Leonard Birchall
| Leonard Joseph Birchall | |
|---|---|
Squadron Leader Leonard Birchall aboard a Consolidated PBY Catalina before being shot down and captured near Ceylon by the Japanese.
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| Born | 6 July 1915 St. Catharines, Ontario |
| Died | 11 September 2004 (aged 89) Kingston, Ontario |
| Allegiance | Canada |
| Service/branch |
.svg){kind=small} Royal Canadian Air Force
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| Rank | Air Commodore |
| Commands held | 413 Squadron |
| Awards | CM, OBE, DFC, O.Ont, CD |
Air Commodore Leonard Joseph Birchall, CM, OBE, DFC, O.Ont, CD (6 July 1915 – 10 September 2004), "The Saviour of Ceylon", was a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) officer who warned of a Japanese attack on the island of Ceylon during the Second World War.
Birchall was born in St. Catharines, Ontario and graduated from St. Catharines Collegiate. He was always interested in flying, and worked odd jobs around St. Catharines to pay for flying lessons.
After serving in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, Birchall enrolled as a cadet at the Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario (student #2364) in 1933. He was commissioned in the RCAF upon graduation in 1937 and was trained as a pilot.
At the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, Flying Officer Birchall flew convoy and anti-submarine patrols from Nova Scotia flying with No. 5 Squadron. The squadron was equipped with the Supermarine Stranraer.
On June 10, 1940, Birchall was responsible for the capture of an Italian merchant ship, the Capo Nola, in the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, hours after Canada declared war on Italy. Birchall had been tasked with locating any Italian vessels still in Canadian waters as the outbreak of war became imminent. On June 10, he found the Capo Nola. Birchall had been informed of the declaration of war by radio so made a low pass over the freighter, as if making an attack. This panicked the captain into running his vessel aground against a sandbank. Birchall then touched down nearby and waited until Royal Canadian Navy vessels reached the scene. The Capo Nola's crew were the first Italian prisoners taken by the Allies during the war.
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