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Leonard Edmund Henry Williams, CBE, DFC, (6 December 1919 – 9 June 2007) was the former chief of the Nationwide building society, also known for his career as a Spitfire pilot in the RAF. ==Early life and RAF career== He was born in Acton, London to a labourer and a cook. He won a scholarship to Acton County Grammar, leaving at 16 to train as an accountant at Acton Borough Council. On the outbreak of World War II he joined the RAF and was trained as a mechanic. After a time servicing Westland Wapiti biplanes in India, he was selected for pilot training. Posted to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Leading Aircraftman Williams became involved in the wider British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and joined the Initial Training Wing at Hillside, a suburb of Bulawayo. Basic flying training took place at Induna and advanced flying training at Thornhill. On 14 August 1943 Williams was commissioned into the RAFVR as a Pilot Officer and sent to the Middle East where he gained experience of single-seat fighter aircraft. On 25 February 1944 he was posted to 225 Squadron, at the time based at Lago airfield, 30 miles north of Naples, and equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V fighters. P/O Williams flew his first operational sortie spotting for Allied artillery firing on a bridge at Ausonia, Lazio on 8 April 1944. Promoted to the rank of Flying Officer he flew with 225 Squadron all through the year 1944 from a number of airstrips in Italy, Corsica and Southern France. On 23 October that year he took off from Peretola with Flying Officer Stanley Waldman (brother of TV producer Ronnie Waldman) as wingman, to carry out a tactical reconnaissance to the Bologna-Ferrara-Cento-San Giovanni in Persiceto area. What happened on that mission was later narrated by Williams himself: ::''"() We were instructed to fly from Peretola up to the river Po and search for places where the German troops might be crossing the river at night by pontoon boats. I was leading the mission. We ran into a lot of Flak over the river and after noting one or two likely spots I turned towards our second objective which was Modena – my companion and I had become separated. My radio had failed and I could see nothing of the other aircraft. Fortunately he in due course returned safely to Peretola. On the route towards Modena I decided to attack a German Army truck moving on its own towards the city. It was a bad decision because it turned out to be armed with a battery of four 20 mm cannons. They opened up and my Spitfire was hit – I do not know precisely where. However, taking the view that “discretion is the better part of valour”, I broke off and began to climb towards the Apennines, going into the cloud as I did so. Above the cloud (and above the mountains) I set a course in direction of Florence but after a while the engine began to misbehave and I decided it was best to get out. I had a bit of difficulty but after what seemed an age, I dropped clear. I did not see what happened to the aircraft. I landed very near to a farmhouse and was picked up and carried indoors by a farmer (after he had established I was “inglese”) and invited to join him in a bottle of eau de vie I believe he had distilled in the morning. We were enjoying ourselves merrily when a South African Tank Corps Major arrived and in due course drove me back to my Squadron".'' Due to injuries sustained during his parachute jump, Flying Officer Williams was later admitted to hospital for some time. In January 1945 he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The citation reads: ::''“This officer has displayed commendable efficiency and gallantry in the course of numerous reconnaissance sorties () On one occasion, his aircraft was damaged by heavy and concentrated anti-aircraft fire, but F/O Williams completed his mission before abandoning his aircraft by parachute. Many of his sorties have proved of great value to the army in the field”.'' 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Leonard E. H. Williams」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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