Leland, Francis John

Mentioned in Despatches

Croix de Guerre avec Palme

Lieutenant Colonel

No. 30687, Royal Army Service Corps

Killed in action on Thursday 12 April 1945 (aged 41)

Buried:

Oldenzaal Protestant Cemetery, Overijssel, Netherlands (Grave 11)

Commemorated:

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

Bangor Parish Church of Ireland Church (St. Comgall’s)

BIOGRAPHY

Francis John Leland was born in 1904 in Pietermaritzburg, Natal Province, South Africa, and he was the only son of Colonel Francis William George Leland CBE, DSO and Ellen Adelaide Leland (nee Woods).  They were married on 27 August 1902 in Pietermaritzburg.  Francis William George Leland came originally from Drogheda in County Louth and, after attending boarding school in England, he joined the Army Service Corps.  He served in the South African War, the First World War, and the Second World War until 1941.   In civilian life he was a mechanical engineer. After his first wife died, Colonel Francis William George Leland married Ella Houston McIlrath and they lived at 158 Donaghadee Road, Bangor.  Colonel Francis William George Leland died suddenly on 22 September 1943 whilst he and his wife were visiting his old family home at Drogheda.  His effects in England amounted to some £1,823 and probate was granted to his widow and to his son’s wife.  When he lived in Bangor, Colonel Leland worshipped in the Church of Ireland Church of St. Columbanus at Ballyholme.

The marriage of Francis John Leland and Violet Ethel Butler of Arborfield Cross, Berkshire was registered in the fourth quarter of 1931 in Marylebone, London.  During the Second World War Lieutenant Colonel Francis John Leland served with the Royal Army Service Corps and in 1944 he was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Palm.  He was killed in action in Holland on 12 April 1945 during a bombing raid by enemy aircraft.  His address in England at the time of his death was 1 Earlsfield, Southampton Street, Farnborough, Hampshire.  His effects amounted to some £4,043 and probate was granted to Leonard Arthur Moody, engineer.

Lieutenant Colonel Francis John Leland (No. 30687) was 41 when he died on 12 April 1945 and he was buried in Oldenzaal Protestant Cemetery, Overijssel, Netherlands.  There is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:

BELOVED HUSBAND OF VIOLET

AND DEAR DADDY OF JEREMY AND JILL

HE KEPT THE FAITH

Lieutenant Colonel Francis John Leland (No. 30687) is commemorated in Bangor Parish Church of Ireland Church (St. Comgall’s).