John Leckie was born in Petrolia on March 28, 1917, the son of William Christopher Leckie (born in Lanark County) and Agnes May (nee Niblock, born in West Williams, Middlesex, Ontario) Leckie, of 376 Cromwell Street, Sarnia. John had one brother, Kenneth Paul (born 1910), and one sister, Marjorie Isabel (born 1913). John Lyle received his education at Sarnia public schools and Sarnia Collegiate. He took a Technical course at Sarnia Collegiate and in 1936 he graduated in drafting. While at school he was on the Editorial Staff of the Collegiate Magazine. John Lyle was a member of Central United Church having served as an usher, and he was one of the older members of the Century Club, being very interested in boys’ work. After leaving school he accepted a job in Peterborough and served a four-year apprenticeship for General Electric in practical training. Then he worked for De Haviland aeroplane plant in Toronto as a draughtsman.

John Leckie, single at the time, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force on June 2, 1942. He received his training at Toronto, the Bombing and Gunnery School, Fingal, and the A.O.S. at Malton, where he graduated as a Bombardier on Remembrance Day, November 11, 1943. He was commissioned as a Pilot Officer and, after a short leave at home, was sent to Maitland, Nova Scotia to take a Commando course. He was also stationed at Trenton, Three Rivers, and Lachine, before going overseas on March 28, 1944. John Leckie went overseas in April 1944. He had his O.T.U. in England, and in June 1944, he became a member of the crew of RCAF Lancaster squadron #153 “Noctividus” (We see by night), attaining the rank of Flying Officer-Bomb Aimer.

John was attached to an R.A.F. station and had twelve missions over enemy territory. On December 17, 1944, John and his crew of Lancaster aircraft PB633 went missing from night operations against Ulm, Germany. Their Lancaster crashed in France while returning from Ulm. In late December of 1944, parents William and Agnes Leckie in Sarnia would receive a telegram from Ottawa informing them that their son, Flying Officer John Lyle Leckie was missing after air operations overseas. Not long after, they were advised by the casualty officer at Ottawa that his body had been recovered. John Leckie would later be officially listed as, Killed during air operations, overseas (Germany). Along with Flying Officer-Bomb Aimer John Lyle Leckie, also killed were F/O.s H.H. Schopp and G.D. Hetherington. One of the crew, not Canadian, was reported missing and believed killed. Three other Canadians in the crew–FS. Taylor, Sgt.s Pratt, and H. Cuthbertson–returned to their unit on Dec. 28, 1944. Twenty-seven year old John Lyle Leckie is buried in Dieppe Canadian War Cemetery, Hautot-Sur-Mer, Seine-Maritime, France, Grave N.8. On John Leckie’s headstone are inscribed the words, He gave his life for others.

SOURCES: A, B, C, D, E, F, G, J, L, M, N, S, 2C, 2D