STOKIE, Leslie John
| Service Number: | NGX450 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 July 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Colac, Victoria, Australia, 12 September 1902 |
| Home Town: | Lane Cove, Lane Cove, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Plantation Manager |
| Died: | Taree, New South Wales, Australia, 10 November 1973, aged 71 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Coffs Harbour Historic Cemetery, New South Wales, Australia Presbyterian |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 15 Jul 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NGX450 | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Dec 1940: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Private, NGX450 | |
| 23 Jan 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, NGX450 | |
| 19 Dec 1945: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lieutenant, NGX450 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Ian Fox
Leslie Stokie was living in New Guinea and working as a plantation manager when the war began and Rabaul was threatened by the Japanese. He caught malaria early in the fighting but, using his knowledge of the land and the people, he managed to escape capture by the Japanese over many months.
After hearing of three American airmen hiding in the nearby mountains, he met up with them, and again using his knowledge of how to locate food and quinine, they survived another many months away from capture.
Leslie was awarded the Military Cross for outstanding gallantry from September 1943 to May 1944. At the request of Leslie, the M.C was presented to Mrs. Henrietta Stokie (Mother).
Stokie's only sibling, Pte James Albert Stokie, died in a Japanese POW camp in March 1945. He had been captured on Ambon in early 1942.
[Source: Colac Family History Project/WW2 Honour Roll]
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