Leif Nils Elwing was born in 1930 in the city of Komlo Sweden. He was raised as a Protestant Christian by adoptive parents.
In his youth he joined the Swedish merchant fleet but defected from it at the age of eighteen and came to Israel where he expressed his desire to join the Navy of the Jewish State. In May 1948 he enlisted in the navy and was processed and sent to serve in the Navy ship “Eilat”.
On Monday, 9th July 1948, Egyptian planes bombed Tel-Aviv and the ship “Eilat” moored near to the Tel Aviv shore. Nils was hit and killed instantly. He was buried in a Christian cemetery in Jaffa with full military honors in the presence of a Protestant minister and representatives of Swedish consulate.
A few months later, in November of that year, his body was taken abroad the vessel “Skagland| and he was laid to rest at a cemetery in his country of birth.