Sergeant Leslie George Hills

Birth: 2nd March 1907

Date of Death: 12th June 1940

Age: 33

Early Life
Leslie George Hills was born on March 2, 1907, in Ryde, Isle of Wight, to Dudley George Hills and Katherine Elizabeth Hills.

The 1911 Census records show the family living at South View, Upper Parkstone, Poole, Dorset. Dudley George Hills worked as a motor mechanic in motor services (omnibuses). Leslie, aged 4, lived with his parents and older sister, Dorothy May Hills, who was 6 years old at the time.

Early Career and RAF Service
Leslie joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) on February 6, 1923, just a month before his 16th birthday. Before enlisting, he was a scholar and entered the RAF under "Boy Service." According to his enlistment documentation, he stood 5 feet 7¾ inches tall, had a chest measurement of 31½ inches, dark hair, grey eyes, a fresh complexion, and a birthmark on the front left of his forearm.

He began his training at the RAF Training Unit at Halton,  Buckinghamshire, where he remained until January 1926. He then attended Initial Force Protection Training (IFPT) until March 1928. During this time, Leslie was promoted from Aircraftsman 2nd Class to Aircraftsman 1st Class.

Marriage and Family
On April 29, 1928, Leslie married Katherine Ellen Rowden Potter in Upavon, Wiltshire. The couple had two children, a son and a daughter, during their marriage.

Military Postings and Service Record
After completing his training, Leslie was posted to RAF Leuchars in Scotland. On March 28, 1929, he joined HMS Courageous. Originally decommissioned after World War I, Courageous had been rebuilt as an aircraft carrier during the mid-1920s, capable of carrying 48 aircraft. Leslie's character during this period was consistently described as "Very Good."

HMS Courageous embarked for Malta on May 3, 1929.

Later Service and Death
There are no records of Leslie's military postings between 1929 and his death in 1940. However, Sergeant Leslie George Hills, Service Number 363628, was serving with 825 Squadron, Royal Air Force, at the time of his death.

825 Squadron operated as a torpedo spotter and reconnaissance unit using Swordfish aircraft. At the outbreak of World War II, the squadron embarked from Dekheila, Egypt, aboard HMS Glorious in search of enemy shipping in the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.

HMS Glorious, initially rebuilt as an aircraft carrier in the late 1920s, could carry 30% more aircraft than her half-sister, HMS Furious. After being recommissioned in 1930, she primarily operated in the Mediterranean Sea before being recalled in April 1940 to support operations in Norway.

In June 1940, HMS Glorious was evacuating British aircraft from Norway when it was sunk in the North Sea by the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Over 1,200 lives were lost, including Sergeant Leslie George Hills, who died on June 10, 1940, at the age of 33.

Sergeant Leslie George Hills, is remembered with honour on the Runnymede Memorial in Surrey.