April 1942
John Leslie Bradbury, Police Constable 100 of the Toronto Police Department was a married father of three who lived at 297 Briar Hill Ave. Bradbury had five years of service and was based out of No. 5 Police Station in the area of Davenport and Avenue Roads.
On June 26th 1940, John Leslie Bradbury, a former militia soldier with the 12th York Rangers and 48th Highlanders of Canada (in 1934 and 1935), enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force at the No. 1 Manning Depot in Toronto. Bradbury was selected as air crew and succeeded in pilot training. Bradbury proceeded to the United Kingdom and was assigned to Bomber Command where he rose to the rank of Pilot Officer. Bradbury was then posted to No. 20 Operational Training Unit at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland.
On the night of March 31st 1942, Bradbury was the pilot in command of a Wellington Bomber aircraft, identification number R1760, on a training mission for night-flying and bombing practice. Suddenly, while flying over the North Sea 80 kilometres away from land, the aircraft’s engines failed and the propeller hub caught fire. Bradbury set a new course for the coast, ordered his crew to dinghy stations, and attempted a landing at sea. While attempting to land, a main propeller broke off and Bradbury was unable to maintain correct height. At 4 minutes after midnight, April 1st 1942, R1760 crashed into the North Sea one mile off of Cruden Bay, Scotland and sank within five seconds – killing Bradbury and three of his crew. Due to Bradbury’s swift leadership, two of his crew were rescued from their dinghy with slight injuries.

Ref: TPS Khaki and Blue Project