Posted on 08/01/2013 11:28:30 PM PDT by robowombat
Newcastle World War II hero mystery solved 20 Aug 2010 12:10 MISSING details about the life and times of a Second World War hero can finally be told.
MISSING details about the life and times of a Second World War hero can finally be told.
Nearly 70 years after RAF rear gunner Sgt Frederick ‘Leonard’ Molteni paid the ultimate sacrifice over occupied Belgium, his life story can be revealed.
Sgt Molteni was killed with his five Wellington bomber crewmates on a doomed mission in 1941 when they were shot down over the Belgian coast.
His grave now lies in Belgium and, as reported in the Chronicle, a historian is trying to trace the 23-year-old’s surviving loved ones in order to write a book.
Former acquaintances, friends and distant relatives of Sgt Molteni have already provided glimpses into the airman’s life on Tyneside before the war, but their memories are vague and the jigsaw remained incomplete.
Now the sergeant’s great niece, Nicola Graver, has been traced to Canada, and she has revealed this fascinating old photograph of her Great Uncle.
Nicola’s knowledge of her family history completes the puzzle of the airman’s Tyneside roots, which are being probed by a Belgian Army officer and war historian who wants to create a lasting record of his life.
Nicola, 46, who settled in Calgary after leaving England to work as a nanny in 1988, said: “Leonard was my Great Uncle. My grandmother was his sister, Doreen.
“Leonard’s family lived in the areas of Heaton and Gosforth in Newcastle. His father was an accountant, his grandfather was from Italy and his mother was half Irish. Leonard was the fourth of five children, his sisters have all died and unfortunately his youngest sister Winifred – known as Fay – just died earlier this year.
Chief Warrant Officer Frank Raeman is trying to trace Sgt Molteni's relatives “She used to tell me about how she and Leonard would joke around together. Fay moved to London during the war and lived there for her whole life. His two oldest sisters married and moved away. I think Amie lived around Leicester and Phyl lived in Toronto, Canada.
“My grandmother, Doreen, married and moved to Surrey in 1958.”
Nicola said Leonard’s parents died in 1954 and 1958, and it is believed they were buried in Ashburton Cemetery in Gosforth.
She added: “I still visit England every year and just flew home from London actually.”
Her information will be welcome news for Belgian Army officer Frank Raeman, who has received a copy of the photograph.
Officer Raeman and his colleagues are working to produce a book on 154 airmen buried in a region of his country, chronicling their lives before and during the war, their families and how they met their end.
The officer also wants to attach a photograph to the fallen soldiers’ grave as a lasting tribute among the headstones of soldiers in three Belgian cemeteries.
He said: “Were these people married, did they have any children, what was the reason they joined the air force?
“Our aim is to show people that every man who died was a living person, and to ensure that they will be remembered.”
Sgt Molteni’s crew, from 99 Squadron, are known to have taken off from Waterbeach Airfield, Cambridgeshire, on July 31, 1941.
Their mission was to bomb the German city of Cologne, but the bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed at the village of Kemzeke.
The rest of the crew were George Bevan, Bernard Curtis, William Herod, Thomas Hicks and Wallace Wyatt.
Earlier article:
Pals help to solve mystery of forgotten airman
6 Aug 2010 00:00
OLD friends are helping to solve the mystery of a forgotten Tyneside airman who was killed during the Second World War.
OLD friends are helping to solve the mystery of a forgotten Tyneside airman who was killed during the Second World War.
Sgt Frederick Leonard Molteni, from Gosforth, Newcastle, was shot down as he flew his fighter plane on a doomed mission to bomb Germany in 1941.
His grave now lies in Belgium and, as reported in the Chronicle on Wednesday, a historian is appealing for anyone who knew of the 23-year-old to come forward.
Now, two people who knew the family well have helped to piece together the jigsaw of Sgt Molteni’s life on Tyneside before the war.
Rose McPeake, 87, of Howard Place, Gosforth, remembers Frederick because she was friends with his sister, Winifred.
The grandmother-of-three said the Moltenis were of Italian descent and lived in nearby Leslie Crescent.
Her memories of Frederick are of a man with “dashing” good looks.
“He was very dark and handsome,” she said.
“There was some Italian in the family, and I suppose he had that typical Italian look about him.
“I used to see him at Sunday mass, and all I can remember is people telling me he had joined the RAF.
“Another time I was carol singing outside his house. He was reading a book and he was rather annoyed and told us to go away!”
Mrs McPeake later became a wireless operator when war broke out and said little was heard of the family after Frederick left to fight.
“All I remember is the church service announcing that he had died,” she said. “He must have been very young.
“I’ve never heard for many, many years of there being any Moltenis left in Gosforth now.”
Joe Fox, 75, of Wallsend, says he knew of Frederick because the airman’s father used to be the family accountant.
The two families were such good friends that his mother used to keep a photograph of Frederick in his RAF uniform on the mantlepiece.
“We don’t have it anymore, I’m afraid,” said Joe, adding that Frederick used to go by his middle name of Leonard.
“I was only about five at the time, but I remember Leonard always being in the background.
“He was the most handsome young man. I remember him in his Sergeant’s stripes. He was a fresh, young, vibrant man.
“His father’s office was on the corner of Chillingham Road and the Coast Road in Heaton. I remember going there with my mother and talking to Mr Molteni.
“He had a grandfather’s face and a lovely voice, and he smoked incessantly.”
Joe, who later joined the Merchant Navy and was away for long periods of time, never heard from the Moltenis again.
But he says they were anxious about their Italian ancestry and suspects they may have left the area after Frederick’s death.
“I went to sea and lost contact with virtually everyone,” the grandfather-of-four said.
“I remember Mr Molteni asking if we thought it would be appropriate if they changed the family name.”
Officer Frank Raeman, of the Belgian Army, is now writing a book about Sgt Molteni and five other airmen who also perished.
If you can help piece together the airman’s history, call Tom Mullen on 0191 201 6106
The officer also wants to attach a photograph to the fallen soldiers’ grave as a lasting tribute among the headstones of soldiers in three Belgian cemeteries.
He said: “Were these people married, did they have any children, what was the reason they joined the air force?
“Our aim is to show people that every man who died was a living person, and to ensure that they will be remembered.”
That's really beautiful! Thank you for sharing this story.
Anyone could go to any military cemetery, then look at any stone and wonder who that person was. How is that a mystery?
Perhaps the "mystery" is how the pilot of a fighter plane can be shot down at the same time that he's being shot down as the rear gunner on a bomber crew of 6?
Quotes from above:
"Sgt Frederick Leonard Molteni .... was shot down as he flew his fighter plane..."
and
"RAF rear gunner Sgt Frederick ‘Leonard’ Molteni .... was killed with his five Wellington bomber crewmates..."
It is incorrect to call this a mystery. What is correct is to say that an author is seeking to know what the back story is about this and other downed RAF personnel. Journalists are as inept in the UK about military topics as they are here.
“Our aim is to show people that every man who died was a living person,
And remember that even the members of the Wehrmacht and Gestapo were human. I’ve even heard rumor that Hitler was human. The difference is that some humans fight for what’s right.
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