Leslie Miller aka "Dustyone"

I am sad to report the passing of Leslie Miller on Wednesday 24th of February aged 88. He posted here quite often as “dustyone” and had led an interesting life with a huge passion for aviation.
His early aviation recollections were from the mid to late 30’s when he witnessed a large RAF transport biplane make a precautionary landing near Hoddesden. During the war he worked for Herts & Essex aviation at the long gone
Broxbourne airfield where his love for Percival types started. Having worked on scores of Proctors, and a number of Q6’s he never got to fly in a wooden Percival until around 2007 when Dave Hulme got him aloft in his Vega Gull.

He related a story how one night of heavy bombing he watched a Heinkel 111 turn over the Lea valley then follow the river and rail line south towards London. The bomber flew past a full moon and its whole glazed cockpit was lit up, he never forgot that site. Later in the war he attended a German crash site, the unfortunate crew were killed. A Luftwaffe wrist watch was liberated which he had kept ever since and has bequeathed to me its still in perfect working order.

As a 16 year old Les actually witnessed our very Proctor come to grief at Broxbourne on delivery by ATA pilot Monique Agazarian for a 50 hour check. When I told him in 2005 I had acquired a Proctor after over 50 years of storage he simply could
not believe it when he researched the history and realized it was the very one he saw crash.

Les’s very words, The sound of an approaching aircraft gave me the excuse to dodge away from my workbench & nip outside to watch as many planes as I could, taking off, or landing.

During one such event at 4 pm on a dull afternoon on November 21 st 1944 I arrived in time to see a Proctor making a very bad landing approach on the shortest of our grass landing strips, it seemed certain that a crash was imminent if the landing was carried out, no attempt was made by the pilot to abort, resulting in the aircraft being unable to stop and hitting a pile of sandbags, which tipped it vertically onto it’s nose! At that point it could have turned over, but luckily for the pilot, it fell backwards onto it’s tail-wheel, — seconds later the door opened, the pilot emerged unharmed to be greeted by our ground staff who had rushed to help her. Research into this incident 63 years later found the pilot to have been Monique Agazarian.

The aircraft was moved over to the hangars where it spent the next 3 months. Having undergone major repairs in our workshop the Proctor left Broxbourne on March 22 nd 1945 for the central flying school at Tangmere never to be seen by me again or so i thought. I could never remember the details about this aircraft, other than seeing the crash. I never knew whether it survived the war, or heard anymore about it, however I now know that in the meantime, it had survived. – Only just!!

Two years ago he flew in Proctor Mk V KIU achieving a lifetimes ambition. Sadly he will never get to fly in Proctor 3 LZ791 but has asked that a small brass plate be fitted within the cabin commemorating his connection and love for the type.

I was able to fly Les to a number of events during his last few years, he was in his element whilst aloft. All his aches and pains seemed far away as his cancer spread, he just thrilled at the wonder of flight. Our final trip was to Old Warden last October his favorite place. He sat in his wheelchair and marveled at the variety and display especially pleased to see the mighty Vulcan on one of its final appearances.

RIP Les, blue skies, I will miss you as will all your friends, god speed.