Spitfire AA810 Project organisers welcome family insights on New Forest’s Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU) hero Horace Le Dieu

THE nephew of a New Forest Second World War hero is backing a campaign to create a permanent memorial to him and his comrades.

Rod LeDieu, who lives near Blackpool, is related to Flight Sergeant Horace Le Dieu, who lived in Barton and went missing after his plane went down during the war.

Horace was a member of the Photographic Reconnaissance Unit (PRU), aerial photographers and navigators who risked their lives to gather intelligence about the Nazis.

As reported in the A&T earlier this year, the Spitfire AA810 Project has launched a campaign to create a permanent national memorial to the PRU, including Mr Le Dieu. The campaign has received the backing of New Forest West MP Sir Desmond Swayne.

Campaign organiser Tony Hoskins said he has been liaising with the Cabinet Office and Westminster City Council about creating a permanent memorial to the PRU while he prepares to submit a pre-planning application.

Mr Hoskins told the A&T: “Project organisers are meeting with other relevant institutions and associations whose input will be required through the planning process.

“The project revolves around the stories of those individuals who served and a huge effort is ongoing to engage with the families of those who served to secure their relatives’ stories for future generations.”

Retired IT consultant Rod LeDieu is among those sharing information with memorial campaign organisers about a PRU member in his family.

He told the A&T: “Horace was my uncle – who I unfortunately never met – on my father Ron’s side.

“I haven’t been to the New Forest in 15 or 20 years but I remember coming often as a child to visit my grandfather George, who lived in Barton.

“My father wrote a memoir which talked a lot about Horace, who I was told was part of a Beaufighter squadron based at Malta, although I know he actually flew in a Baltimore.”

Mr LeDieu continued: “As far as I know Horace and his crew had been on a recon mission over North Africa and, as they were returning to base, they radioed command to say they’d been hit.

“They requested fire and ambulance crews to be waiting at their landing site. They were only a few minutes from their base, but they were never seen again.

“I only have my father’s memories of Horace – no artefacts or photos of him, no flight logs or memorabilia.”

Tony Hoskins welcomed Mr LeDieu’s input about his late uncle Horace, adding that it helps to support the campaign.

Mr LeDieu was also able to share a photo of his father Ron alongside his family on his wedding day. Ron LeDieu was born in 1913, six years before Horace, and also served in the RAF, flying Blenheim aircraft and targeting enemy ships in the Mediterranean.

The PRU sent photos of enemy positions back to the Cabinet War Rooms – now the Churchill War Rooms – to share same-day intelligence on enemy activity, which was used by all Allied forces.

Formed in September 1939, the PRU conducted highly dangerous, clandestine photographic reconnaissance over numerous enemy sights, capturing more than 26 million images of operations and installations.

The photos were instrumental in planning major operations like the D-Day landings and the Dambusters raid. The PRU was also credited with monitoring major ship movements, including the Bismarck and Tirpitz, and finding a V1 and V2 rocket launching site at Peenemünde.

Due to the secretive nature of its work, the PRU flew solo operations, unarmed and unarmoured, and is believed to have had one of the lowest survival rates of the war – a serviceman’s life expectancy was believed to be less than three months.

Among those serving in the PRU was Horace Le Dieu, son of George and Louisa Le Dieu. He trained as a pilot and joined 69 Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron, flying in a Baltimore II aircraft on reconnaissance operations in the Mediterranean.

On 10th January 1943 Mr Le Dieu, aged 23, and his crew took off from Malta for a reconnaissance mission off the Strait of Messina in Italy in the Baltimore, but they did not return.

No trace of the aircraft or any crew members has ever been found.