RAF Bomber Command veteran Eddie Leaf cuts his 100th birthday cake. Photo / Supplied
RAF Bomber Command veteran Eddie Leaf cuts his 100th birthday cake. Photo / Supplied
When Yorkshireman Eddie Leaf joined the Royal Air Force aged 19 in 1941 he qualified as a rear-gunner with a life expectancy of six weeks. He survived 19 ops and the war and this week in Hamilton celebrated his 100th birthday with Barbara, his wife of more than 70 years.
Eddie and Barbara live at Awatere Care Centre in Victoria St. They have two children, Christine in Auckland and Roger in Hamilton, plus four grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren.
Sadly, instead of enjoying the milestone birthday on Tuesday surrounded by loving friends and family they had to spend it in lockdown in their apartment due to a staff member testing positive for Covid-19.
Daughter Christine says the Awatere staff did a wonderful job organising the birthday event in lockdown.
Her dad was born Edward Leaf in Leeds, England on March 8, 1922. The family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where Eddie's father was a tool maker for Ford Motor Co for 10 years. They returned to the United Kingdom after the Depression, first to Dagenham, London, and then back to Leeds.
Air Gunner Eddie Leaf aged 19 during his service with RAF Bomber Command in World War II. Photo / Supplied
In Leeds Eddie completed his education and started an apprenticeship with Crabtree and Son as a fitter and turner. He joined the RAF in 1941 and qualified as a rear-gunner.
Eddie is one of the very few remaining New Zealanders who served in RAF Bomber Command in World War II. He flew in Vickers Wellingtons, Short Stirlings, Handley Page Halifaxes and Avro Lancasters.
The New Zealand Bomber Command Association says rear-gunners, such as Eddie, were physically separated from the other crew members. They were confined to their turret for the whole flight, which could be many hours, typically at night, in freezing temperatures. On active service they had a life expectancy of just six weeks.
"Their main duty was to advise the pilot of enemy aircraft movements to allow him to take evasive action and to defend the aircraft against enemy fighters."
About 6000 young New Zealanders served in RAF Bomber Command in WWII. Of these, about 2000 did not return, almost one in three.
RAF Bomber Command aircrews suffered a high casualty rate. Of a total of 125,000 aircrew, 57,205 lost their lives. Crews came from across the globe – from the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and all corners of the Commonwealth, as well as from occupied nations including Poland, France and Czechoslovakia. Most who flew were very young, the great majority still in their late teens.
Eddie Leaf and wife Barbara ready to celebrate his milestone birthday on March 8 at Awatere Care Centre in Hamilton. Photo / Supplied.
Christine says: "Dad finished the war in India but on returning to the UK he was persuaded to finish his apprenticeship and emigrate to NZ as a Ten Pound Pom.
"His crew remained a tight-knit group with his Canadian pilot and English flight engineer coming out to visit New Zealand in the late 1990s.
"Dad arrived in New Zealand in 1949 and worked at A&G Price in Thames. He met my mother who was a nurse at the local hospital and they married in 1951 in Hamilton," she says.
Eddie worked for Gallagher Engineering and then set up his own business installing and servicing farm water supplies throughout the Waikato. He has lived and owns property at Mt Maunganui and Hamilton
The NZ Bomber Command Association says there are now just a dozen veterans of Bomber Command in WWII still alive in New Zealand today.
NZBCA members were fundamental in restoring Avro Lancaster NX665, one of just 17 remaining in the world and fundraising for the MOTAT aviation hall in Auckland where it now sits alongside displays and memorabilia of Bomber Command, in memory of those who served.
Today the NZBCA is run and supported by the next generation, primarily descendants of those who served. A memorial service is held in June each year and NZBCA have a project in place to digitally archive the many records held of those who served in Bomber Command.
