The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (405771) Sergeant Leslie Lindsay Rogers, No. 429 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (405771) Sergeant Leslie Lindsay Rogers, No. 429 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, Second World War.

** Due to a technical fault there is no recording of this Last Post Ceremony **

405771 Sergeant Leslie Lindsay Rogers, No. 429 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force
KIA 27 January 1943
No photograph in collection

Story delivered 6 September 2016

Today we pay tribute to Sergeant Leslie Lindsay Rogers, who was killed on active service with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Born in the Melbourne suburb of North Fitzroy on 7 August 1911, Leslie Rogers was the son of James and Catherine Rogers. As a young man he attended Ivanhoe State School and Swinburne Technical College, where he won a scholarship when he was 14 years old. Following his schooling he completed an apprenticeship as a grocer before joining Bruce Small Pty Ltd, which established the chain of Malvern Star bicycle shops. A keen cyclist, Rogers held several titles and records by the time he enlisted in the Royal Air Australian Force, including the record for riding Adelaide to Melbourne, and two Queensland titles.

In June 1935 Rogers married Lesley Ethel, and that October she gave birth to a daughter, Barbara. A year later she gave birth to a son, Leslie, named after his father.

Rogers managed a number of Malvern Star outlets, including shops in Melbourne, Ballarat, and Brisbane. He also served for eight years in the local Militia, holding the rank of sergeant in the 58th/60th Battalion.

On 25 May 1941 Rogers enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force. His boss at Malvern Star, Bruce Small, wrote to him:
"I would not like to miss the opportunity on the eve of your leaving to join the air force of expressing my personal appreciation of the enthusiastic and faithful services you have rendered the firm since you commenced with us some seven years ago… You have at all times kept the interest of our company near your heart … I sincerely trust that your service in the
defence of our liberty will be equally successful, and that you will before long return to us to resume your normal vocation."

Having begun training as a pilot, Rogers embarked in Sydney for overseas service on 16 October 1941 – his son’s fifth birthday. As part of the Empire Air Training Scheme he was one of almost 27,000 RAAF pilots, navigators, wireless operators, gunners, and engineers who joined British and Commonwealth squadrons in Britain throughout the course of the war.

In November 1941 Rogers arrived in Canada, where he undertook further training before embarking for the United Kingdom. After further specialist training, he was posted to No. 429 Squadron Royal Canadian Air Force. Known as the Bison Squadron, No. 429 flew the two-engine Vickers Wellington bombers as part of Bomber Command.

The squadron flew its first operation on 21 January 1943. Only six days later, the Wellington in which Rogers was the pilot was lost while conducting a search off the coast of Lorient, France. Rogers and his Canadian crewmates were killed.

Roger’s body was never recovered. His name is listed on the Commonwealth Air Forces Memorial overlooking the River Thames which lists British and Commonwealth airmen with no known grave.

His name is listed here on the Roll of Honour on my left, among some 40,000 others who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Sergeant Leslie Lindsay Rogers, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Lachlan Grant
Historian, Military History Section