Leonard Henry Trent VC DFC (1915 - 1986)

Group Captain Leonard Henry Trent VC DFC was born on 14th April 1915 in Nelson, New Zealand. He was a son of Leonard Trent, a dentist, and Irene Everett.^[1] From 1919 the family lived at Takaka. He was educated at Nelson College and boarded at the school between 1928 and 1934.

His three siblings were:

1. Henry Leonard (1915-), a twin
2. Iredale Edith (1917-)
3. Austin Leslie (1926-)

When his father took him for a flight in a Gipsy Moth aeroplane, seven-year old Leonard was instantly captivated by flying. From college he undertook Royal New Zealand Air Force flight training in Christchurch, gaining his wings in May 1938. He then sailed for Britain where the Royal Air Force (RAF) granted him a short-service commission on 23rd August 1938 as a Pilot Officer.

In September 1939, upon the outbreak of the Second World War, Leonard was posted to France with No. 15 Squadron RAF, flying Fairey Battles on high-level photo-reconnaissance missions over enemy territory. He was promoted to Flying Officer on 23rd March 1940, and flew numerous combat missions after Germany invaded the Low Countries and France in May. In July 1940 Leonard was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his outstanding performance during the Battle of France.^[2]

Leonard married Ursula Elizabeth Woolhouse on 7th August 1940 in Holborn, London. ^[3] After a spell as a training instructor, Leonard was promoted to Flight Lieutenant. He returned to combat duties in March 1942 and was promoted to temporary Squadron Leader, assuming command of B Flight in No. 487 Squadron RNZAF. He flew many difficult raids on targets in the Low Countries during late 1942 and early 1943. On 3rd May 1943 the squadron was ordered on a specifically dangerous, diversionary bombing attack on the power station in Amsterdam, for which Leonard was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC).^[4] The squadron was virtually wiped out in the mission. Leonard shot down a Messerschmitt Bf 109 with the forward machine guns of his plane, however, his own Ventura AJ209 was hit, went into a spin and broke up.

Both he and his navigator were thrown clear at 7,000 feet, and became prisoners of war for the remainder of the war. After his capture, Leonard was assigned to Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Germany (now Żagań, Poland). He participated in the The Great Escape of 24th March 1944 although he was re-captured almost immediately; one of the luckier escapees in that he received solitary confinement. Upon his liberation by British forces on 2nd May 1945 he returned to England and heard that he had been awarded the VC. His investiture was at Buckingham Palace on 12th April 1946.

Continuing in the RAF after the war, he trained in jets and later commanded No. 214 Squadron RAF with the then new Vickers Valiant. He was promoted to Wing Commander and saw further action during the Suez Crisis in 1956. He was then promoted to the rank of Group Captain on 1st July 1959, and in the early 1960s served as air attaché in Washington DC. He retired from the RAF on 23rd June 1965.

Following his retirement, Trent moved to Forrestdale, Western Australia, in 1965, with his wife, Ursula, and three children, where he had been appointed to a position with MacRobertson Miller Airlines. After twelve years with MacRobertson Miller, he retired in 1977 and together with his wife, returned home to New Zealand to live at Matheson Bay, north of Auckland, in 1977, passing away on 19th May 1986 at North Shore Hospital.^[5] His ashes were returned to Western Australia, where they were interred at Fremantle Cemetery alongside those of his younger daughter, Judith, who had died in 1983 there at the age of 31 years.

• Photographs RAF BOMBER COMMAND, 1942-1945. IWM Collection

Sources

1. ↑ New Zealand Birth Index #1915/9257
2. ↑ London Gazette 9 July 1940 Issue: 34892 Page: 4177; accessed 9 Jul 2019
3. ↑ UK FreeBMD Marriage Index Sep qtr 1940, vol 1b, page 1529
4. ↑ London Gazette 26 February 1946 Supplement: 37486 Page: 1179; accessed 9 Jul 2019
5. ↑ New Zealand Death Index #1986/33963

See also

• Hayward, Joel. 'Trent, Leonard Henry', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 2000. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand; accessed 9 Jul 2019.
• Wikipedia profile: Leonard Trent; accessed 9 Jul 2019.