On April 9, 1943, Sargent William Leslie Whitehouse was on his way from Langar in Nottinghamshire, as part of the bombing raids on Duisburg in Germany.
Part of the 207 Squadron, the flight engineer, along with the other six Lancaster bomber crew members, never made it to enemy territory.
Over the Netherlands, they were attacked and shot down by the notorious German fighter pilot, Heinz Vinke.
Whitehouse is my wife’s maiden name and Leslie (as he was known) was her great-uncle.
Hailing from Tipton, in the Black Country, Leslie was just twenty-two when his life came to an end.