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They made the Ultimate Sacrifice
HORNE, Leslie, AB, V9632, RCNVR, MPK - 16 Jun 1942, HMCS NANAIMO - Son of Joseph Benn and Elizabeth Mary Horne, of Winnipeg, MB.
Mentioned in Despatches citation: HORNE, Leslie, Able Seaman, V9632, Posthumous Mention in Despatches. RCNVR, HMCS NANAIMO - Awarded as per Canada Gazette of 28 November 1942 and London Gazette of 25 November 1942. "For gallantry and supreme devotion to duty in connection with convoys."
From Winnipeg, Manitoba. He attended Ralph Brown, Issac Newton and St. John's Tech schools. He was an avid soccer player. He played on the Manitoba All Stars Team that met the Charlton Athletics of the English League. He also coached several soccer teams for youth. In addition, he was a keen golfer. Described by all I communicated with as a "great guy". Lost when the Port Nicholson sank. Had a lake, in northern Manitoba, named for him, according to Mrs. Pennington the second wife of Buzz's brother-in-law. She also states that he was drafted aboard the ship to replace someone whose mother was ill.
The sinking of the Port Nicholson - The Port Nicholson formed part of convoy XB 25, one of the coastal convoy routes between Halifax Harbour and Boston. She was under the command of her master, Harold Charles Jeffrey, and was carrying a cargo of 1,600 tons of automobile parts and 4,000 tons of military stores. The convoy was tracked by the German submarine U-87, commanded by Joachim Berger. At 4.17 hours on the morning of 16 June 1942 he fired a torpedo at the convoy, which was then 100 miles (160 km) off Portland, Maine. He fired a second torpedo a minute later, but the gale conditions at the time prevented him from observing the results accurately, and he recorded that while one torpedo had hit a ship, the other seemed to have missed. In fact, both torpedoes struck the Port Nicholson, the first in the engine room, the second in the stern. Two men in the engine room were killed immediately, and as the Port Nicholson began to settle by the stern, the remaining crew abandoned ship and were picked up by the Royal Canadian Navy corvette HMCS NANAIMO. The Port Nicholson did not sink immediately, and by dawn was still afloat. Her master returned to the ship, accompanied by the chief engineer, and Lieutenant John Molson Walkley and three ratings from NANAIMO, to see if the ship could be salvaged. While they were aboard, worsening weather caused the ship to suddenly start to sink. The party abandoned her, but their boat was overturned in the suction as Port Nicholson went down, drowning Jeffrey, Walkley, the chief engineer and a rating. The two surviving ratings were rescued by NANAIMO, which landed the survivors from Port Nicholson at Boston.
Ships served in: RCNVR DIVISION WINNIPEG - Enlisted 25 Sep 1939 HMCS WOLF - Served in WOLF 02 Nov 1940 - 06 Nov 1940 as an OS, RCNVR while in training at HMCS NADEN HMCS NANAIMO - Drafted to NANAIMO 08 May 1941 as an OS, RCNVR. Rated A/AB 06 Sep 1941
(LH01-LH02) Certificate of Service - pages 1 and 2 (LH03) Report of Death (LH04) Letter to AB Horne's mother (LH05) Newspaper article on the death of AB Horne
(LH06) Report from the C.O. of HMS VETERAN on the sinking of the Port Nicholson (LH07) Recommendation for posthumous recognition for Lt John Walkley and AB Leslie Horne by the C.O. of HMS VETERAN
Second World War Casualty Index
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