Leslie Jeffery Harvey

Leslie Jeffery Harvey

Ancestry.com
Personal Information
Date of Birth	Not known "Not known" contains an extrinsic dash or other characters that are invalid for a date interpretation.
Place of Birth	Perth, Western Australia
Death	23 Jun 1985
Place of Death	Armadale, Western Australia
Age at Enlistment	21 years, 7 months
Description	5' 9" (1.75m) tall ; 165 lbs 74.843 kg ; fresh complexion ; brown eyes ; brown hair
Occupation	Farmer
Religion	Church of England
Address	Kelmscott. Western Australia
Next of Kin	Father , Mr Arthur George Harvey
Military Information
Reg Number	3384
Date of Enlistment	12 Oct 1916
Rank	Lance Corporal
Unit/Formation	5th Pioneer Battalion, Reinforcement 8 reallocated to 10th Battalion
Date of Embarkation	23 Dec 1916 ‒ 16 Feb 1917
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A35 Berrima
Date of Return	1 Jun 1919 ‒ 8 Jul 1919
Ship Returned On	SS Somali
Fate	Wounded in Action 1 Oct 1917 Ypres salient Wounded in Action 24 Jul 1918 Amiens area Returned to Australia
Monument	Kelmscott War Memorial (North panel) Kelmscott-Armadale Parish Roll of Honour
Medals	British War Medal Victory Medal

War Service

A week after commencing training at Blackboy Hill camp, Leslie was allocated to the 24th reinforcement draft for the 16th Battalion. However, two weeks later, the nature of his training changes as he was reallocated to the 8th draft for the 5th Pioneer Battalion.

On arrival in England he was sent to the Pioneer Training Battalion at Fovant near Larkhill, and in late Mar 1917 his training was interrupted with a two week spell in Parkhouse hospital with mumps. On 11 Jul 1917 he was again reallocated, this time to the 10th Infantry Battalion reinforcements.

Leslie proceeded to France on 6 Aug 1917 from Folkstone and joined his battalion in the field on 22 Aug 1917 in a rest area near Saint Omer, south west of Ypres. The 10th Battalion went into the front line near Ypres on 1 October 1917 and on that day Les suffered shell wounds to his right leg and to his head. It seems that Les was a member of a patrol that, during the night probed the enemy's position, with some casualties resulting, including himself. Seen by the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance before being passed to the 2nd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station the next day, and then to the 83rd General Hospital at Boulogne.

A detailed report of the patrol is not in the AWM's collection sadly as the officer who wrote the report was wounded before he could submit it. On 6 Oct 1917 Les was placed aboard the HMHS St Andrew and transferred to Boscombe Military Hospital in Hants, England for treatment before spending further time recovering at 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Harefield from 18 Dec 1917 until 5 Jan 1918.

Les recovered from his wounds, and a bout of Influenza and tonsillitis, before enjoying two weeks leave in England. He rejoined the 10th Battalion in the field on 3 May 1918 near Strazeele where it was being held in reserve. This was at a time when the Australian troops were being thrown into defensive positions to stop the German breakout.

On 24 Jul 1918 Les was wounded for a second time, receiving a GSW to his left knee needing treatment by the 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, and the 2nd Australian Casualty Clearing Station where he remained until 4 Feb 1919. Rejoining his unit the next day, he was granted leave in England 24 Feb 1919 until 1 Apr 1919. On 24 Apr 1919 he returned to England for processing for return to Australia.

Discharged at 5th Military District on 15 Aug 1919.

Post War

In 1926, married Eliza Louisa Dowsett in Beverley. Eliza died a year after Les on 23 Jun 1986.

Electoral Roll entries - 1922-43 farmer at 14 Mile Brook, Narrogin; (Rosebrook, Dwarda); 1968 - 1980, no occupation, 37 Friar road, Armadale with wife Eliza and daughter Jean Lavinia.

External Links

• AIF Project
• RSL Virtual War Memorial