{{Short description|Australian bomber pilot}} {{For|the founder of VHEMT|Les U. Knight}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}} {{Use Australian English|date=December 2016}} {{Infobox military person |name= Les Knight |image= Leslie Knight UK0238A 2.jpg |image_size= |alt= |caption= Knight in June 1943 |nickname= |birth_date= {{birth date|1921|03|07|df=y}} |birth_place= Camberwell, Australia |death_date= {{death date and age|1943|09|16|1921|03|07|df=y}} |death_place= Den Ham, Netherlands |burial_place= |allegiance= Australia |branch= Royal Australian Air Force |service_years= 1941–1943 |rank= Flight Lieutenant |service_number= |unit= No. 617 Squadron RAF |commands= |battles= {{tree list}} * Second World War ** Operation Chastise ** Operation Garlic {{tree list/end}} |awards= Distinguished Service Order<br/>Mentioned in Despatches |relations= |other_work= }} '''Leslie Gordon Knight''', {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|DSO}} (7 March 1921 – 16 September 1943) was an Australian bomber pilot in the Royal Australian Air Force during the Second World War. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order in 1943 for his role in Operation Chastise while flying with No. 617 Squadron RAF.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=36030|date=25 May 1943 |pages=2361–2362|supp=y }}</ref> Knight's crew, flying in N-Nan, attacked, hit and breached the Eder Dam, the second dam to be attacked, after his comrades had previously scored one hit and one miss.
thumb|Monument for Leslie Gordon Knight, DSO, in Den Ham, The Netherlands Knight was killed later the same year while taking part in Operation Garlic – the Dortmund–Ems Canal raid.<ref>{{cite web|title=The 617 Sqn raid on Ladbergen in 1943|url=http://www.bomberhistory.co.uk/canal_raids/ladbergen43|website=Bomber History|accessdate=6 February 2018}}</ref> After his Lancaster's engines were damaged by clipping a tree while flying at low level, he was able to allow his entire crew to bail out but was unable to land the aircraft without crashing. He is buried at Den Ham General Cemetery in the Netherlands.<ref>{{cite web|title=Knight, Leslie Gordon|url=https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2820430/KNIGHT,%20LESLIE%20GORDON|website=Commonwealth War Graves Commission|accessdate=6 February 2018}}</ref> A monument was also erected at the crash site.
In the 1955 film ''The Dam Busters'', Knight was played by Denys Graham.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://dambustersblog.com/2013/12/20/dambuster-of-the-day-no-57-leslie-knight/ Dambuster of the Day No. 57: Leslie Knight] – Dambusters Blog
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Les}} Category:1921 births Category:1943 deaths Category:Australian Companions of the Distinguished Service Order Category:Australian military personnel killed in World War II Category:Australian World War II pilots Category:Australian World War II bomber pilots Category:Aviators from Melbourne Category:Military personnel from Melbourne Category:Royal Australian Air Force officers Category:Royal Australian Air Force personnel of World War II
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