Air Commodore Leonard Birchall, CM, OBE, DFC, OO, CD, ( July 6 1915 - September 10, 2004 ), "The Saviour of Ceylon"

Leonard Joseph Birchall was born on July 6 1915 at St. Catharines, Ontario. He served in the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, then, in 1937 he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force to train as a pilot. After the start of World War II, he flew convoy and anti-submarine patrols from Nova Scotia. In early 1942, he joined 413 Squadron, then based in the Shetland Islands and flew patrols over the North Sea. After the Japanese successes in South-East Asia, the squadron was sent to Ceylon to provide a reconnaissance force.

On April 4 1942, only two days after arrival, Birchall was a squadron leader aboard an RAF Catalina flying boat that was patrolling the ocean to the south of Ceylon. Eight hours into the mission the plane was about to return to base when its lookouts spotted ships on the horizon. Investigation revealed a large Japanese fleet, including five aircraft carriers, headed for Ceylon which at that time was the base for the Royal Navy's Eastern Fleet. Birchall's crew managed to send out a radio message, but the Catalina was soon shot down. Three crewmen were killed and the others, including Birchall, spent the rest of the war as prisoners.

Writing after the war, Winston Churchill called Birchall the "Saviour of Ceylon" and said that if the British fleet had been defeated at Ceylon then North Africa would have been lost to the Germans.

During his time in the Japanese prisoner of war camps Birchall repeatedly stood up to the Japanese and demanded fair treatment of the prisoners under the Geneva Convention. In his first camp he struck a Japanese soldier who was forcing a wounded Australian to work. This earned Birchall a severe beating and solitary confinement but won him the respect of the other POWs. While in the camps Birchall kept a set of diaries that detailed deaths and mistreatment by the guards. In 1944 Birchall encoutered a situation where sick men were being forced to work on the docks. He ordered all of the men to stop working until the sick were excused. Birchall was beaten and sent to a special discipline camp where he was again beaten. He was liberated on August 27 1945 by American troops.

Birchall was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1946 after his return to Canada. The citation in part read: "he continually displayed the utmost concern for the welfare of fellow prisoners with complete disregard for his own safety. His consistent gallantry and glowing devotion to his men were in keeping with the finest traditions of the service". He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his part in detecting the attack on Ceylon.

In 1950, US President Harry Truman appointed Birchall an officer of the Legion of Merit, saying: "His exploits became legendary throughout Japan and brought renewed faith and strength to many hundreds of ill and disheartened prisoners."

Birchall was a member of the prosecuting team at the Japanese war crime trials. His diaries were used in evidence. He served on the Canadian attache staff in Washington DC then was a member of the Canadian Nato delegation in Paris. He commanded a fighter base and later was commandant of the Royal Military College of Canada. He retired from the RCAF in 1967 rather then be associated with the unification of the Armed Forces. He later served as honorary colonel of 413 Squadron in the Air Reserve.

He was an official observer during Sri Lanka's general election of 1994. Birchall was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1999.

He was the only member of the Canadian military to have earned five clasps for his Canadian Forces Decoration (CD), representing 62 years of service with the air force. The only other person with five clasps was Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

Air Commodore Birchall died at Kingston, Ontario at the age of 89.