Period:

Second World War (1939-1945)

Rank:

Flying Officer

Unit:

No. 224 Squadron, Royal Air Force

Awarded on:

November 10th, 1942

Citation:
"One day in October, 1942, Flying Officer Sleep and Flight Sergeant Lenson were captain and flight engineer respectively of an aircraft which engaged a U boat far out in the Atlantic. During the attack an explosion, caused by what appeared to be a hit on the submarine, severely damaged the aircraft. It went into an almost vertical climb but, with a great effort, Flying Officer Sleep recovered control and manoeuvred to observe the result of his attack. It became necessary to jettison the remaining bombs but, to accomplish this they had to be manhandled. Regardless of his own safety, Flight Sergeant Lenson performed the task and, for one and a half hours, he worked on the narrow catwalk with the bomb doors open in order to release the bombs, the catwalk was extremely slippery and Flight Sergeant Lenson had to shed his boots and socks to enable him to obtain a firm "grip. On reaching this country. Flying Officer Sleep executed an emergency crashlanding at night with great skill. On impact, however, the aircraft caught fire, but Flight Sergeant Lenson succeeded in extricating an' injured comrade from the burning aircraft. In most trying circumstances, both these members of air crew displayed great courage and devotion to duty."

LG 35777/4867 (10 November 1942).