Leonard Alexander Einsaar (28 May 1913 – 24 June 1994) was an Australian RAAF officer and Olympic rower. He competed in the men's eight at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.[1]
Einsaar was a member of the New South Wales Police Rowing Club, whose 1936 men's eight dominated the Sydney racing season, the New South Wales state titles and won the Henley-on-Yarra event.[2] They were selected in-toto to represent Australia at the 1936 Summer Olympics which were held in Berlin. The men's eight did not perform to its best ability and finished their heat in fourth place out of five crews. The next day in the repechage they finished in second place and so were eliminated.[3]
War service
Standing at 6' 4", Einsaar was a policeman at Broken Hill, New South Wales and in September 1940 he enlisted and joined the Royal Australian Air Force and trained to be a pilot. Sgt Einsaar became a skilful and determined pilot and in December 1942, whilst on a sortie the plane he was flying was badly damaged when attacked by enemy planes, and when he was 50 miles away from Benghazi he skillfully ditched the plane in to the sea which burst in to flames, he managed to get clear and stayed in the water for three and half hours before being picked up by the Navy, sadly four of the seven crew died.[4]
On April 12, 1943, his Marauder aircraft he was flying was shot down six miles away from Malta and he was picked up by Italian fishermen and made prisoner of war, he was held at Camp Macerata, in late September he managed to escape and spent many months trying to find some allied territory, which he did in May or June 1944, and he returned to Australia in September 1944.[4]
He was later commissioned as Pilot Officer and then promoted to Flying Officer before being discharged from the RAAF in November 1945, he would then get married and become the manager of the Agricultural Hotel in Singleton.[4]
References
^. Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
^. Archived from the original on 29 September 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
^. rowinghistory-aus.info. Archived from the original on 2 September 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
^ abc"einsaar-leonard". aircrewremembered.com. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
March 03, 2023
einsaar, leonard, alexander, einsaar, 1913, june, 1994, australian, raaf, officer, olympic, rower, competed, eight, 1936, summer, olympics, berlin, personal, informationfull, nameleonard, alexander, einsaarborn, 1913, 1913killingworth, south, walesdied24, june. Leonard Alexander Einsaar 28 May 1913 24 June 1994 was an Australian RAAF officer and Olympic rower He competed in the men s eight at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin 1 Len EinsaarPersonal informationFull nameLeonard Alexander EinsaarBorn 1913 05 28 28 May 1913Killingworth New South WalesDied24 June 1994 1994 06 24 aged 81 Singleton New South WalesSportSportRowingRowing career EditEinsaar was a member of the New South Wales Police Rowing Club whose 1936 men s eight dominated the Sydney racing season the New South Wales state titles and won the Henley on Yarra event 2 They were selected in toto to represent Australia at the 1936 Summer Olympics which were held in Berlin The men s eight did not perform to its best ability and finished their heat in fourth place out of five crews The next day in the repechage they finished in second place and so were eliminated 3 War service EditStanding at 6 4 Einsaar was a policeman at Broken Hill New South Wales and in September 1940 he enlisted and joined the Royal Australian Air Force and trained to be a pilot Sgt Einsaar became a skilful and determined pilot and in December 1942 whilst on a sortie the plane he was flying was badly damaged when attacked by enemy planes and when he was 50 miles away from Benghazi he skillfully ditched the plane in to the sea which burst in to flames he managed to get clear and stayed in the water for three and half hours before being picked up by the Navy sadly four of the seven crew died 4 On April 12 1943 his Marauder aircraft he was flying was shot down six miles away from Malta and he was picked up by Italian fishermen and made prisoner of war he was held at Camp Macerata in late September he managed to escape and spent many months trying to find some allied territory which he did in May or June 1944 and he returned to Australia in September 1944 4 He was later commissioned as Pilot Officer and then promoted to Flying Officer before being discharged from the RAAF in November 1945 he would then get married and become the manager of the Agricultural Hotel in Singleton 4 References Edit Len Einsaar Olympics at Sports Reference com Archived from the original on 17 April 2020 Retrieved 7 May 2018 Sydney Rows History Archived from the original on 29 September 2018 Retrieved 9 October 2018 1936 Berlin Olympics rowinghistory aus info Archived from the original on 2 September 2018 Retrieved 7 May 2018 a b c einsaar leonard aircrewremembered com Retrieved 7 May 2018 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Len Einsaar amp oldid 1141712901, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
