Salt
No 44 Squadron’s final wartime mission
The Squadron’s final wartime mission took place on 25th April 1945. This was an attack in daylight on SS Barracks at Berchtesgaden. Eight aircraft from the squadron took part and all but one carried a Rhodesian pilot.
The Rhodesians on this final raid were:
Wing Commander Stan Flett
Flight Lieutenant LESLIE EDWARDS
Flight Lieutenant T.D. Kelly
Flight Lieutenant Alastair Mackay
Flight Lieutenant Tom Webster
Flying Officer Geoff Cranswick
Flying Officer H. L. (Mollie) Maltas
Flying Officer Robert Piggott
Pilot Officer Stewart Henry
Warrant Officer Keith Peters
Flight Sergeant S.T. MacLarty
Flight Sergeant A.P. Owens
Flight Sergeant George Bredencamp
Sergeant Dudley Hendry
For once, the BBC was permitted to report on the raid while it was in progress:
It was just before dawn when the great bombers took to the air, on operations, for the last time. FLIGHT LIEUTENANT EDWARDS, flying with Wing Commander Flett remembers, “Our last operation in Europe was the famous Berchtesgaden Raid on 25th April. It had always been my special ambition to have a crack at Hitler’s hideout. We were briefed soon after midnight and took off at a quarter-past four, while it was still dark. In the first light, we formed up over France near the Pas De Calais. It was a perfect day and not a cloud in the sky, and navigation was fairly simple, just a question of following the leading formation. We flew over France and crossed the Rhine just south of Strasbourg. All the way we could see slit trenches, bomb craters and ruined towns and villages, and near Ulm clouds of smoke and burning villages showed where the French army was in action. We could even see tank tracks through the fields, the dark brown lines converging at the gates and then spreading out again into the next field.”
“Passing the northern tip of Lake Constance, we came at last to the Alps. The mountains were covered in snow right up from the valley bottoms and patches of fog were lying in the fields. We made a right-angle turn to port and so came to the target. Berchtesgaden lies in a valley with mountains on three sides rather like a horseshoe. At the far end of the valley lay the village, with a little stream running down to Hitler’s chalet at the near end and just where we crossed the mountain ring. To the right of the chalet were the SS Barracks, with a Czech workers’ camp near by, and a dark patch on the mountains about six miles (10 km) away marked the site of the chalet. Our leading formation was detailed to attack the Eagle’s Nest, the second lot the chalet, and our own target was the SS Barracks. Everything was covered in snow and all we could see was the parade square end of the building.”
“As we got up to the target we saw vapour trails left by our American fighter escort above us, and for one horrible moment we thought they were enemy jet-aircraft. But the only opposition was one six-gun battery, which fired off salvoes at intervals. No one was hit as far as I could see. We dropped our bombs and turned sharply, to see a cloud of black smoke right over the barracks, so we assumed our aim had been correct. We didn’t know then it was the last operation the squadron would do in Europe, but it certainly was an excellent climax to our five years of bombing.” (BBC)
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