William Alfred Leaver MC MM

William Alfred Leaver MC MM

Australian Fighting Sons of the Empire p.204
Personal Information
Date of Birth	Sep 1895
Place of Birth	Cobar, New South Wales
Age at Enlistment	19 years
Occupation	Teacher
Religion	Church of England
Address	62 Cargill street, Victoria Park, Western Australia
Next of Kin	Mother , Mrs Mabel Leaver
Military Information
Reg Number	467
Date of Enlistment	8 Mar 1915
Rank	Lieutenant
Unit/Formation	28th Battalion, C Company
Date of Embarkation	29 Jun 1915
Ship Embarked On	HMAT A11 Ascanius
Date of Return	1919
Ship Returned On	HMAT A30 Borda Served as paymaster during voyage
Fate	WIA 1917 Returned to Australia
Monument	Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll Victoria Park Honour Roll
Medals	Military Cross Military Medal 1914-15 Star British War Medal Victory Medal

Pre War

Educated in Adelaide before the family moved to Western Australia.

War Service

Enlisted in WA as a private and allocated to C Company of the 28th Battalion, then being raised in Perth. Sailed with them to Egypt in June 1915 and on to Gallipoli where he served for a short time until he suffered with a poisoned hand requiring his evacuation.

Following being awarded the Military Medal he was commissioned 2nd lieutenant on 27 Dec 1916, and later promoted to Lieutenant on 27 May 1917. Soon after he was seriously wounded requiring evacuation to England for treatment. Following his recovery he was sent home to Australia serving as the Paymaster on HMAT A30 Borda in 1919.

Both his father 5363 Sapper Charles Henry Leaver, and his brother 5425 Private Charles Henry Leaver served in France and returned to Australia.

Award Comment

Military Medal

"During the attack on German positions north of Flers, on morning of 5th November, 1916, displayed great courage and endurance, both during and after the action. He displayed utter disregard for personal safety, going out after two enemy snipers who were causing casualties amongst our men, and accounted for them. This was done under heavy shell fire."

Military Cross

"For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He organised a bombing attack at a critical time and succeeded in gaining a lot of the enemy's trench. he set a fine example to his men. He was subsequently wounded."

Notes

Best match for W Lever on Gosnells Road Board Honour Roll. Connection to Gosnells not yet proven, however, as a teacher he may well have taught in District. He is included on the Victoria Park Memorial.

William's full records are amalgamated with his service as SP6343 (Russia 1919?) and are therefore not on the Australian Archives site.