Birth | February 17, 1922 26 34 |
Portrait | Baron And Hourd Outing C.1927 1927 (Age 4 years)Note: Taken outside Snaps on Prince Street, Bridlington. Baron And Hourd Outing C.1927 Note: Left To Right: Leonard, Jimmy And Betty Baron, Dennis Hourd |
Education | St Georges Senior Boys' School, Bridlington September 16, 1935 (Age 13 years)Note: Len entered this school from Oxford Street School. By July 1936 he was "Top Boy" in five subjects as the School Report shows. |
Occupation | Butcher's Assistant September 16, 1939 (Age 17 years)Note: Occupation noted at entry to Royal Navy. |
Military | Royal Navy September 16, 1939 (Age 17 years)Note: Enlisted with the Royal Navy for 12 years |
Military Service | Victory I September 26, 1939 (Age 17 years)Note: His initial Rate was Naval Artificer Second Class however on 18 April 1940 he was promoted to Air Mechanic Second Class.
Victory I was a ship's name used for administrative purposes. Leonard Baron Note: All dressed up for Divisions |
Occupation | Butchers Assistant September 29, 1939 (Age 17 years)Note: Occupation on 1939 Register |
Residence | September 29, 1939 (Age 17 years) Note: Address on 1939 Register |
Military Service | HMS Daedalus April 25, 1940 (Age 18 years)Note: His Rate was Air Mechanic Second Class
HMS Daedalus was a naval air station, also known as Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Lee-on-Solent. The base was opened in 1917 and transferred to the RAF in 1918. It was returned to the successor of the Royal Naval Air Service, the Fleet Air Arm in 1939 and became also the Headquarters of Flag Officer Air (Home). |
Military Service | HMS Medina May 8, 1940 (Age 18 years)Note: His Rate was Air Mechanic 2nd Class
During WW2 the Navy was short of space for training and other functions and took over several holiday camps. They were ideal as they had accommodation, dining facilities and open spaces. The Warner's Holiday Camp at Puckpool Park, Ryde, Isle of Wight was one of these and was commissioned in 1940 and renamed HMS Medina. Used by the main Fleet Air Arm station at Lee-on-Solent for training, the ship's company consisted of regular Royal Navy Officers and ratings, RN reservists and Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) providing most of the pay, stores, catering and transport staff. |
Military Service | HMS Daedalus (Locking) July 5, 1940 (Age 18 years)Note: His Rate was Air Mechanic 2nd Class but on 7 November 1940 he passed as Air Mechanic (Engine) abbreviated to AM(E). On 11 November 1940 he passed the RN's Educational Test Part 1.
HMS Daedalus was a naval air station, also known as Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Lee-on-Solent. Some Fleet Air Arm training was however carried out at RAF Locking. This meant that for pay and other administrative purposes Len was registered as HMS Daedalus but was actually based at RAF Locking for this period. |
Military Service | HMS Raven December 3, 1940 (Age 18 years)Note: His Rate was Air Mechanic (Engine)
HMS Raven was the Royal Naval Air Station at Eastleigh, Southampton in commission between 1939 and 1947. |
Military Service | HMS Condor January 11, 1941 (Age 18 years)Note: His rate was Air Mechanic (Engine)
HMS Condor was a Royal Naval Air Station at Arbroath, near Dundee. Built in 1939/40 and commissioned as HMS Condor on 19 June 1940. HMS Condor was an air engineer school unit until closure in September 1970. It became RM Condor in 1971 and is now the base for 45 Commando, Royal Marines. |
Military Service | HMS Kestrel January 16, 1941 (Age 18 years)Note: His Rate was Air Mechanic Second Class (Engine). On 18 July 1941 he became an Air Mechanic First Class (Engine).
HMS Kestrel was a Royal Naval Air Station and General Service Establishment at Worthy Down, near Winchester. It was commissioned in 1939 after being transferred from the Royal Air Force and was used as a flying station by the Fleet Air Arm until 1942 when flying ceased due to the orientation of the runway. |
Military Service | HMS Daedalus August 16, 1941 (Age 19 years)Note: He returns to this posting with a Rate of Air Mechanic First Class (Engine) |
Military Service | HMS Ark Royal September 12, 1941 (Age 19 years)Note: His Rate is Air Mechanic First Class (Engine) and he is a member of 825 Squadron Fleet Air Arm.
His first voyage in September 1941 was a "club run" as the regular ferrying of aircraft to Malta was known. Whilst covering convoy GM2, information was received that the Italian fleet was at sea. Ark Royal launched a strike force against the Italian fleet on 27 September 1941 but they were not found and the two forces retired without meeting. Another "club run" took place in October 1941.
After launching Hurricane fighters to Malta on 12 November, the Ark Royal was torpedoed by the German submarine U81, who fired three torpedoes at the Ark Royal and four at the battleship Malaya. One torpedo struck the Ark Royal on the starboard side, below the bridge, knocking out all electrical power.
Only one fatality ocurred during this incident, that of Able Seaman Mitchell who was killed at the time the ship was hit by the torpedo. All other hands were saved. Many of the 1487 survivors being taken on to HMS Legion. Ark Royal was towed to within 30 miles of Gibraltar (partly under her own power), and the flooding appeared to be under control until a fire again eliminated her power. Flooding progressed rapidly, and she finally capsized and sank at 6:13 am on 14 November.
HMS Ark Royal (pennant number 91) was designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty and was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design differed from previous aircraft carriers. Ark Royal was the first ship on which the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the hull, instead of an add-on or part of the superstructure. Designed to carry a large number of aircraft, she had two hangar deck levels. She served during a period that first saw the extensive use of naval air power; a number of carrier tactics were developed and refined aboard Ark Royal.
Ark Royal served in some of the most active naval theatres of the Second World War. She was involved in the first aerial and U-boat kills of the war, operations off Norway, the search for the German battleship Bismarck, and the Malta Convoys. Ark Royal survived several near misses and gained a reputation as a 'lucky ship'. The Germans incorrectly reported her as sunk on multiple occasions.
Her sinking was the subject of several inquiries; investigators were keen to know how the carrier was lost, in spite of efforts to save the ship and tow her to the naval base at Gibraltar. They found that several design flaws contributed to the loss, which were rectified in new British carriers. HMS Ark Royal Note: HMS Ark Royal in 1939, with Swordfish of 820 Naval Air Squadron passing overhead. Swordfish Note: Swordfish aircraft clustered on the rain lashed deck of HMS Ark Royal Ark Royal Note: Ark Royal lists heavily after being torpedoed by U81 Ark Royal Note: HMS Legion closes in to rescue survivors |
Military Service | HMS Daedalus November 15, 1941 (Age 19 years)Note: He returns to RNAS Lee-on-Solent after his close shave on Ark Royal. His Rate is Air Mechanic First Class (Engine). On 23 April 1942 he is passed as Proficient for Leading Air Mechanic (Engine).
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Military Service | HMS Landrail April 28, 1942 (Age 20 years)Note: With 825 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm as Air Mechanic First Class (Engine)
Close to Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, a new airfield opened on 15 June 1941 as Strabane Naval Air Station, and named HMS Landrail, becoming RNAS Machrihanish later in the month and operated until 1946.
The quote below is by Mac HARTLEY [1924-1999] who was an Air Mechanic with 832 Squadron. See http://www.hartleyfamily.org.uk/macH.htm
"You have a draft chit to HMS Landrail, at that time the biggest airfield in the UK. Your quarters nicknamed 'Nissen City' [in the far corner of the airfield] are your billet for your stay here. A short distance away you can see the village of Ugadale with it's small pub. At Landrail there were daily inspections to see that aircraft were airworthy. Pilots would practice landings on the deck of the carrier, difficult when the ship was pitching and rolling at 30 knots. Pilots were aptly called 'Brylcreem Boys' as they were always impeccably dressed and groomed and wore lots of after-shave.
Some nights a troopcarrier would convey you up to the main camp to see a film in the gym or go to the canteen for a pint, and join in the sing songs, with the seamen, stokers, and torpedo men. The canteen was always full, noisy, men running back and forwards to the bar, and shouting across the room to their mates. The songs were sung with a sort of defiance against authority and discipline, and sung very loud. There was a comradeship in the navy you wouldn't find anywhere else. Through the songs you could be yourself." |
Military Service | HMS Sparrowhawk June 6, 1942 (Age 20 years)Note: Although passed as proficient for the next Rate, initially he took up this posting as Air Mechanic First Class (Engine). However on 18 July 1942 he was promoted to Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine).
RNAS Hatston, also called HMS Sparrowhawk, was a Royal Naval Air Station. It was situated one mile to the north west of Kirkwall on the island of Mainland, Orkney. It was located near the strategically vital naval base of Scapa Flow, which for most of the twentieth century formed the main base of the ships of the Home Fleet. During WW2 it was host to a number of different types of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, including Fairey Swordfish, Blackburn Rocs and Avengers. Two squadrons of Blackburn Skuas flew from Hatston on 10 April 1940, on a mission to sink the German cruiser Königsberg, in which they were successful. Royal Naval Air Station Hatston Note: Fairey Swordfish taxi along the tarmac to take off from HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station, Hatston for an exercise with dummy torpedoes. 825 Squadron Note: A group photo of 825 Squadron Fleet Air Arm in August 1942 at HMS Sparrowhawk, RNAS Hatston. Leonard arrowed and inset. |
Military Service | HMS Avenger August 28, 1942 (Age 20 years)Note: His Rate was Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine). A few days after he came aboard HMS Avenger she Britain left bound for Iceland on convoy duties. Click on the PDF file for a detailed account of the ship's encounters with the enemy until her return to Scapa Flow towards the end of September 1942
HMS Avenger was a Royal Navy escort aircraft carrier during the Second World War. In 1939 she was laid down as the merchant ship Rio-Hudson at the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company yard in Chester, Pennsylvania. Launched on 27 November 1940, she was converted to an escort carrier and transferred under the lend lease agreement to the Royal Navy. She was commissioned on 2 March 1942.
Avenger's capacity allowed for a maximum of 15 aircraft. In September 1942, she took part in what was the largest and most successful Russian convoy to date. Upon her return home, after observing a number of design faults, Avenger's captain drew up recommendations for future escort carrier design. After Len had moved on, in November 1942 she took part in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, where she suffered engine problems. While leaving North Africa to start the journey home Avenger was sunk by the U-155 as she was nearing Gibraltar, with a heavy loss of life among her crew. HMS Avenger Note: A Sea Hurricane on the aircraft lift of Avenger in 1942 HMS Avenger September 1942 Note: An account of Avenger on Convoy PQ18 in September 1942 sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Avenger_%28D14%29 Iceland September 1942 Note: The little church at Sedisfiord in Iceland taken in September 1942 Bear Island Note: Bear Island taken from HMS Avenger in Septemer 1942. Bear Island is the southernmost island of the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago. The island is located in the western part of the Barents Sea, approximately halfway between Spitsbergen and the North Cape. Walrus Amphibian Note: A Walrus Amphibian takes off. This aircraft was used for combat search and rescue. |
Military Service | HMS Sparrowhawk September 27, 1942 (Age 20 years)Note: On Avenger's return to Scapa Flow he landed here for two days before his next posting. |
Military Service | HMS Daedalus September 30, 1942 (Age 20 years)Note: He had four weeks at Lee-On Solent as Rate Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine) |
Military Service | HMS Grebe October 26, 1942 (Age 20 years)Note: HMS Grebe was the Royal Navy designation for the prewar Alexandria airport, known as Dekheila, during its use in WW2 as a shore base for aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm.
Originally used as a shore base for aircraft flown ashore from carriers by the Fleet Air Arm (as HMS Nile II, under the control of HMS Nile), the airfield was taken over by the Royal Egyptian Air Force on the outbreak of WW2 but remained in use by the Fleet Air Arm. The field was subsequently loaned as a Naval Air Station on 16 September 1940, and commissioned as HMS Grebe, attached to HMS Nile, with a capacity of 72 aircraft. The field became self accounting on 1 April 1941, and acted as a base for all Fleet Air Arm units in Egypt and the Western Desert, as well as a fleet requirements unit. HMS Nile resumed control on 1 April 1943, retaining the HMS Grebe title. The field was reduced to a care and maintenance basis on 31 January 1946, before being returned to the control of Egypt on 18 March 1946. |
Military Service | 889 Squadron January 7, 1943 (Age 20 years)Note: His Rate was Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine)
889 Squadron operations were carried out in the Western Desert until disbanding at El Daba in February 1943. |
Military Service | HMS St Angelo March 4, 1943 (Age 21 years)Note: HMS St Angelo was a Fleet Air Arm Naval HQ at Fort St Angelo in Birgu, Malta during WW2. When Len arrived his Rate was A/LAM(E). On 19 April 1943 he was promoted to Acting/Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). |
Military Service | HMS Daedalus June 6, 1943 (Age 21 years)Note: His Rate was Acting Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). On 16 June 1943 he was granted his 1st Good Conduct Badge. |
Military Service | HMS Dipper July 13, 1943 (Age 21 years)Note: His Rate was Acting Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine).
Just East of Henstridge village is Henstridge Airfield . It was built during WW2 as a training base for the Fleet Air Arm, who commissioned it as HMS Dipper on 1April 1943. No. 2 Naval Air Fighter School, and No. 761 Squadron reformed here. Between 05 June 1944 and 17 August 1944, No. 718 Squadron reformed here with Seafires and Spitfires. The airfield was also used by 748, 760, 794, 799, 808, 885, 886, 887, 894 and 897 Squadrons. |
Military Service | HMS Kestrel May 12, 1944 (Age 22 years)Note: On his return to RNAS Worthy Down, initially His Rate was Acting Petty Officer but on 4 August 1944 he became a full Petty Officer but on a temporary basis. |
Military Service | HMS Daedalus III August 13, 1944 (Age 22 years)Note: On 15 August his promotion to Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine) was confirmed and became permanent.
HMS Daedalus III was an accommodation and release centre at Lee on Solent and Bedhampton between 1943 and 1947. |
Military Service | HMS Waxwing October 24, 1944 (Age 22 years)Note: His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine).
HMS Waxwing was a RN Air Station at Townhill near Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.
The quote below is by Mac HARTLEY [1924-1999] who was an Air Mechanic with 832 Squadron. See http://www.hartleyfamily.org.uk/macH.htm
"This was just a transit camp. You're granted seven days leave. There were a large number of nissen huts, with one large one for the dining hall. The huts had the usual iron stove in the centre to provide heat. A gunnery instructor who had done his training at HMS Medina, "the greatest gunnery school in the world" he says, teaches weaponry drill and all about stoppages when a machine gun jams, and how to rectify it. You're now familar with all the different pipes; up spirits, stand easy, men under punishment, cooks to the galley, and liberty men fall in. In Scotland, breakfast would consist of porridge and kippers rather than egg and bacon. The kippers were like pieces of leather. Rather than eat them, ratings would throw them at each other across the canteen." |
Military Service | HMS Malagas November 6, 1944 (Age 22 years)Note: His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron. In January 1945 the squadron reformed at Wingfield, Cape Town with 24 Hellcat FB.IIs, embarking on HMS Ameer in April 1945 for Ceylon.
Wingfield Naval Air Station at Belleville near Cape Town was called HMS MALAGAS which was commissioned on 15 Mar 1942. It was a South African Air Force base with lodger facilities. It was used by the Fleet Air Arm as a RN Air Station and aircraft repair yard for the Eastern Fleet and ships on passage from the Atlantic to the Eastern Mediterranean via the Cape. It later absorbed air section from Wynberg, and worked up Hellcat squadrons and was decommissioned on 31 Apr 1946. 896 Squadron Hellcat "Thumpers" Note: Leonards shipmates posing with one of 896 Squadron Fleet Air Arm Hellcats named "Thumper" and flown by New Zealand Pilot Sub Lt A L Mason RNZVR (centre). |
Military Service | HMS Ameer April 22, 1945 (Age 23 years)Note: His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron which embarked on HMS Ameer in April 1945 for Ceylon.
Formerly USS Baffins she was decommissioned and transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease. Now HMS Ameer, she was refitted to Royal Navy requirements, including a lengthened flight deck, the installation of ASDIC, the adaptation of fire-fighting and ventilation systems, and the alteration of bomb and torpedo storage to accommodate either American or British ordnance.
HMS Ameer Note: Ameer with a full flight deck. |
Military Service | HMS Valluru May 13, 1945 (Age 23 years)Note: His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron.
HMS Valluru, a Royal Naval Air Station at Tambaram, about 19 miles from Madras, India. HMS Valluru was commissioned at Tambaram on 1 July 1944 as a 'Double Aircraft Repair Yard' as well as a frontline air station for 6 squadrons and 72 reserve aircraft. A Fleet Requirement Unit 722 squadron operated a variety of aircraft from Tambaram during April 1944 to March 1945. From here Chance Vought F4U Corsair and Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters made sorties across the Bay of Bengal against Japanese targets. |
Military Service | HMS Ameer June 23, 1945 (Age 23 years)Note: His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron. In July 1945, the squadron was involved in operations in the Car Nicobar area from HMS Ameer. HMS Ameer Note: Ameer getting spruced up. |
Military Service | HMS Empress July 14, 1945 (Age 23 years)Note: His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron. The squadron transferred to HMS Empress for patrols over Phuket island.
Originally the USS Carnegie, she was commissioned on 9 August 1943 for a period of three days prior to being turned over to the United Kingdom under whom she served as HMS Empress.
On 15 August 1945 Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) was celebrated which effectively signalled the end of WW2. Immediately after VJ-Day the squadron was still active, providing support in early September during the occupation of the Malayan peninsula. HMS Empress Note: Arming a Hellcat with rockets on HMS Empress. The officer is Sub Lt (A) R F Plenty. VJ Day Sumatra Note: A VJ Day photograph on the deck of HMS Empress. Leonard on front row seated (arrowed) and inset. |
Military Service | HMS Waxwing December 20, 1945 (Age 23 years)Note: On his return to this Air Station at Townhill near Dunfermline in Fife his rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). |
Military Service | HMS Jackdaw January 30, 1946 (Age 23 years)Note: His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine).
HMS Jackdaw was Royal Naval Air Station Crail, Fife. The present Crail airfield was constructed in 1939 and functioned throughout the war as a naval training base. Air crews underwent intensive training in torpedo dropping and dive bombing. Naval air operations ceased in 1947, but the site continued as HMS Bruce, a naval training unit. HMS Jackdaw June 1941 Note: This is a Luftwaffe aerial reconnassance photo of RNAS Crail taken in June 1941. HMS Jackdaw Note: Wheeling out the torpedoes prior to their being fitted to the machines during training for pilots for naval aircraft at HMS JACKDAW, Royal Naval Air Station, Crail, Fife. |
Military Service | HMS Daedalus April 23, 1946 (Age 24 years)Note: His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). |
Military Service | HMS Daedalus III June 26, 1946 (Age 24 years)Note: His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine).
HMS Daedalus III was an accommodation and release centre at Lee on Solent and Bedhampton between 1943 and 1947. |
Military Discharge | Release from service September 4, 1946 (Age 24 years)Note: Len was released from service "Class A" |
Military Service | Royal Fleet Reserve May 17, 1947 (Age 25 years)Note: Enrolled in the Royal fleet Reserve as a Petty Officer Airman (Aircraft Mechanic) (Engine) |
Leisure | Leonard With His Cousin Billy Harrison 1947 (Age 24 years)Note: Taken in around 1947 |
Military Award | WW2 Medals 1947 (Age 24 years) |
Leisure | Sewerby Park Outing 1948 (Age 25 years)Note: A Baron family outing to Sewerby Park, Bridlington. Left to right Leonard, Jennie, Joan, Barbara and Douglas |
Military Service | RFR Training November 6, 1950 (Age 28 years)Note: A week of RFR Training at HMS Daedalus, Lee-on-Solent. |
Residence | March 1952 (Age 30 years) Note: On his marriage he lived at 35 Holyrood Avenue, which was attached to his father's Marshall Avenue Garage. |
Military Service | Royal Fleet Reserve May 17, 1952 (Age 30 years)Note: Re-Enrolled in the RFR as a PO Air (AM)(E) |
Military Service | RFR Drill March 9, 1953 (Age 31 years)Note: A week of RFR Drill at HMS Heron, a Royal Navy Air Station at Yeovilton in Somerset, England. |
Military Service | RFR Drill August 14, 1955 (Age 33 years)Note: A week of RFR Drill at Royal Naval Air Station, HMS Condor at Arbroath, near Dundee. This later became RM Condor. It is now the base for 45 Commando, Royal Marines. |
Wedding Reception | David and Elaine Gautier March 29, 1968 (Age 46 years)Note: Leonard attended David and Elaine's Wedding Reception. Left to right in the photograph are Ida Baron; Violet Gautier; Barbara, Dorothy and Leonard Baron; and Jules Gautier.
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Anniversary | 90th Birthday February 2012 (Age 89 years) |
Death | August 25, 2014 (Age 92 years) |
Cremated | Memorial Service and Cremation September 5, 2014 (11 days after death)Note: Memorial Service at Christ Church followed by private cremation. |
Unique identifier | F1803433A15C48B485D83BF6D68B99D932E7 yes |
Last change | December 24, 2016 – 14:48 |
Family with parents |
father |
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mother |
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Marriage: May 12, 1915 — Christ Church, Bridlington, East Yorkshire, England |
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15 months elder brother |
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21 months elder brother |
Birth: May 27, 1918 22 30 — Bridlington Death: November 9, 1998 — Bridlington |
2 years elder sister |
Birth: August 30, 1920 25 32 — West View Nursing Home Death: February 21, 2004 — Bridlington & District Hospital |
18 months himself |
Birth: February 17, 1922 26 34 — Bridlington Death: August 25, 2014 — Scarborough Hospital |
7 years younger sister |
Birth: February 27, 1929 33 41 — Bridlington Death: February 9, 2004 — Bridlington & District Hospital |
13 months younger sister |
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Family with Private |
himself |
Birth: February 17, 1922 26 34 — Bridlington Death: August 25, 2014 — Scarborough Hospital |
wife |
Private |
daughter |
Private |
daughter |
Private |
Portrait | Taken outside Snaps on Prince Street, Bridlington. |
Education | Len entered this school from Oxford Street School. By July 1936 he was "Top Boy" in five subjects as the School Report shows. |
Occupation | Occupation noted at entry to Royal Navy. |
Military | Enlisted with the Royal Navy for 12 years |
Military Service | His initial Rate was Naval Artificer Second Class however on 18 April 1940 he was promoted to Air Mechanic Second Class.
Victory I was a ship's name used for administrative purposes. |
Occupation | Occupation on 1939 Register |
Residence | Address on 1939 Register |
Military Service | His Rate was Air Mechanic Second Class
HMS Daedalus was a naval air station, also known as Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Lee-on-Solent. The base was opened in 1917 and transferred to the RAF in 1918. It was returned to the successor of the Royal Naval Air Service, the Fleet Air Arm in 1939 and became also the Headquarters of Flag Officer Air (Home). |
Military Service | His Rate was Air Mechanic 2nd Class
During WW2 the Navy was short of space for training and other functions and took over several holiday camps. They were ideal as they had accommodation, dining facilities and open spaces. The Warner's Holiday Camp at Puckpool Park, Ryde, Isle of Wight was one of these and was commissioned in 1940 and renamed HMS Medina. Used by the main Fleet Air Arm station at Lee-on-Solent for training, the ship's company consisted of regular Royal Navy Officers and ratings, RN reservists and Women's Royal Naval Service (WRNS) providing most of the pay, stores, catering and transport staff. |
Military Service | His Rate was Air Mechanic 2nd Class but on 7 November 1940 he passed as Air Mechanic (Engine) abbreviated to AM(E). On 11 November 1940 he passed the RN's Educational Test Part 1.
HMS Daedalus was a naval air station, also known as Royal Naval Air Station (RNAS) Lee-on-Solent. Some Fleet Air Arm training was however carried out at RAF Locking. This meant that for pay and other administrative purposes Len was registered as HMS Daedalus but was actually based at RAF Locking for this period. |
Military Service | His Rate was Air Mechanic (Engine)
HMS Raven was the Royal Naval Air Station at Eastleigh, Southampton in commission between 1939 and 1947. |
Military Service | His rate was Air Mechanic (Engine)
HMS Condor was a Royal Naval Air Station at Arbroath, near Dundee. Built in 1939/40 and commissioned as HMS Condor on 19 June 1940. HMS Condor was an air engineer school unit until closure in September 1970. It became RM Condor in 1971 and is now the base for 45 Commando, Royal Marines. |
Military Service | His Rate was Air Mechanic Second Class (Engine). On 18 July 1941 he became an Air Mechanic First Class (Engine).
HMS Kestrel was a Royal Naval Air Station and General Service Establishment at Worthy Down, near Winchester. It was commissioned in 1939 after being transferred from the Royal Air Force and was used as a flying station by the Fleet Air Arm until 1942 when flying ceased due to the orientation of the runway. |
Military Service | He returns to this posting with a Rate of Air Mechanic First Class (Engine) |
Military Service | His Rate is Air Mechanic First Class (Engine) and he is a member of 825 Squadron Fleet Air Arm.
His first voyage in September 1941 was a "club run" as the regular ferrying of aircraft to Malta was known. Whilst covering convoy GM2, information was received that the Italian fleet was at sea. Ark Royal launched a strike force against the Italian fleet on 27 September 1941 but they were not found and the two forces retired without meeting. Another "club run" took place in October 1941.
After launching Hurricane fighters to Malta on 12 November, the Ark Royal was torpedoed by the German submarine U81, who fired three torpedoes at the Ark Royal and four at the battleship Malaya. One torpedo struck the Ark Royal on the starboard side, below the bridge, knocking out all electrical power.
Only one fatality ocurred during this incident, that of Able Seaman Mitchell who was killed at the time the ship was hit by the torpedo. All other hands were saved. Many of the 1487 survivors being taken on to HMS Legion. Ark Royal was towed to within 30 miles of Gibraltar (partly under her own power), and the flooding appeared to be under control until a fire again eliminated her power. Flooding progressed rapidly, and she finally capsized and sank at 6:13 am on 14 November.
HMS Ark Royal (pennant number 91) was designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Washington Naval Treaty and was built by Cammell Laird and Company, Ltd. at Birkenhead, England, and completed in November 1938. Her design differed from previous aircraft carriers. Ark Royal was the first ship on which the hangars and flight deck were an integral part of the hull, instead of an add-on or part of the superstructure. Designed to carry a large number of aircraft, she had two hangar deck levels. She served during a period that first saw the extensive use of naval air power; a number of carrier tactics were developed and refined aboard Ark Royal.
Ark Royal served in some of the most active naval theatres of the Second World War. She was involved in the first aerial and U-boat kills of the war, operations off Norway, the search for the German battleship Bismarck, and the Malta Convoys. Ark Royal survived several near misses and gained a reputation as a 'lucky ship'. The Germans incorrectly reported her as sunk on multiple occasions.
Her sinking was the subject of several inquiries; investigators were keen to know how the carrier was lost, in spite of efforts to save the ship and tow her to the naval base at Gibraltar. They found that several design flaws contributed to the loss, which were rectified in new British carriers. |
Military Service | He returns to RNAS Lee-on-Solent after his close shave on Ark Royal. His Rate is Air Mechanic First Class (Engine). On 23 April 1942 he is passed as Proficient for Leading Air Mechanic (Engine).
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Military Service | With 825 Squadron of the Fleet Air Arm as Air Mechanic First Class (Engine)
Close to Campbeltown in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, a new airfield opened on 15 June 1941 as Strabane Naval Air Station, and named HMS Landrail, becoming RNAS Machrihanish later in the month and operated until 1946.
The quote below is by Mac HARTLEY [1924-1999] who was an Air Mechanic with 832 Squadron. See http://www.hartleyfamily.org.uk/macH.htm
"You have a draft chit to HMS Landrail, at that time the biggest airfield in the UK. Your quarters nicknamed 'Nissen City' [in the far corner of the airfield] are your billet for your stay here. A short distance away you can see the village of Ugadale with it's small pub. At Landrail there were daily inspections to see that aircraft were airworthy. Pilots would practice landings on the deck of the carrier, difficult when the ship was pitching and rolling at 30 knots. Pilots were aptly called 'Brylcreem Boys' as they were always impeccably dressed and groomed and wore lots of after-shave.
Some nights a troopcarrier would convey you up to the main camp to see a film in the gym or go to the canteen for a pint, and join in the sing songs, with the seamen, stokers, and torpedo men. The canteen was always full, noisy, men running back and forwards to the bar, and shouting across the room to their mates. The songs were sung with a sort of defiance against authority and discipline, and sung very loud. There was a comradeship in the navy you wouldn't find anywhere else. Through the songs you could be yourself." |
Military Service | Although passed as proficient for the next Rate, initially he took up this posting as Air Mechanic First Class (Engine). However on 18 July 1942 he was promoted to Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine).
RNAS Hatston, also called HMS Sparrowhawk, was a Royal Naval Air Station. It was situated one mile to the north west of Kirkwall on the island of Mainland, Orkney. It was located near the strategically vital naval base of Scapa Flow, which for most of the twentieth century formed the main base of the ships of the Home Fleet. During WW2 it was host to a number of different types of aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm, including Fairey Swordfish, Blackburn Rocs and Avengers. Two squadrons of Blackburn Skuas flew from Hatston on 10 April 1940, on a mission to sink the German cruiser Königsberg, in which they were successful. |
Military Service | His Rate was Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine). A few days after he came aboard HMS Avenger she Britain left bound for Iceland on convoy duties. Click on the PDF file for a detailed account of the ship's encounters with the enemy until her return to Scapa Flow towards the end of September 1942
HMS Avenger was a Royal Navy escort aircraft carrier during the Second World War. In 1939 she was laid down as the merchant ship Rio-Hudson at the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company yard in Chester, Pennsylvania. Launched on 27 November 1940, she was converted to an escort carrier and transferred under the lend lease agreement to the Royal Navy. She was commissioned on 2 March 1942.
Avenger's capacity allowed for a maximum of 15 aircraft. In September 1942, she took part in what was the largest and most successful Russian convoy to date. Upon her return home, after observing a number of design faults, Avenger's captain drew up recommendations for future escort carrier design. After Len had moved on, in November 1942 she took part in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, where she suffered engine problems. While leaving North Africa to start the journey home Avenger was sunk by the U-155 as she was nearing Gibraltar, with a heavy loss of life among her crew. |
Military Service | On Avenger's return to Scapa Flow he landed here for two days before his next posting. |
Military Service | He had four weeks at Lee-On Solent as Rate Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine) |
Military Service | HMS Grebe was the Royal Navy designation for the prewar Alexandria airport, known as Dekheila, during its use in WW2 as a shore base for aircraft of the Fleet Air Arm.
Originally used as a shore base for aircraft flown ashore from carriers by the Fleet Air Arm (as HMS Nile II, under the control of HMS Nile), the airfield was taken over by the Royal Egyptian Air Force on the outbreak of WW2 but remained in use by the Fleet Air Arm. The field was subsequently loaned as a Naval Air Station on 16 September 1940, and commissioned as HMS Grebe, attached to HMS Nile, with a capacity of 72 aircraft. The field became self accounting on 1 April 1941, and acted as a base for all Fleet Air Arm units in Egypt and the Western Desert, as well as a fleet requirements unit. HMS Nile resumed control on 1 April 1943, retaining the HMS Grebe title. The field was reduced to a care and maintenance basis on 31 January 1946, before being returned to the control of Egypt on 18 March 1946. |
Military Service | His Rate was Acting/Leading Air Mechanic (Engine)
889 Squadron operations were carried out in the Western Desert until disbanding at El Daba in February 1943. |
Military Service | HMS St Angelo was a Fleet Air Arm Naval HQ at Fort St Angelo in Birgu, Malta during WW2. When Len arrived his Rate was A/LAM(E). On 19 April 1943 he was promoted to Acting/Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). |
Military Service | His Rate was Acting Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). On 16 June 1943 he was granted his 1st Good Conduct Badge. |
Military Service | His Rate was Acting Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine).
Just East of Henstridge village is Henstridge Airfield . It was built during WW2 as a training base for the Fleet Air Arm, who commissioned it as HMS Dipper on 1April 1943. No. 2 Naval Air Fighter School, and No. 761 Squadron reformed here. Between 05 June 1944 and 17 August 1944, No. 718 Squadron reformed here with Seafires and Spitfires. The airfield was also used by 748, 760, 794, 799, 808, 885, 886, 887, 894 and 897 Squadrons. |
Military Service | On his return to RNAS Worthy Down, initially His Rate was Acting Petty Officer but on 4 August 1944 he became a full Petty Officer but on a temporary basis. |
Military Service | On 15 August his promotion to Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine) was confirmed and became permanent.
HMS Daedalus III was an accommodation and release centre at Lee on Solent and Bedhampton between 1943 and 1947. |
Military Service | His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine).
HMS Waxwing was a RN Air Station at Townhill near Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland.
The quote below is by Mac HARTLEY [1924-1999] who was an Air Mechanic with 832 Squadron. See http://www.hartleyfamily.org.uk/macH.htm
"This was just a transit camp. You're granted seven days leave. There were a large number of nissen huts, with one large one for the dining hall. The huts had the usual iron stove in the centre to provide heat. A gunnery instructor who had done his training at HMS Medina, "the greatest gunnery school in the world" he says, teaches weaponry drill and all about stoppages when a machine gun jams, and how to rectify it. You're now familar with all the different pipes; up spirits, stand easy, men under punishment, cooks to the galley, and liberty men fall in. In Scotland, breakfast would consist of porridge and kippers rather than egg and bacon. The kippers were like pieces of leather. Rather than eat them, ratings would throw them at each other across the canteen." |
Military Service | His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron. In January 1945 the squadron reformed at Wingfield, Cape Town with 24 Hellcat FB.IIs, embarking on HMS Ameer in April 1945 for Ceylon.
Wingfield Naval Air Station at Belleville near Cape Town was called HMS MALAGAS which was commissioned on 15 Mar 1942. It was a South African Air Force base with lodger facilities. It was used by the Fleet Air Arm as a RN Air Station and aircraft repair yard for the Eastern Fleet and ships on passage from the Atlantic to the Eastern Mediterranean via the Cape. It later absorbed air section from Wynberg, and worked up Hellcat squadrons and was decommissioned on 31 Apr 1946. |
Military Service | His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron which embarked on HMS Ameer in April 1945 for Ceylon.
Formerly USS Baffins she was decommissioned and transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease. Now HMS Ameer, she was refitted to Royal Navy requirements, including a lengthened flight deck, the installation of ASDIC, the adaptation of fire-fighting and ventilation systems, and the alteration of bomb and torpedo storage to accommodate either American or British ordnance.
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Military Service | His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron.
HMS Valluru, a Royal Naval Air Station at Tambaram, about 19 miles from Madras, India. HMS Valluru was commissioned at Tambaram on 1 July 1944 as a 'Double Aircraft Repair Yard' as well as a frontline air station for 6 squadrons and 72 reserve aircraft. A Fleet Requirement Unit 722 squadron operated a variety of aircraft from Tambaram during April 1944 to March 1945. From here Chance Vought F4U Corsair and Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters made sorties across the Bay of Bengal against Japanese targets. |
Military Service | His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron. In July 1945, the squadron was involved in operations in the Car Nicobar area from HMS Ameer. |
Military Service | His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). He was attached to 896 Squadron. The squadron transferred to HMS Empress for patrols over Phuket island.
Originally the USS Carnegie, she was commissioned on 9 August 1943 for a period of three days prior to being turned over to the United Kingdom under whom she served as HMS Empress.
On 15 August 1945 Victory over Japan Day (VJ Day) was celebrated which effectively signalled the end of WW2. Immediately after VJ-Day the squadron was still active, providing support in early September during the occupation of the Malayan peninsula. |
Military Service | On his return to this Air Station at Townhill near Dunfermline in Fife his rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). |
Military Service | His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine).
HMS Jackdaw was Royal Naval Air Station Crail, Fife. The present Crail airfield was constructed in 1939 and functioned throughout the war as a naval training base. Air crews underwent intensive training in torpedo dropping and dive bombing. Naval air operations ceased in 1947, but the site continued as HMS Bruce, a naval training unit. |
Military Service | His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine). |
Military Service | His rate was Petty Officer Air Mechanic (Engine).
HMS Daedalus III was an accommodation and release centre at Lee on Solent and Bedhampton between 1943 and 1947. |
Military Discharge | Len was released from service "Class A" |
Military Service | Enrolled in the Royal fleet Reserve as a Petty Officer Airman (Aircraft Mechanic) (Engine) |
Leisure | Taken in around 1947 |
Leisure | A Baron family outing to Sewerby Park, Bridlington. Left to right Leonard, Jennie, Joan, Barbara and Douglas |
Military Service | A week of RFR Training at HMS Daedalus, Lee-on-Solent. |
Residence | On his marriage he lived at 35 Holyrood Avenue, which was attached to his father's Marshall Avenue Garage. |
Military Service | Re-Enrolled in the RFR as a PO Air (AM)(E) |
Military Service | A week of RFR Drill at HMS Heron, a Royal Navy Air Station at Yeovilton in Somerset, England. |
Military Service | A week of RFR Drill at Royal Naval Air Station, HMS Condor at Arbroath, near Dundee. This later became RM Condor. It is now the base for 45 Commando, Royal Marines. |
Wedding Reception | Leonard attended David and Elaine's Wedding Reception. Left to right in the photograph are Ida Baron; Violet Gautier; Barbara, Dorothy and Leonard Baron; and Jules Gautier.
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Cremated | Memorial Service at Christ Church followed by private cremation. |
Portrait | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 615 × 724 pixels File size: 143 KB Highlighted image: no Note: Left To Right: Leonard, Jimmy And Betty Baron, Dennis Hourd |
Education | Format: application/pdf File size: 662 KB Highlighted image: no |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 600 × 967 pixels File size: 99 KB Highlighted image: no Note: All dressed up for Divisions |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 640 × 426 pixels File size: 115 KB Highlighted image: no Note: HMS Ark Royal in 1939, with Swordfish of 820 Naval Air Squadron passing overhead. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 900 × 640 pixels File size: 99 KB Note: Swordfish aircraft clustered on the rain lashed deck of HMS Ark Royal |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 900 × 587 pixels File size: 89 KB Note: Ark Royal lists heavily after being torpedoed by U81 |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 773 × 574 pixels File size: 66 KB Note: HMS Legion closes in to rescue survivors |
Military Service | Format: application/pdf File size: 3,234 KB |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 783 × 592 pixels File size: 234 KB Highlighted image: no Note: Fairey Swordfish taxi along the tarmac to take off from HMS Sparrowhawk, Royal Naval Air Station, Hatston for an exercise with dummy torpedoes. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 900 × 599 pixels File size: 76 KB Note: A group photo of 825 Squadron Fleet Air Arm in August 1942 at HMS Sparrowhawk, RNAS Hatston. Leonard arrowed and inset. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 700 × 821 pixels File size: 184 KB Highlighted image: no |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 850 × 644 pixels File size: 111 KB Note: A Sea Hurricane on the aircraft lift of Avenger in 1942 |
Military Service | Format: application/pdf File size: 66 KB Note: An account of Avenger on Convoy PQ18 in September 1942 sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Avenger_%28D14%29 |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 900 × 674 pixels File size: 112 KB Note: The little church at Sedisfiord in Iceland taken in September 1942 |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 900 × 437 pixels File size: 48 KB Note: Bear Island taken from HMS Avenger in Septemer 1942. Bear Island is the southernmost island of the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago. The island is located in the western part of the Barents Sea, approximately halfway between Spitsbergen and the North Cape. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 900 × 599 pixels File size: 79 KB Note: A Walrus Amphibian takes off. This aircraft was used for combat search and rescue. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 850 × 637 pixels File size: 119 KB Highlighted image: no |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 650 × 904 pixels File size: 87 KB Highlighted image: no Note: Leonards shipmates posing with one of 896 Squadron Fleet Air Arm Hellcats named "Thumper" and flown by New Zealand Pilot Sub Lt A L Mason RNZVR (centre). |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 800 × 600 pixels File size: 75 KB Highlighted image: no Note: Ameer with a full flight deck. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 1,485 × 1,049 pixels File size: 243 KB Highlighted image: no Note: Ameer getting spruced up. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 776 × 574 pixels File size: 75 KB Highlighted image: no |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 1,320 × 924 pixels File size: 159 KB Note: Arming a Hellcat with rockets on HMS Empress. The officer is Sub Lt (A) R F Plenty. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 850 × 575 pixels File size: 105 KB Note: A VJ Day photograph on the deck of HMS Empress. Leonard on front row seated (arrowed) and inset. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 800 × 913 pixels File size: 157 KB Highlighted image: no Note: This is a Luftwaffe aerial reconnassance photo of RNAS Crail taken in June 1941. |
Military Service | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 800 × 626 pixels File size: 105 KB Note: Wheeling out the torpedoes prior to their being fitted to the machines during training for pilots for naval aircraft at HMS JACKDAW, Royal Naval Air Station, Crail, Fife. |
Military Discharge | Format: application/pdf File size: 319 KB Highlighted image: no |
Military Discharge | Format: application/pdf File size: 206 KB |
Military Award | Format: application/pdf File size: 175 KB Highlighted image: no |
Leisure | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 766 × 507 pixels File size: 78 KB Highlighted image: no |
Wedding Reception | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 900 × 532 pixels File size: 105 KB Highlighted image: no |
Anniversary | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 900 × 698 pixels File size: 121 KB Highlighted image: no |
Cremated | Format: application/pdf File size: 353 KB Highlighted image: no |
Media object | Format: image/jpeg Image dimensions: 400 × 520 pixels File size: 46 KB Highlighted image: yes |