Cheshire, Leonard (1917-1992), was a leading British bomber pilot during World War II (1939-1945). Cheshire completed 100 bombing missions and was one of the most decorated pilots in the Royal Air Force (RAF). In 1944, he was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for valor in the British armed services. His other decorations included the Distinguished Service Order with two bars, and the Distinguished Flying Cross. Bars represent the repeated earning of a military award. Cheshire dedicated his postwar life to charity, establishing the Cheshire Foundation Homes for the Sick (now the Leonard Cheshire Disability) in 1948.
Cheshire’s RAF service included time as commanding officer of 617 Squadron, the famed Dambusters. The bomber squadron developed special weapons and tactics to destroy dams in the Eder and Ruhr valleys in Germany. In August 1945, Cheshire was among the British observers of the atomic destruction of Nagasaki, Japan. After a serious illness and his conversion to Roman Catholicism, he decided to devote his life to the relief of human suffering. In 1959, he married fellow philanthropist Sue Ryder. The couple then formed a new charity, the Ryder-Cheshire Foundation. Cheshire received the Order of Merit, the United Kingdom’s highest civilian award, in 1981. He became Lord Cheshire in 1991.
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Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire was born in Chester, Cheshire, England, on Sept. 7, 1917. He died on July 31, 1992, in Cavendish, Suffolk.
See also Royal Air Force ; Ryder, Sue ; Victoria Cross .
