Lancaster Bomber navigator dies aged 89 (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Lancaster Bomber navigator dies aged 89

5:00pm Wednesday 8th February 2012 in News By Jessica Cree, Ribble Valley reporter

IN UNIFORM Rudolf in his air force days and below in more recent times.

A Lancaster Bomber navigator who fought in the Polish Air Force during the Second World War has died aged 89.

Rudolf Leksinski was born in Poland in 1922 and served as a navigator and wireless operator with the air force during the war.

At the age of 17, he and his family were forced to move to Siberia because of the war and he worked as a lumberjack for around three years.

He decided to make his way to England, aged 21, where he joined the Polish Air Force, which was affiliated to the RAF.

The Avro Lancaster first saw active service with RAF Bomber Command in 1942 and became the main heavy bomber the RAF used.

It became the most famous of Second World War night bombers, delivering 608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties. After the war, Rudolf met his wife Marjorie and settled in Blackburn.

They had two children, Chris and Susan, and lived in the area until Marjorie died in 1999. He opened Rudolf’s Electronics in Church Street in 1962, and was well-known in Blackburn.

Chris said: “When I walk through the town, people say ‘how’s your dad?’ “Sometimes, if they haven’t seen him for 20 years, they ask me if I’m my dad.”

Rudolph retired in 1988 and moved to Ribchester. After his wife died, he relocated to Huddersfield and married again.

He died peacefully on January 31 in hospital after a heart operation and leaves three grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Rudolph’s funeral will be held at Sacred Heart Church, Preston New Road, today.

The family requests donations to the British Heart Foundation or Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation.