Lieutenant Commander Leon Verdi Goldsworthy was born in Broken Hill, NSW, in 1909. Mobilised as a Sub-Lieutenant on Probation in 1941, he proceeded to England, there to begin a long career of mine disposal. He was awarded the George Medal in April 1944 and the George Cross in September 1944. In January 1945 he received the DSC for stripping the first German 'K' mine.