1922
United Kingdom
Leonard and Christopher Cheshire as young boys sat outside a tent in the garden.
1922
United Kingdom
Leonard and Christopher Cheshire as boys riding on a pony with a woman watching on.
1922
United Kingdom
Leonard Cheshire, aged about five years, with his father and brother Christopher outdoors.
1922
United Kingdom
Leonard and Christopher Cheshire as young boys sat in a patch of flowers.
1922
United Kingdom
Leonard Cheshire, aged four, playing outdoors with younger brother Christopher sat on a pull-along train.
1940
Merton St, Oxford OX1 4JD, United Kingdom
Pilot officer Leonard Cheshire is rescued from the tower of Merton College, Oxford, having been locked up there all night by his friends, 8th February 1940. Cheshire was visiting undergraduate friends at the college when they decided to view the black-out from the high vantage point. Photo by J. R. V. Johnson.
1944
Bomber pilot, Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire with his American actress wife, Constance Binney.
1954
Le Court, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, records his Christmas message at Le Court Mansion in Hampshire, where he has established a home for elderly and disabled patients without means, 21st December 1954. He is speaking about the bombing of Nagasaki, at which he was an official British observer. Photo by Douglas Miller.
1954
Le Court, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire visits the chapel of Le Court, his former home in Hampshire, which now houses ex-servicemen in need of care, 24th April 1954.
1955
Hartmann Rd, Royal Docks, London E16 2PX, United Kingdom
Group-Captain Leonard Cheshire, pictured as he boarded an Air India liner at c. He is going to launch his new home for the chronic sick recently established in the hills at Kodaikanal, Southern India. He will be seeing it for the first time.
1959
483 George St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Miss Philomena Loneragan and Group-Captain Leonard Cheshire at the reception given in honor of Group-Captain and Mrs. Cheshire by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Ald. and Mrs. H. F. Jensen, at the Town Hall. Miss Loneragan was honorary secretary to Group-Captain Cheshire for more than four years. May 03, 1959. Photo by George Lipman.
1960
Cavendish, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, and his wife Sue Ryder with their newborn son Jeremy Charles at their home in Cavendish, Suffolk, 5th February 1960. Together they ran the Ryder Cheshire Foundation for the incurably ill. Photo by John Pratt.
1970
Sydney, Australia
Former Dam buster pilot Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, having arrived in Sydney to raise money for the Ryder-Cheshire foundation Hospital in India. October 16, 1970. Photo by John M. Manolato.
1972
426 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5G 1S9, Canada
Former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Leonard Cheshire; a wartime commander of the Royal Air Force 617 (Dambusters) Squadron; examine World War I German helmet at the Royal Canadian Military Institute; where Diefenbaker addressed Dambusters last night during their first reunion held in Canada. Photo by Boris Spremo.
1979
Clifton Gardens, Mosman, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Lady Ryder of Warsaw, Mr. John Graham, and Group Captain Leonard Cheshire. February 23, 1979.
1983
66 The Ridgeway, Enfield EN2 8JA, United Kingdom
The Queen, talking to Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, at the Arnold House Cheshire Home in Enfield, when she opened a new wing at the home for disabled people.
1988
Marham, Upper Marham, King's Lynn PE33 9NP, United Kingdom
The Queen Mother chats to wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, a former commanding officer of 617 Squadron, the 'Dambusters', during a ceremony at RAF Marham to present the squadron's new Standard.
1990
London, United Kingdom
Former RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire and former Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters (right) in London, 26th June 1990. Waters staged a charity concert 'The Wall - Live in Berlin' a month later, to benefit the Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief founded by Cheshire.
1991
23/11 Yarrangabbie Rd. Darling Pt. Sydney, Australia
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, seen in Sydney, Australia. He devoted his life to helping the disabled and set up the Cheshire Homes as a worldwide Organisation to care for the sick and disabled. Cheshire died at the Sue Ryder Home in Cavendish, England, after suffering motor neurone disease. February 26, 1991. Photo by Philip Wayne Lock.
1922
United Kingdom
Leonard and Christopher Cheshire as young boys sat outside a tent in the garden.
1922
United Kingdom
Leonard and Christopher Cheshire as boys riding on a pony with a woman watching on.
1922
United Kingdom
Leonard Cheshire, aged about five years, with his father and brother Christopher outdoors.
1922
United Kingdom
Leonard and Christopher Cheshire as young boys sat in a patch of flowers.
1922
United Kingdom
Leonard Cheshire, aged four, playing outdoors with younger brother Christopher sat on a pull-along train.
1940
Merton St, Oxford OX1 4JD, United Kingdom
Pilot officer Leonard Cheshire is rescued from the tower of Merton College, Oxford, having been locked up there all night by his friends, 8th February 1940. Cheshire was visiting undergraduate friends at the college when they decided to view the black-out from the high vantage point. Photo by J. R. V. Johnson.
1944
Bomber pilot, Wing Commander Leonard Cheshire with his American actress wife, Constance Binney.
1954
Le Court, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire, records his Christmas message at Le Court Mansion in Hampshire, where he has established a home for elderly and disabled patients without means, 21st December 1954. He is speaking about the bombing of Nagasaki, at which he was an official British observer. Photo by Douglas Miller.
1954
Le Court, Hampshire, United Kingdom
Group Captain Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire visits the chapel of Le Court, his former home in Hampshire, which now houses ex-servicemen in need of care, 24th April 1954.
1955
Hartmann Rd, Royal Docks, London E16 2PX, United Kingdom
Group-Captain Leonard Cheshire, pictured as he boarded an Air India liner at c. He is going to launch his new home for the chronic sick recently established in the hills at Kodaikanal, Southern India. He will be seeing it for the first time.
1959
483 George St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia
Miss Philomena Loneragan and Group-Captain Leonard Cheshire at the reception given in honor of Group-Captain and Mrs. Cheshire by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, Ald. and Mrs. H. F. Jensen, at the Town Hall. Miss Loneragan was honorary secretary to Group-Captain Cheshire for more than four years. May 03, 1959. Photo by George Lipman.
1960
Cavendish, Suffolk, United Kingdom
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, and his wife Sue Ryder with their newborn son Jeremy Charles at their home in Cavendish, Suffolk, 5th February 1960. Together they ran the Ryder Cheshire Foundation for the incurably ill. Photo by John Pratt.
1970
Sydney, Australia
Former Dam buster pilot Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, having arrived in Sydney to raise money for the Ryder-Cheshire foundation Hospital in India. October 16, 1970. Photo by John M. Manolato.
1972
426 University Ave, Toronto, ON M5G 1S9, Canada
Former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker and Leonard Cheshire; a wartime commander of the Royal Air Force 617 (Dambusters) Squadron; examine World War I German helmet at the Royal Canadian Military Institute; where Diefenbaker addressed Dambusters last night during their first reunion held in Canada. Photo by Boris Spremo.
1979
Clifton Gardens, Mosman, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Lady Ryder of Warsaw, Mr. John Graham, and Group Captain Leonard Cheshire. February 23, 1979.
1983
66 The Ridgeway, Enfield EN2 8JA, United Kingdom
The Queen, talking to Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, at the Arnold House Cheshire Home in Enfield, when she opened a new wing at the home for disabled people.
1988
Marham, Upper Marham, King's Lynn PE33 9NP, United Kingdom
The Queen Mother chats to wing Commander Leonard Cheshire, a former commanding officer of 617 Squadron, the 'Dambusters', during a ceremony at RAF Marham to present the squadron's new Standard.
1990
London, United Kingdom
Former RAF pilot Leonard Cheshire and former Pink Floyd musician Roger Waters (right) in London, 26th June 1990. Waters staged a charity concert 'The Wall - Live in Berlin' a month later, to benefit the Memorial Fund for Disaster Relief founded by Cheshire.
1991
23/11 Yarrangabbie Rd. Darling Pt. Sydney, Australia
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, seen in Sydney, Australia. He devoted his life to helping the disabled and set up the Cheshire Homes as a worldwide Organisation to care for the sick and disabled. Cheshire died at the Sue Ryder Home in Cavendish, England, after suffering motor neurone disease. February 26, 1991. Photo by Philip Wayne Lock.
23/11 Yarrangabbie Rd. Darling Pt. Sydney, Australia
Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, seen in Sydney, Australia.
(Although Leonard Cheshire’s remarkable and heroic war ser...)
Although Leonard Cheshire’s remarkable and heroic war service (he flew over a hundred bombing missions over Germany and occupied Europe and was awarded a string of decorations, including the Victoria Cross) had made death a daily companion, it was not until after the war, when he was called to the bedside of a dying comrade from the RAF, that he first saw it clearly, and recognized the value of accompanying the dying as a form of Christian love. The well-known "Cheshire Homes" for the disabled are a lasting memorial to his work.
https://www.amazon.com/Death-Resurrection-CTS-Onefifties-Book-ebook/dp/B075FS5SSK/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1606467191&refinements=p_27%3ALeonard+Cheshire&s=digital-text&sr=1-1&text=Leonard+Cheshire
1978
Geoffrey Leonard Cheshire was born on September 7, 1917, in Chester, Cheshire, United Kingdom. He was the son of Professor Geoffrey Chevalier Cheshire, a barrister, academic and influential writer on English law. His mother was Burella Primrose Eleanor Barstow. He had a brother Christopher Cheshire who also was a pilot. Cheshire was born in Chester but was brought up at his parents' home near Oxford.
Leonard Cheshire was educated at the Dragon School, Oxford, Stowe School, and Merton College, Oxford. He graduated in Jurisprudence in 1939.
After the outbreak of World War II, Cheshire applied for a commission in the Royal Air Force and was initially posted to 102 Squadron. He became Wing Commander of the Royal Air Force (RAF) Volunteer Reserve and followed Wing Commander Guy Gibson as commander of the legendary 617 Dambusters Squadron. Cheshire was nearing the end of his fourth tour of duty in July 1944, having completed a total of 100 missions, when awarded the Victoria Cross.
Cheshire had pioneered a new method of marking enemy targets, flying in at a very low level in the face of strong defenses. In four years of fighting against the bitterest opposition, he maintained a standard of outstanding personal achievement, his successful operations being the result of careful planning, brilliant execution, and supreme contempt for danger - for example, on one occasion he flew his P-51 Mustang in slow figures of 8 above a target obscured by low cloud, to act as a bomb-aiming mark for his squadron. Cheshire displayed the courage and determination of an exceptional leader.
On his 101st mission, Cheshire was the official British observer of the nuclear bombing of Nagasaki from The Great Artiste, an event that profoundly changed him. On his return from the mission, he left the RAF and went home to his house, Le Court in Hampshire.
While deciding what he should do with the rest of his life he heard about the case of Arthur Dykes, who had formerly served under him and was suffering from cancer. Dykes asked Cheshire to give him some land to park a caravan until he recovered, but Cheshire discovered that Dykes was terminally ill and that this fact had been concealed from him. He told Dykes the real position and invited him to stay at Le Court.
Cheshire learned nursing skills and was soon approached to take in a second patient, the 94-year-old bedridden wife of a man whose own frailness meant he could no longer care for her himself. She was followed by others, some coming to stay and others to help. Although Le Court had no financial support and was financially perilous most of the time, money somehow always seemed to arrive in the nick of time to stave off disaster. By the time Arthur Dykes died in 1948, there were 24 people staying at Le Court.
In 1948 Cheshire founded the Leonard Cheshire Foundation charity, now styled "Leonard Cheshire," which continues his work. It provides support at home, or runs homes, for disabled people throughout the world. It is described on its factsheet as "the United Kingdom's leading voluntary sector provider of support services for disabled people."
Cheshire was, in his day, both the youngest Group Captain in the service and, following his Victoria Cross, the most decorated. His notable wartime record makes his subsequent career all the more remarkable. In 1991 he was given a life peerage, sitting as a cross-bencher. Queen Elizabeth II paid a personal tribute to him in her Christmas message to the Commonwealth in December 1992. In the 2002 British Broadcasting Corporation poll to find the 100 Greatest Britons, Cheshire attained position 31. His Victoria Cross is displayed at the Imperial War Museum (London, England). Cheshire is acknowledged by former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters on the album The Wall - Live in Berlin in 1990. This concert launched and helped the charity. Cheshire opened this concert by blowing a Second World War whistle.
(Although Leonard Cheshire’s remarkable and heroic war ser...)
1978On Arthur Dykes's death, Cheshire, a lapsed Christian but one whose faith had been stirring for a while, sat by his bed and picked up the Bible. Soon afterward he converted to the Roman Catholic Church.
Becoming a life peer on 17 July 1991, Cheshire was sitting as a crossbencher in the British House of Lords.
At the end of the conflict, Leonard realized that he was one of the lucky ones. He had a desire to make the world a better place. Many ventures failed until he received a call from a local hospital. An acquaintance was dying and they asked if they could come and live with him. This started a lifetime of humanitarian work with disabled people. Leonard continued to fight injustice and work towards a society in which everyone is equally valued.
Leonard Cheshire lived through his final illness (Motor Neurone Disease) with exemplary spiritual fortitude. He was an avid tennis amateur and played it even in his seventies.
Physical Characteristics: Cheshire died from the effects of motor neurone disease on 31 July 1992, at the age of 74.
On 15 July 1941 Cheshire married an American actress, Constance Binney, but this marriage was short-lived. Then, on 5 April 1959, in Mumbai’s Catholic Cathedral, he married Sue Ryder, also the founder of a charity. From this marriage, he had two children, Jeromy and Elizabeth Cheshire.
