Leslie Redford Clisby

Leslie Redford Clisby was born on 29 June 1914 at McLaren Vale, South Australia. After an unsuccessful attempt to join the Royal Australian Air Force, he sailed to Britain and was granted a short-service commission in the Royal Air Force in 1937, taking the service number 40043. By the outbreak of war he was flying Hawker Hurricanes with No. 1 Squadron, which deployed to France as part of the Advanced Air Striking Force. Clisby opened his account on 1 April 1940 and scored prolifically once the German offensive began on 10 May, becoming the squadron’s leading ace with an official tally of around sixteen victories. On one occasion he forced down a Heinkel and pursued its crew on foot to take them prisoner. He was killed in action on 14 May 1940 when his Hurricane was shot down during a fierce engagement over France. He never learned that he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.