Air Commodore Leonard Joseph Birchall, (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.
Early life
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.
Military service
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 Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) upon graduation in 1937 and was trained as a pilot.
Second World War
thumb|right|RCAF Stranraer in wartime camouflage
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 RCAF.
In early 1942, he joined No. 413 Squadron RCAF, then based in the Shetland Islands and flew patrols over the North Sea. After the Japanese successes in southeast Asia, the squadron was sent to Ceylon to provide a reconnaissance force.
On 4 April 1942, only two days after his arrival, Squadron Leader Birchall was flying a PBY Catalina flying boat (AJ155/QL-A) that was patrolling the ocean to the south of Ceylon. Nine hours into the mission, as the plane was about to return to base, ships were spotted on the horizon. Investigation revealed a large Japanese fleet, the Nagumo Task Force (Responsible for the attack on Pearl Harbor), including five aircraft carriers, heading for Ceylon, which at that time was the base for the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet. Birchall's crew managed to send out a radio message, but the Catalina was soon shot down by six A6M2 Zero fighters from the carrier .
The Japanese continued to strafe the wreck seriously wounding Sergeant John Henzell in the front turret. He was lost when the aircraft sank along with Warrant Officer Lucien "Louis" Colarossi. The Japanese continued their attack on those survivors in the water killing Sgt. Davidson. The remaining six crew members were eventually picked up by the Japanese destroyer Isokaze.
The Easter Sunday Raid went ahead despite Birchall's signal, but his warning put the defenders on alert and allowed the harbour to be partially cleared before the Japanese attacked Colombo.
Prisoner of war
The survivors from the Catalina, including Birchall, spent the rest of the war as prisoners of war (POWs). As the senior Allied officer in four successive Japanese prisoner of war camps, Birchall repeatedly stood up to the Japanese and demanded fair treatment of the prisoners, in compliance with the Geneva Convention. In his first camp, he struck a Japanese soldier who was forcing a wounded Australian to work. This earned Birchall a severe beating and solitary confinement, but won him the respect of the other POWs. In 1944, Birchall encountered a situation in which sick men were being forced to work on the docks. He ordered all of the men to stop working until the sick were excused. Birchall was beaten and sent to a special discipline camp, where he again was beaten. He saved many ill soldiers by taking their beatings. His wife Dorothy had not known whether he was dead or alive for two years. His diaries, written during his captivity and buried, formed the basis of a number of Allied wartime trials at which Birchall testified. and was commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada from 1963 until his retirement from the Canadian Forces in 1967. He retired from the RCAF rather than be associated with the unification of the Armed Forces. He later served as honorary colonel of 400 Tactical Helicopter and Training Squadron in the Air Reserve and No. 413 Squadron Regular Forces.
From 1967 to 1982 Birchall was chief executive and administrative officer of the Faculty of Administrative Studies at York University, which awarded him the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa on the occasion of his retirement in 1982.
In the 1994 general election in Sri Lanka, Birchall was an official observer.
Birchall died in Kingston, Ontario at the age of 89.
Honours
thumb|right|220px|Air Commodore Leonard Birchall Leadership Award, at [[Royal Military College of Canada; bas-relief bronze by Colonel (ret’d) Andre Gauthier]]
thumb|right|220px|Birchall Pavilion, Royal Military College of Canada
Birchall was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946, after his return to Canada for his work at prisoner of war camps. The citation, in part, read: "he continually displayed the utmost concern for the welfare of fellow prisoners with complete disregard for his own safety. His consistent gallantry and glowing devotion to his men were in keeping with the finest traditions of the service". Birchall was also awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for his part in detecting the attack on Ceylon and for alerting the Allies during that 1942 flight.
When citizens of his hometown, St. Catharines, Ontario, heard Birchall was missing in action, students of Connaught school planted a memorial tree. The Len Birchall Memorial Circle is also in St. Catharines.
The Leonard Birchall Sports pavilion at the Royal Military College of Canada, in the area of the Navy Bay sports fields, was constructed in his honour, from December 2008 to September 2009. The road leading to the terminal and hangars at Kingston's Norman Rogers Airport is named Len Birchall Way.
Birchall was honoured in 2009 as one of the 100 most influential Canadians in aviation and had his name emblazoned directly behind the starboard roundel on the fuselage with the others on the 2009 CF-18 Centennial of Flight demonstration Hornet.
His widow Kathleen Birchall donated money to the Air Cadet League of Canada to set up a scholarship in his name. On 9 November 2011, 883 Air Commodore Leonard Birchall Squadron of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets based in Markham, Ontario was formed.
In 2011, Air Commodore Birchall's name was also added to the wall of honour at the Royal Military College of Canada.
Birchall was dubbed the "Saviour of Ceylon" by the Canadian press and not, as claimed by many, by Winston Churchill.
Full medal entitlement
The full medal entitlement of Air Commodore Leonard Birchall is as follows:
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{| class="wikitable" style="margin:1em auto;"
|- style="background:silver;" align="center"
|Ribbon || Description || Notes
|-
|40px || Order of Canada (CM) ||
- Member
- 21 October 1999
|-
|40px || Order of the British Empire (OBE) ||
- Officer
- Military Division
- 1946
|-
|40px || Order of Ontario (O.Ont) ||
- Member
- 1989
|-
|40px || Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) ||
- 1946
|-
|40px || 1939–1945 Star ||
|-
|40px || Atlantic Star ||
|-
|40px || Africa Star
||
|-
|40px || Pacific Star ||
- With BURMA Clasp
|-
|40px || Canadian Volunteer Service Medal ||
- With Overseas Clasp
|-
|40px || War Medal ||
|-
|40px || Special Service Medal ||
- With NATO-OTAN Clasp
|-
|40px || Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal ||
- 1953
|-
|40px || Canadian Centennial Medal ||
- 1967
|-
|40px || Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal ||
- 1977
- Canadian Version of this Medal
|-
|40px || 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal ||
- 1992
|-
|40px || Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal ||
- 2002
- Canadian Version of this Medal
|-
|40px || Canadian Forces' Decoration (CD) ||
- George VI Version
- 5 Bars
|-
|40px || Legion of Merit ||
- Officer
- 1950
- Awarded By the United States
|-
|}
References
Notes
Bibliography
- Greenhous, Brereton et al. The Crucible of War 1939–1945: The Official History of the Royal Canadian Air Force, Vol. III. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994. .
- Milberry, Larry. Aviation In Canada. Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson Ltd., 1979. .
- Milberry, Larry. Sixty Years: The RCAF and CF Air Command 1924–1984. Toronto: CANAV Books, 1984. .
- Preston, Dr. Richard Arthur. Canada's RMC: A History of Royal Military College. Kingston: Royal Military College, Second Edition 1982.
- Preston, Dr. Richard Arthur. To Serve Canada: A History of the Royal Military College of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1997, First edition 1969.
- Preston, Dr. Richard Arthur. R.M.C. and Kingston: The Effect of Imperial and Military Influences on a Canadian Community. Kingston: Royal Military College, 1968.
- Preston, Dr. Adrian and Peter Dennis, eds. Swords and Covenants. London: Rowman And Littlefield/Croom Helm, 1976.
- Smith, R. Guy C., ed. As You Were! Ex-Cadets Remember (In 2 Volumes. Volume I: 1876–1918. Volume II: 1919–1984). Kingston, Ontario, Canada: The R.M.C. Club of Canada, 1984.
External links
- The Battle of Ceylon – 1942
- Order of Canada citation
- LEONARD BIRCHALL AND THE JAPANESE RAID ON COLOMBO
- A/C Leonard Birchall Memorial Cairn
- Canadian Veterans of Valour – Air Commodore Leonard Birchall
- Former York University administrator dies at 89, 30 September 2004
- Canada's Aviation Hall of Fame: Leonard Joseph Birchall
- 883 RCACS