Leonard Godbold

An Ordinary Seaman with H.M.S. Jaguar, Leonard died on 26th of March 1942 aged 18. 

Leonard was born at Lowestoft on 5 March 1924, a son of George Frederick and Miriam Jane Godbold. In 1939 his family lived at 103 Oxford Road.

On 26 March 1942 Leonard’s ship, the destroyer H.M.S. Jaguar, was, with a Greek ship, escorting the tanker R.F.A. Slavol. The Slavol was torpedoed by German submarine U-652. The Jaguar came alongside to rescue the Slavol’s crew but was hit by two torpedoes from U-652 and quickly sank, off Sidi Barrani, Egypt. Leonard was one of 193 men lost with the Jaguar.  

Leonard's uncle Joseph served with the Royal Naval Patrol Service and was killed in 1942. His aunt Jessie was killed in an air raid in 1942.