Leonard A. Derence was born on 11 October 1924.  He was the son of Joseph and Helen Derence of 3153 Shadeland Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.  He had two sisters, Fanny and Mary, and one brother Anthony. Leonard became the left waist gunner of a B-24 J Liberator bomber, Serial Number 42-50749, that was nicknamed the Hot Rock.  It was part of the the 853rd Bomb Squadron of the 491st Bomb Group. On 24 March 1945, the crew of the Hot Rock was participating in Operation Varsity, a joint American-British operation to cross the River Rhine.  American and British paratroopers were dropped by parachute and gliders on the east side of the River Rhine to secure key positions, while infantry forces made an amphibious assault across the river to link up with them.  The mission of the crew of the Hot Rock was to drop supplies to British paratroopers shortly after they had landed, a mission that required the Hot Rock to fly at low altitude.  German infantry shot at the bomber as it passed over head, taking out two of its engines.  The bomber exploded as it hit the ground near Wesel, Germany, killing all nine men aboard.

The Hot Rock’s pilot, James W. Brown, its copilot, William R.Wais, its flight engineer, Harry Zadoorian, its radio operator, Albert A. Greenberg, its left-waist gunner, Ronald M. Craig, and its tail gunner, Frank R. Costello, are all also buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery.

Information from

• MACR 13615
• https://armyhistory.org/operation-varsity-the-last-airborne-deployment-o...
• http://www.491st.org/crews/pages/browncrew.htm
• American Air Museum (Imperial War Museum.)
• Census of 1940