Leonard Edmund Henry Williams, (6 December 1919 – 9 June 2007) was the former chief of the Nationwide building society, also known for his career as a Spitfire pilot in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. Early life and RAF career Williams was born in Acton, London to a labourer and a cook. He won a scholarship to Acton County Grammar, leaving at 16 to train as an accountant at Acton Borough Council. On the outbreak of the Second World War, he joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) and was trained as a mechanic. After a time servicing Westland Wapiti biplanes in India, he was selected for pilot training. Posted to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Leading Aircraftman Williams became involved in the wider British Commonwealth Air Training Plan and joined the Initial Training Wing at Hillside, a suburb of Bulawayo. Basic flying training took place at Induna and advanced flying training at Thornhill. On 14 August 1943, Williams was commissioned into the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve as a pilot officer and sent to the Middle East, where he gained experience of single-seat fighter aircraft. On 25 February 1944, he was posted to No. 225 Squadron RAF, at the time based at Lago airfield, 30 miles north of Naples, and equipped with Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V fighters. Williams flew his first operational sortie spotting for Allied artillery firing on a bridge at Ausonia, Lazio on 8 April 1944. Promoted to the rank of flying officer, Williams flew with No. 225 Squadron all through 1944 from a number of airstrips in Italy, Corsica and southern France. On 23 October that year he took off from Peretola with Flying Officer Stanley Waldman (brother of TV producer Ronnie Waldman) as wingman, to carry out a tactical reconnaissance to the Bologna-Ferrara-Cento-San Giovanni in Persiceto area. What happened on that mission was later narrated by Williams himself: Due to injuries sustained during his parachute jump, Williams was later admitted to hospital for some time. In January 1945, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The citation reads: Postwar career After the war, Williams qualified as an accountant and joined the Gas Council as chief internal auditor, then became finance officer of what was then the Cooperative Permanent Society in 1954. He stayed with the company for the remainder of his career, rising through the ranks to become chief executive in 1967 and chairman