Born in Durban, South Africa on 8 December 1894. He was educated at Dale College and Selborne College in South Africa and then went to Battersea Polytechnic training to be a civil engineer. With the outbreak of World War I he joined the Royal Navy where he served as a dispatch rider in the Armoured Car Division before transferring to the Royal Naval Air Service in 1915 After successfully completing his observer training, Slatter was posted in February 1916 to the Seaplane Squadron in Dunkerque He went on to complete Pilot training.
L H Slatter was one of the original four pilots who formed the Seaplane Defence Flight at St Pol on 3 July 1917 eventually to become 213 Squadron RAF. In the following twelve months he destroyed or forced down out of control six enemy aircraft including a Gotha bomber returning from a raid over England which he engaged at night in a Sopwith Pup, and which was forced to land. During this period he was awarded the DSC and bar.
In August 1918 while serving with 4 Air Supply Depot as an Instructor he shot down a Halberstadt two-seater his seventh victory-for which he was awarded the DFC. he was awarded the CBE in 1919
He remained in the RAF and during the Second World War commanded 15 Group Coastal Command before becoming Commander-in-Chief Coastal Command in 1945 with the rank of Air Marshal,
Air Marshal Sir Leonard Slatter CBE
Photographs donated and published here by kind permission of Keith Chiazzari
Sadly the sudden closure of my previous photo hosting site I have lost all the correspondence relating to Keith coming into possession of Air Marshal Slatters photgraph albumn, I believe he was his nephew,. but my thanks to Keith Chiazzari for sending these photos to me showing the earliest record of 213 Squadron
Dunkerque 1918 with Sopwith Baby
Egypt 1942
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