Leonard Trent

Group Captain Leonard Henry Trent, (14 April 1915 – 19 May 1986) was a New Zealand aviator, senior Royal Air Force officer, and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.

Early life
Leonard Henry Trent was born in Nelson, New Zealand, on 14 April 1915, the son of Leonard Trent, a dentist, and his wife Irene Everett. In April 1919 the family moved to Takaka, in the Golden Bay region. Three years later, his father paid for Trent to take a short flight in a Gipsy Moth piloted by Malcolm C. McGregor, a fighter ace of the First World War, and subsequently Trent became captivated by flying. He was educated at Nelson College, boarding at the school from 1928. Not particularly academically inclined he became increasingly interested in golf and in his final year at school, in 1934, won the Nelson Golf Club Senior Championship.

Trent had intended to go to university to study dentistry, but the family could not afford to pay for his studies and he instead took up a position as a clerk in the administrative office of an abattoir in Hastings. He gave up the work after a year and returned to Nelson to work with his father. After a time he moved to Wellington, taking up office work again. He was soon earning enough money that he could afford to go to night school and study aero engineering and maintenance.

Military career
In early 1937, in response to an advertisement in a newspaper, Trent applied for a short term commission in the Royal Air Force (RAF). He passed a selection interview and subsequent medical test and in August was accepted for flight training. Induction training was held at Taieri, near Dunedin, where he flew Gipsy Moths and Miles Magisters. Trent then undertook flight training at the Royal New Zealand Air Force's Wigram Air Base in Christchurch, flying Avro 626 and Vickers Vildebeest aircraft. He gained his wings on 12 May 1938 and a month later he sailed for Britain to join the Royal Air Force (RAF). He was granted a short-service commission of five years in the rank of pilot officer on 23 August 1938.

Posted to No. 15 Squadron RAF, which operated Fairey Battles out of Abingdon in Berkshire, Trent spent the next few months learning bombing and reconnaissance flying techniques. In February 1939, he spent three months at Hamble, near Southampton, attending a course of navigation. Here he met Ursula Woolhouse, while playing golf at the local club in his downtime.

Second World War
In early September 1939, following the outbreak of the Second World War, No. 15 Squadron flew to France as part of the RAF Advanced Air Striking Force. Stationed at Vraux, the squadron was to fly high-level photo-reconnaissance missions over enemy territory, collecting information on German airfields, factories and major infrastructure. Trent flew his first mission into Germany on 24 September 1939, No. 15 Squadron's first operational sortie of the war. This period of the war was known as the Phoney War, and much the squadron's flying revolved around training and practice bombing missions. The squadron returned to England in early December to convert to the Bristol Blenheim IV, operating from Wyton.

Initial conversion work was on the Bristol Blenheim I and during this time Trent had to forceland the aircraft he was flying, having become lost in overcast conditions while on a flight to Scotland. In March 1940, he was promoted to flying officer The squadron returned to operations when the Germans invaded France and the Low Countries on 10 May 1940. That day he flew one of three aircraft that bombed German forces at an aerodrome near Rotterdam. Further missions followed, including a bombing raid on bridges over the Albert Canal that saw six of the twelve participating aircraft destroyed. On another mission, his aircraft suffered damage from flak and an attacking Messerschmitt Me 109 fighter and he put down at an airfield on the way back to his base for repairs. However, advancing Germans threatened the airfield and as night fell, he and his crew had to fly to England as they could not navigate back to their base in France. On 23 May, casualties in the squadron saw Trent promoted to acting flight lieutenant and taking command of one of the flights of the squadron. He led several bombing sorties while Operation Dynamo was in effect and by mid-June had flown 14 sorties. Exhausted, he was sent on leave.

On his return to duty, Trent was posted to No. 17 Operational Training Unit, stationed at Upwood, as an instructor. He taught trainees formation flying and made navigational flights in Avro Ansons. He also had the opportunity to fly other aircraft; these included the Wellington bomber. In the meantime, his relationship with Ursula Woolhouse continued to grow and he married her on 7 August 1940 at Holborn, London. The previous month he had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his outstanding performance during the Battle of France.

In March 1941, his flight lieutenant rank was made substantive and six months later Trent received a new posting at the Operation Training Squadron at Warboys. He helped assess the Douglas Boston bomber for service in the RAF; on his first flight in the aircraft, it suffered an engine fire forcing an immediate return to his base. Trent returned to operational duty in March 1942 and, promoted to temporary squadron leader on 1 June, was assigned to Headquarters, No. 2 Group RAF. He found the duty dull and began to seek a position at No. 88 Squadron where a friend of his was a squadron leader.

Service with No. 487 Squadron
In August 1942, the RAF established a new bomber squadron, designated No. 487 (NZ) Squadron, based at Feltwell in Norfolk. An Article XV squadron, much of its flying personnel were New Zealanders, although other nationalities also served with the squadron. Trent, still hoping for a posting to No. 88 Squadron, was instead to sent to No. 487 Squadron as one of its flight commanders. The squadron was to operate Lockheed Venturas; these were unpopular aircraft, being relatively slow and demanding to fly, with an inadequate defensive armament. Although the senior officers in the squadron were experienced flying personnel, many crews were novices and needed extensive practice in formation flying before reaching an acceptable standard for operational duties. The squadron flew its first mission in December, a raid at Eindhoven on the Phillips factory. Over the next several months, the squadron flew raids to targets in France and the Low Countries.

On 3 May 1943 the squadron flew a bombing mission, codenamed Operation Ramrod 16, on the power station in Amsterdam. The mission was intended to be as a diversion to another raid being carried out almost simultaneously on a power station at Ijmuiden. The code "Ramrod" meant a bomber raid escorted by fighters aimed at destruction of a specific target in daylight. The twelve participating Venturas, led by Trent, were to cross the Dutch coast at sea level, escorted by six squadrons of Spitfires. Two more squadrons of Spitfires were to provide top cover for the Venturas over the target, with all of the aircraft keeping to sea level as they approached the Dutch coast so as to avoid showing up on German radar, before climbing to reach bombing height. However, the Spitfires flying top cover mistimed their departure from England, arriving early and failing to keep low enough when reaching the Dutch coast, thus alerting the German defences. One Ventura had returned to England with a malfunction and as the eleven remaining aircraft of No. 487 Squadron approached Amsterdam, they and their escorts were set upon by Me 109s and Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, 70 aircraft in all. The top cover, arriving well before the Venturas, had already been recalled having run low on fuel. The Fw 190s dealt with the escorting Spitfires while the Me 109s targeted the bombers. Under constant attack by the German fighters, No. 487 Squadron continued on to its target, with only five aircraft making it to Amsterdam to commence their bombing run. Only Trent successfully completed his run, and in doing so shot down one Me 109 with the forward machine guns of his Ventura. Immediately afterwards, his own aircraft was hit, went into a spin and broke up.

Trent and his navigator were thrown clear at 7,000 feet and became prisoners of war. The remaining crew members, trapped in the aircraft, were unable to exit and were killed when it crashed.

Stalag Luft III
After being made a prisoner of war (POW), Trent was assigned to Stalag Luft III in Sagan, Germany (now Żagań, Poland). He soon became involved in the various escape attempts mounted by the POWs, helping conceal the sand extracted from tunnels that were under construction.

He was a participant in the "Great Escape" of 24 March 1944. On exiting the tunnel, he had planned with another POW, Mike Shand, to make their way to Switzerland via traveling through Czechoslovakia and Austria. He was the 79th POW to pass through the escape tunnel, just behind Shand. However, as he was exiting the tunnel, a German guard thwarted his escape and Trent was recaptured almost immediately and placed in solitary confinement. The majority of the successful escapees were eventually recaptured, the Germans executing 50 of them. By January 1945, the Soviet forces were advancing into Germany and the POWs at Stalag Luft III were force marched away to the west to a camp near Bremen. They were moved again in April but were liberated by British forces on 2 May 1945.

Peacetime
Trent returned to England on 7 May and went on leave for two months before reporting for duty. Preferring active flying to instructional duties, he requested a post at Transport Command. He qualified as a pilot of Douglas Dakotas and then spent a few months at Syerston, a training school for paratroopers.

On his return to duty, Trent had provided a written debrief on the Ramrod 16 raid. After considering Trent's statements on the Ramrod 16 raid and other evidence collected by the Air Ministry, the commander of No. 2 Group, Basil Embry, recommended him for the Victoria Cross (VC). Instituted in 1856, the VC was the highest gallantry award that could be bestowed on military personnel of the British Commonwealth. Having been informally advised that he was to be a recipient of the VC earlier that day, Trent's award was publicly announced on 1 March 1946. The citation for Trent's VC was published in the London Gazette and read:

Trent received the VC from King George VI in an investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 26 March 1946.

Postwar career
In late 1945, Trent transferred back to the service of the RNZAF and late the following year he and his family travelled by sea to Auckland for a period of extended leave. As a VC recipient, he attended a number of civic functions around the country and had his portrait painted by Archibald Nicoll. Returning to duty, his initial work for the RNZAF was as part of a committee to select fliers for service with the RAF, which was seeking to augment its ranks with experienced personnel. The RAF was also increasing its rates of remuneration and when it offered Trent a permanent commission, he accepted. He returned to England with his family, which now included a son, to England in late 1947 with the substantive rank of flight lieutenant.

Trent was posted to Bircham Newton, a Transport Command station, as an instructor to help prepare students for flying Dakotas. In September 1948, having been promoted to the substantive rank of squadron leader earlier in the year, he was sent to Dishforth which trained pilots in flying the Avro York transport. He flew several operations for the Berlin airlift but soon began to suffer from anchylosing spondylitis which required specialist treatment for a few months before he could return to duty.

Now posted to Flying Training Command, in August 1950 Trent undertook refresher and leadership courses before going on to Central Flying School early the following year. Trent returned to Feltwell, where he had been based while at No. 487 Squadron, in March 1951. He was chief instructor at the No. 3 Flying School, teaching students to fly the Harvard trainer. In October 1952, he was appointed commander of No. 4 Squadron, which operated de Havilland Vampires as well as Harvards.

He trained in jets—having the dubious distinction of having to eject from both a de Havilland Vampire and a Gloster Meteor—and later commanded No. 214 Squadron RAF with the then new Vickers Valiant. Trent was promoted to wing commander on 1 July 1953, and saw further action during the Suez Crisis in 1956. He was promoted to the rank of group captain on 1 July 1959 and was appointed Station Commander at RAF Wittering. He served as air attaché in Washington, D.C. from 1962, and on 12 June 1962, Trent was appointed an air aide-de-camp to the Queen, his final postings before retiring from the RAF on 23 June 1965.

Later life
Following his retirement in 1965, Trent moved his family to Western Australia and took a job with MacRobertson Miller Airlines. With his wife, he later returned to New Zealand to live at Matheson Bay, north of Auckland. He died on 19 May 1986 at North Shore Hospital, survived by his wife and two children. He was cremated and his ashes were taken to Western Australia, where they were interred at Fremantle Cemetery alongside those of his daughter, Judith, who had predeceased him.

Trent's medals, including the VC, are held by the Air Force Museum of New Zealand at Wigram in Christchurch. There is a memorial to Trent at the airport in Nelson, his home town, and there is also a plaque honouring him in Queen's Garden in Dunedin.

Legacy
A street in the South Otago township of Momona, close to Dunedin International Airport, is named Trent Street in his honour. Other nearby streets are also named to RNZAF Victoria Cross recipients (Lloyd Trigg and James Allen Ward).