Leonard Lewis's Story.
Leonard was a tank crew member in Sherman tanks with 44th Royal Tank Regiment. The regiment went to France on 8th June 1944 sailing from Gosport with 76 tanks and 720 men. On 29th June they repelled a German counterattack near Caen and in August they were involved in the battle near Falaise. On 5th September they crossed the Belgium border and advanced. On 7th September 1944 Leonard was killed in action . His death is recorded in the unit war diary as shown below.
44 RTR tanks pass troops of the 50th Infantry Division in Normandy
44 RTR DD tank in France