After more than 80 years, a 26 year old Australian aviator lost over Germany during the Second World War has been identified and his grave now carries his name.
Royal Australian Air Force pilot, Flying Officer Leslie Markland Hough, was remembered during a moving headstone rededication ceremony held in the Netherlands this week.
Flying Officer Hough was born in Waverley, New South Wales, and enlisted in Adelaide in April 1942.
On 8 November 1944, while serving with No. 218 Squadron of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, Flying Officer Hough was piloting an Avro Lancaster bomber on an attack against an oil plant at Homberg, Germany.
His aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed near Hoerstgen, where four of the seven crew were killed.
Flying Officer Hough’s unidentified remains were buried by German authorities alongside three of his crew and were later reinterred in Venray War Cemetery, Netherlands.
Following an extensive investigation, Air Force confirmed the unknown grave at Venray War Cemetery is that of Flying Officer Hough.
The graves of crew members Pilot Officer John Tales and Sergeants Henry Burnside and John Lawson, Royal Air Force, buried alongside Flying Officer Hough, were identified by Royal Air Force authorities and were also remembered during the ceremony.
These identifications would not have been possible without the cooperation of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the United Kingdom’s Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre and Air Historical Branch, who worked with the Historic Unrecovered War Casualties team within Air Force to conduct the investigation.
Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Stephen Chappell, DSC, CSC, OAM said Air Force remains committed to the recovery, identification and burial of all personnel who died while serving.
“Flying Officer Leslie Hough was 26 years old and a long way from home when he was lost.
“Flying Officer Hough was one of almost 10,000 Australians who served with Royal Air Force Bomber Command, undertaking dangerous operations over Europe during the Second World War.
“His story reflects the service of thousands of Australians who flew with Bomber Command during the Second World War.
“Today his headstone carries his name, and reminds us of the importance of conducting investigations to identify our missing aviators.
“No matter how much time has passed, we are committed to accounting for our wartime missing.”
Over the past decade, Air Force has identified seven missing aircraft, recovered remains of two aviators and accounted for 42 aviators deemed missing in action from World War II.
The search continues for the more than 3,140 missing aviators with no known grave, involving over 1,000 missing aircraft from World War II and the Korean War.
Source: Department of Defence.