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Les Horan had been searching for 50 years to find out how his father had died during the Second World War...and little did he know that he would find the answer when he got called out to fix Joe's washing machine.
 Joe and Les holding the plaque that caught Les' attention |
It all began with a broken washing machine.
As an electrician, Les Horan wasn't surprised to be called to the home of Joe Grainger to fix the washing machine. But when he arrived he noticed an RAF plaque in Joe's entrance hall.
On enquiring he was told that Joe had been in the Air Force from 1939 to 1946. Les said that his father, a New Zealander, had also been in the Air Force in Burma. Joe was writing the section of his autobiography about his time in Akyab - a tiny island off the coast of Burma. Les knew that his father had died there - he'd been shot down and was buried on the island when Les was only 8 months old.
 Les's father's grave on Akyab which he hopes to visit one day |
By an amazing coincidence Joe was able to give Les detailed information about how exactly his father had been killed. Akyab was an important strategic point for the allied forces during the Second World War. On 9 July 1945 the Japanese shot down a Sea Otter plane which were used for air sea rescue. It had been looking for a suitable landing area at the island when it was attacked.
Les' father, John Horan, was the air gunner on the Sea Otter. Two out of the three crew members managed to survive the crash land in the sea. But Les' father was in the rear cabin which was engulfed in flames. Some time later, Joe discovered the wreckage of the Sea Otter and recovered the body of Les' father. This was an incredibly distressing thing to have to do because he had suffered terrible injuries.
On searching his body, Joe found documents saying that the man was a Warrant Officer called John Horan of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. They took his body back to Akyab and buried it in the civic cemetery.
 Les holds a photo of his father together with his father's medals |
Les recalls how he felt when he found out this information: "Lucky I was on my knees fixing the washing machine, otherwise I would have fallen there". Les didn't know very much about his father prior to this. Unfortunately, the information about his father had died was never passed on to the New Zealand Air Force and so on enquiring Les couldn't find out any news.
Since this amazing coinciddence eight years ago, Joe and Les have become firm friends. Les calls Joe 'The Corporal' and calls his wife 'Lady Patricia'. Joe has almost become a substitute father to Les. Joe told me that Les's kindness shows itself all the time.
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