Lehniger, Richard ("Leonard")

Date of birth:: June 9th, 1900 (Petschau/Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire)
Date of death:: September 13th, 1942 (Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer/Calvados, France)
Buried on:: Commonwealth War Graves Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer
Grave: 1.
Service number:: 13801849
Nationality:: Czechoslovakian

Biography

Richard Lehniger was a Jewish Sudeten refugee from Czechoslovakia who found his way into British service during the Second World War.

He grew up in Eger (Cheb). His father died of wounds in 1916, during the First World War. Following in his father’s footsteps, Richard enlisted a year later and served on the Italian front. After demobilization, he earned his living as a roofer and specialist in repairing church steeples.

The economic crisis of the 1930s cost him his trade, prompting him to resume his studies in economics and political science at Prague University. During this period he also became a member of the Czech Communist Party. In 1939, after the German occupation of Czechoslovakia, he fled first to Norway and eventually reached England, where he enlisted in the British Army in 1940.

Lehniger was initially posted to No. 93 Company of the Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps and sent to France, landing at Le Havre on 11 May 1940. His service there was brief: following the German advance, he was evacuated from Saint-Malo back to England on 15 June.

Once returned, he was transferred to Scotland, where he volunteered for the Commandos and underwent training at Achnacarry. He was subsequently assigned to No. 3 Troop of No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando. Lehniger took part in the Dieppe raid (Operation Jubilee) and later became the final recruit to Major Gus March-Phillipps’ Small Scale Raiding Force (SSRF) for Operation Aquatint.

That raid ended in disaster. During the withdrawal, Lehniger was hit by shrapnel and drowned.

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