LEE, Lydia Mary
| Service Number: | 109251 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 6 May 1943 |
| Last Rank: | Aircraftwoman |
| Last Unit: | RAAF Command Headquarters (Brisbane) |
| Born: | Ashington, England, United Kingdom, 2 February 1924 |
| Home Town: | Neath, Cessnock, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Domestic duties |
| Died: | Accidental (GSW chest), Clayfield, Queensland, Australia, Clayfield, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 8 August 1944, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane, Qld ANZ 7 77 17, Lutwyche Cemetery, Lutwyche, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour |
World War 2 Service
| 3 Sep 1939: | Involvement 109251 | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 May 1943: | Enlisted Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftwoman, 109251 | |
| 8 Aug 1944: | Involvement Royal Australian Air Force, Aircraftwoman, 109251, RAAF Command Headquarters (Brisbane) |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Daughter of John Robert and Eleanor Lee, of Neath, New South Wales.
Gun Went Off,
Woman Shot
Tragedy stalked at a quiet party in the residential portion of the Clayfield Post Office, on August 8, when 20-year-old Lydia Mary Lee, known as 'Lesley' Lee, a pretty brunette W.A.A.F., just then posted to Brisbane from N.S.W., was shot dead.
SEQUEL has been that Rex Lionel Knight, 24-year-old soldier of the A.I.F., is charged by the police with unlawfully killing Lee. Three women witnesses, all at the party, declared in court last week, that none of them saw Knight point a .45 Army service revolver at deceased, but said they heard an explosion, and saw Miss Lee collapse. The ill-fated girl died in the ambulance on the way to the General Hospital.
DISTRESSED
Knight was very distressed when he saw him in a room at the rear of the Clayfield Post Office about 9 p.m. on the night of the tragedy, said Detective-sergeant Norwin Bauer. 'When I was coming up on the train I met Lesley Lee, a W.A.A.F., and she was feeling lonely, so I arranged to see her in Brisbane,' Knight allegedly said to the detective. Knight went on to say, according to Bauer, that when he arrived at Mrs. Sinclair's place he unloaded the revolver and placed the cartridges on a table. Other people in the sitting room were handling the revolver and click ing it. He left the room, later returned, picked up the revolver, and he and Lesley started fooling. 'I was swinging the revolver about in my hand, and I pulled the trigger,' the alleged statement went on. 'I don't remember too well what happened then.' "TERRIBLE" The detective said that when he told Knight at the C.I.B. that Miss Lee had died in the ambulance, Knight declared: 'That's terrible.' Defendant seemed very distressed. 'I have no direct evidence, but I have suspicions as to who handled the cartridges after Knight unloaded the gun,' said Bauer.
Myra Gertrude Wray told the court that after Knight had unloaded the revolver, she clicked it about 20 times and pulled the trigger. Mr; S: Wilson, S.M.: Did you see any person put any bullets back in the revolver?— No.
The hearing was adjourned until tomorrow afternoon.
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