Date:	Sunday 31 May 1942
Time:	02:14 LT
Type:	Avro Manchester Mk I
Owner/operator:	106 Sqn RAF
Registration:	L7301
MSN:	ZN-D
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 7
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	Kinrooi, Limburg -   Belgium
Phase:	Combat
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	RAF Skellingthorpe
Destination airport:

Narrative:
Takeoff at 23:01 hrs for participation in the first 1000 bomber raid with target Köln, Germany.

Damaged by Flak, the aircraft was limping home on one engine when it was shot up by the night fighter crew of Oberleutnant Barte & Unteroffizier Pieper of the 4./NJG 1, who were flying Bf 110 D-3 G9+FM from St Trond (Sint-Truiden) airfield.

The Wimpey was abandoned by six of the crew (unclear whether prior or after the night fighter attack), after which it crashed into a dyke. The testimonies of the five evaders were instrumental in the posthumous award of the Victoria Cross made to their skipper.

Pilot:66542 Fg Off Leslie Thomas Manser (Victoria Cross) - Heverlee War Cemetery 7. G. 1 (NCO:1375727 Commission Gazetted : Friday 13 June, 1941)
Pilot:1376820 Sgt Leslie Harold Baveystock - Evaded.
Navigator:66005 Plt Off Richard J Barnes DFC Stalag Luft 3 Zagan & Belaria. PoW Number 370. (NCO:1284551 Commission Gazetted : Friday 06 June, 1941)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner:120849 Plt Off Robert Milham Horsley - Evaded. (NCO:1005345 Commission Gazetted : Tuesday 19 May, 1942)
Wireless Operator/Air Gunner:1304730 Sgt Stanley E King - Evaded.
Air Gunner:972986 Sgt Allan McFadyen Mills - Evaded.
Air Gunner:1386637 Sgt Benjamin William Naylor - Evaded.

The citation in the London Gazette of 20th October, 1942 gives the following details.
Flying Officer Manser was captain and first pilot of an aircraft which took part in the mass raid on Cologne on the night of 30th May, 1942. Despite searchlights and intense and accurate anti-aircraft fire he held his course and bombed the target successfully from 7,000 feet. Thereafter, although he took evasive action, the aircraft was badly damaged, for a time one engine and part of one wing were on fire, and in spite of all the efforts of pilot and crew, the machine became difficult to handle and lost height. Though he could still have parachuted to safety with his crew, he refused to do so and insisted on piloting the aircraft towards its base as long as he could hold it steady, to give his crew a better chance of safety when they jumped. While the crew were descending to safety, they saw the aircraft, still carrying the gallant captain, plunge to earth and burst into flames. 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 Manser displayed determination and valour of the highest order.

Flying Officer Manser is commemorated on a plaque in the church of Christ Church and St John’s at Radlett in Hertfordshire, England. Please see source 12 below.

In addition a school (built on part of the former RAF Skellingthorpe site) is named after him. See source 13.

Please note that the plaque referee to above, the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) and the RAF Casualty Pack (AIR 81/14674) held at the UK National Archives all give the operating squadron as No. 50 Squadron RAF and not No. 106 Squadron as stated above. See sources 14 and 15.

In addition all sources identify the aircraft as an Avro Manchester and not as a ‘Wimpie’ (Vickers Wellington) as stated above.

Leslie Manser’s Victoria Cross is part of Lord Ashcroft’s collection and can be seen in the Ashcroft Gallery at IWM London. Details can be found at sources 16 and 17.

Awards were made to other crew members. Please see source 18 for more information.

Manser’s older sister Mavis married John Neil Randle in January 1942. Remarkably, he too would be awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions while commanding ‘B’ Company, 2nd Battalion, Royal Norfolk Regiment.

On 6 May 1944 - after having been injured by grenade splinters two days earlier and refusing to relinquish command or be evacuated - he was mortally wounded while attacking a Japanese strongpoint single handed and armed with just a rifle and bayonet.

More details at source 19 cited below.

1. Air Britain RAF Aircraft L1000 - N9999 & http://www.lostbombers.co.uk/bomber.php?id=10035
2. Nachtjagd Combat Archive The Early Years part three
3. https://luchtvaartgeschiedenis.be/content/manchester-bij-kinrooi-0
4. Google Maps
5. CWGC
6. http://ww2today.com/30th-may-1942-the-first-1000-bomber-raid
7. https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.evasioncomete.org/fhorslerm.html&prev=search
8. http://www.evasioncomete.org/fbaveyslh.html
9. http://www.evasioncomete.org/fkingse.html
10. http://www.evasioncomete.org/fmillsal.html
11. http://www.evasioncomete.org/fnaylorbw.html
12. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/19426
13. https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/43206
14. https://losses.internationalbcc.co.uk/loss/114845/
15. https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C17386173
16. https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/lord-ashcroft-gallery-extraordinary-heroes
17. https://www.lordashcroftmedals.com/collection/leslie-thomas-manser-vc/
18. https://aviationtrails.wordpress.com/heroic-tales-of-world-war-2/leslie-manser-vc-rafvr-50-squadron-royal-air-force/
19. https://inthefrontline.com/2021/05/15/two-vcs-in-the-family-a-story-from-radlett-war-memorial/
20. Rob Davis Bomber Command Losses Database

Other occurrences involving this aircraft

17 April 1942

L7485

106 Sqn RAF

7

Off Batz-sur-Mer

w/o

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
27-May-2008 20:04	JINX	Added
25-Jun-2008 04:47	JINX	Updated
01-Jan-2018 16:47	Red Dragon	Updated [Cn, Operator, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
28-Oct-2018 13:18	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Destination airport, Operator]
21-Apr-2020 11:32	TigerTimon	Updated [Time, Other fatalities, Location, Source, Narrative]
21-Apr-2020 11:33	TigerTimon	Updated [Narrative]
25-May-2023 19:04	Rob Davis	Updated [[Narrative]]