Leonard Frank Jennings OBE (5 November 1903 – 28 March 1977) was an English first-class cricketer and Royal Air Force officer. He served in the Royal Air Force as both a non-commissioned officer and a commissioned officer for approximately twenty-five years, as well as playing first-class cricket for the Royal Air Force cricket team.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Leonard Frank Jennings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 5 November 1903 Marlborough, Wiltshire, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 28 March 1977(1977-03-28) (aged 73) Battle, Sussex, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batting | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bowling | Unknown | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | David Jennings (brother) George Jennings (brother) Tom Jennings (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Career statistics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Cricinfo, 20 March 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jennings was the son of David Jennings, who played for Devon in the Minor Counties Championship. David Jennings was later the professional coach and head groundsman at Marlborough College.[1] He played first-class cricket for the Royal Air Force cricket team in 1929, playing against the Royal Navy at Chatham.[2] He made a second first-class appearance against the British Army cricket team in 1931 at The Oval.[2] Across his two first-class matches, Jennings scored 55 runs with a high score of 45 not out.[3]
Having served in the Royal Air Force as a non-commissioned officer since at least 1929, Jennings was commissioned as a flying officer on probation in April 1940, to last for the duration of the Second World War.[4] He was confirmed in the rank in May 1941,[5] and was promoted to the temporary rank of flight lieutenant in January 1943,[6] with confirmation in the rank in September 1947.[7] Jennings was mentioned in dispatches in June 1945.[8] By 1952, he was an acting wing commander,[9] with him being made an OBE in the 1952 Birthday Honours.[9] He was promoted to the rank of squadron leader in May 1954, as well as retiring.[10] While on the Reserve of Officers list, he was promoted to the full rank of wing commander in January 1957.[11]
He died in March 1977 at Battle, Sussex. His brothers, David, George and Tom, all played first-class cricket.