W/O Walter 'Bill' Leadley 1924-2009 (Part I)

Memoirs of NZ429151 W/O Bill Leadley as told to Jenny Scott, 1992.

Greetings and salutations from New Zealand.
Rather than put pen to paper I thought it might be easier and quicker to put it on tape. Just a little bit about me for a start.

After the war 31 years orcharding on my own account, I had a small farm as well which I sort of semi-retired to run 50 deer and 300 breeding ewes - not very economic these days.

In 1947 I took out a private flying licence and I carried on flying for about 17 years. I let the licence elapse but did keep my hand in at flying over the years by going to veteran's day and doing a few circuits and bumps. I do have an airstrip on my property here that is being used by the Motueka Flying School at the moment. So we are still well and truely connected with the flying side of life.

You've got a lot of questions there for me to answer. i think I will tell the story as it goes . I've got a bit written down and I will read that out to you and I think that will help answer quite a few of them.

As you know the entries in the logbook were restricted. You could only put a certain amount in and regarding detail you couldn't put anything in. You can understand why, if it fell into Japanese hands. Over that first tour of course we were classified as saboteurs, all aircrew were and if they were captured we were despatched. So we did live under a death sentence there for a year or so and certainly gave us the incentive to run away and live to fight another day.

Of course the Cats role was most definitely not to engage aircraft in combat, it was to take on a defensive roll. Attack submarines by all means, and shipping, but avoid aircraft. You can imagine getting caught at 5000 feet, your belly had been ripped out by enemy fighter craft, you wouldn't be able to put down again in the sea, would you?

OK. little confusion there regarding my name, etc. You ask for name, rank and number, well I will give it to you. Late '39 early '40 I joined the 42nd Blackwatch A Company New Zealand Scottish. It was a Territorial Battalion being formed right throughout New Zealand. As my mother was Scots, to please her, I joined it, although I wanted to anyway, and I was well underage when I joined it I was 16 1/2. Soon as I became 17 1/2 I applied to get into the Air Force and I finally got my transfer through to it in early '42.

I went through Rotorua ITW [Initial Training Wing] and finally came out as an airgunner. I was trained in wireless as my father was a telegraphist in the First World War. He trained all of us and i was actually on the final leg to Canada as a wireless operator and they asked for 16 or 18 volunteers in a hurry, so I promptly did it. Went in as a straight A.G. However I did have the opportunity to remuster as a pilot at a later date. I did not take it, but I took out a private licence in '47 and flew for some 17 years afterwards. I did train on Tigers to, Tiger Moths. However had a great time and that, no great problems and I didn't bend any aeroplanes.

Now I had a twin brother, Edmund Leadley, and as you know my name is actually Walter, but we were nicknamed Bill and Jock. However the confusion arose when I went into the Scottish Regiment. No way they would have me as Bill, so they called me Jock, and when I transferred to the Air Force unfortunately there was a couple of cobbers came through with me and they kept calling me Jock and I had a devil of a job to get away from this namme and there are still members of the 6 Squadron will recall me as Jock and not as Bill Leadley. So there is the confusion.

I finished up as a 2nd year W/O1, my number was 429151 in the Air Force. In the Territorial it was 2/7/100, so it was a pretty early one.

Anyway at the end of the war of course we quietly faded back into the wood work and that was that. Although over the years I have always been involved in rescue work with yachting or tramping, shooting, etc. I have always been involved in rescue work of some description and I am still today tied up with C.D. as a radio operator.

Just before I start on the main story, regarding the story of the San Juan [JS Note see Blog Post 11 September 2009 "Sinking of the San Juan by Bill Leadley"] and the chappy on the duckboard. I would very much love to say he was the 4th man being pulled into the dinghy but I don't believe that. After 30 hours on that duckboard those last few hours he was just lying on it. He was totally exhausted and I believe he just quietly slipped into the water. That was the finish of that.

But it is not a story I put on paper really the event that happened. I cannot change the facts, I wish that was the case.