Lesage, Joseph Alexander

Date of birth:: November 3rd, 1921 (Kingston/Ontario, Canada)
Date of death:: November 22nd, 1943 (Diever/Drenthe, Nederland)
Buried on:: Commonwealth War Graves Diever
Plot: E. Row: 5. Grave: 1.
Service number:: R/65939
Nationality:: Canadian

Biography

Joseph was born on 3 November 1921 in Kingston Ontario, the son of Joseph Lesage and Phoebe Lesage-Leonard of Toronto. He was married to Mary Elena Delphine Lesage-Francis of Dartmouth Nova Scotia on 30 June 1942.

He was an employee at a golf school and a member of the Roman Catholic Church. His sport was rugby.
He enlisted in Toronto on 15 June 1940 and received the Air Gunner's Badge on 9 October 1942. On 20 November 1942, he went overseas to the UK and upon arrival participated in his squadron's various air operations in NW Europe.

Joseph died on Monday 22 November 1943 at the age of 22 while on a mission to Berlin. Their Halifax bomber LW231 VR-F had taken off that evening from RAF Middleton St George for a mission to Berlin and was shot at by a German night fighter. The aircraft crashed burning in the “Staatsbossen” near Diever, killing all crew members.

The other crew members killed were Sgt George A. Howitson, age 21, Plot E. Row 5. Coll. grave 4-7, P/O William L. Hunter, age 21, Plot E. Row 5. grave 3, Sgt George A. May, age 19 years, Plot E. Row 5. Grave 2, F/Sgt Malcolm A. McKellar, age 20 years,Plot E. Row 5. Coll. grave 4-7 and F/O Richard J. Newman, age 21 yrs, Plot E. Row 5. Coll. grave 4-7 (all RCAF) and Sgt Wilbert B. Jones, age 18 yrs (RAFVR), Plot E. Row 5. Coll. grave 4-7.

His widow was awarded The Memorial Bar in February 1945.

The names of the crew are inscribed on a monument at the crash site in the woods near Diever.

He served with the 419 Sqdn Royal Canadian Air Force.

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