According to the information I could find, Sgt. Leonard Darnley was first posted to 419 Squadron in December of
1942.
He next shows up with the Byford crew on November 26/27 1943. Although listed on ORB documents as Rear Gunner he
appears to have changed positions with Sgt. Fraser as three of the Combat Reports related to the Byford crew detail actions of the
rear gunner and have Sgt. Fraser listed as the gunner. As Flight Sergeant Darnley he flew on all the Byford crew operations.
F/Sgt. Darnley being RAF was not finished with his gunner duties after this crew had competed their Tour. He continued on
as an Air Gunner until the war ended in 1945.
The photos were contributed to the site by John Darnley, they show not only the crew but some of the living
conditions on the base. I believe that those crew photos with the metal huts as back ground were taken by Sgt. Fraser
as he is not in any of the photos.
The crew photo under the Lancaster was taken by government photographers and
most likely part of the coverage of either Sgt. Fraser's DFM or the DFC given to Daly or Byford. Or it could have been
because of the three men of one crew's medals.
The aircraft is the original Lancaster VR-D, KB716. KB716 was damaged in June of 1944 after the Byford crew had left
the Squadron. She was replaced by KB728 as VR-D who became known as "Dorothy" .