Ajax Veterans Street Dedication: Leah Crescent

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Street Name: Leah Crescent
Name of Veteran: Jack Alwyn Leah May 8, 1916-1996
Rank: Able Seaman, Chief Gunner
Ship Served: HMS Ajax
Date of Service on Ship: 1939
Year of Visit/Dedication: April 2006
Veteran or Family Visit: Kate Linsay, daughter
Veteran of the Battle of the River Plate: Yes
Died at Battle: No

Jack joined the Royal Navy on December 5, 1933 and was assigned to HMS Sussex. He had a very interesting tour with this ship and joined the Ajax in 1935.

Jack Alwyn Leah began his tour of duty on the Ajax in the vicinity of Bermuda. The ship then sailed to Jamaica to assist with some rioting that was occurring at the time. From Jamaica HMS Ajax crossed the Equator visiting various ports of call on the way to the Falkland Islands. In early 1939 the Ajax was dispatched to assist rescue efforts in Conception, Buenos Aires after a major earthquake hit the city. There were thousands of casualties but the assistance provided by the crew of HMS Ajax is well documented in history.

It was not long after the quake that war with Germany was declared and in December 1939 the Ajax once again found herself off the coast of Montevideo, this time to face the German pocket battleship, the Graf Spee. The Battle of the River Plate is noted as being the first Allied victory of the Second World War.

Jack left the Royal Navy in 1946 after serving almost 13 years. He passed away peacefully in his garden.

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