HALLIFAX, Leslie John
| Service Number: | 1733 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 14 October 1915, Adelaide, South Australia |
| Last Rank: | Second Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
| Born: | Ovingham, South Australia, 23 August 1894 |
| Home Town: | Parkside, Unley, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Adelaide High School, South Australia |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Pozières, France, 12 August 1916, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Serre Road Cemetery No.2 Beaumont Hamel, France XXVII D 3 |
| Memorials: | Adelaide High School Great War Honour Board, Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Goodwood St George Anglican Church Memorial Tower, Parkside Public School Roll of Honor, Unley Arch of Remembrance, Unley Town Hall WW1 Honour Board |
World War 1 Service
| 14 Oct 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Adelaide, South Australia | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Jan 1916: |
Involvement
AIF WW1, Private, 1733, 32nd Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '17' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' |
|
| 11 Jan 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1733, 32nd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Adelaide | |
| 11 Aug 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 16th Infantry Battalion (WW1), Battle for Pozières |
Origins of Legacy at the Battle of Pozieres - 1916
“It was in the front line trenches of Pozieres in August 1916, and no one not in one of the battles for Pozieres can ever have an appreciation of the intensity of the artillery fire. It has been said that never before or since, on any front, was the gunfire so intense and concentrated, and those who were there never cease to wonder how anyone could have survived it. Yet many did.
“During the second day, one of my Corporals, by the name of Fred Muller, came to me and said: ‘Sergeant Halifax has been killed, Sir, we are going to bury him, would you care to come along.’ When we reached his part of the line, there, in a funk hole in the forepart of the trench, lay the body of his sergeant. Muller took off his tin hat and said these few simple words:
‘Almighty God, we lay to rest Sergeant Halifax, who has this day given his life for his country, and we return his body to the earth from whence it came, (and raising his eyes to the heavens) And we commit his soul to You who gave it.’
“In those few minutes it seemed, and I am certain it was so, there was complete silence; not a gun or shell explosion was heard, as if God was giving the soul of Halifax a peaceful journey to his eternal home.
“Replacing his tin hat, and taking his spade, Muller began to cover the body of Halifax, and with tears running down his cheeks said: ‘Never worry, my friend, I’ll look after your family.’ And with that I walked away, leaving him with his dead. In those words lie the fundamental of Legacy – ‘don’t worry, our friends, we will look after your widows and children’.
“Muller’s simple act must have been enacted on many occasions in other fields of the war, but what I have recorded I took part in, so I feel that in it I saw the roots of Legacy planted; and in the passing of time it grew into a strong, virile tree with wide-spread branches covered in evergreen leaves, under which countless thousands have found shade from storm and tempest and want.”
These words were attributed to Lieutenant Robert Smith Somerville. Somerville, Frederick William Muller and Leslie John Hallifax are believed to have known each other pre-war in South Australia and were D Coy, 16th Bn. Hallifax was killed 12 August 1916. Somerville received the MC for his actions on 12/08/1916 and was later awarded the DSO.
Submitted 24 April 2024 by John Cashmore
Australian Memorial April 2023
My brother and I will be attending the ANZAC Day Dawn Service at Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France on 25th April 2023 with a set of replica medals awarded to LJ Hallifax to honour and thank him and all others for their service. LJ Hallifax was my brother and my Granduncle.
Submitted 28 November 2022 by John Cashmore
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Richard and Elizabeth Caroline Hallifax.
"LATE SGT. L. J. HALLIFAX.
Mrs. E. C. Hallifax, of Anglo avenue, Parkside, has been notified by the military authorities that her youngest son (Sgt. Leslie John Halifax), was killed in action in France on August 15. The deceased, who was in his 22nd year, attended the Adelaide High School, joined the service of the Eastern Extension Telegraph Comany in January, 1910, and remained with the company until called up for duty in August, 1915. Having served as a lieutenant in the Citizen Forces (78th Infantry) for three years, he was able to obtain the permission of the Eastern Telegraph Company (as a special case) to join the A.I.F. He qualified by examination, through the officers' school, for appointment as lieutenant, but finding his age debarred him from obtaining a commission, he enlisted in the ranks, and soon gained his sergeant's stripes. He left South Australia in January last." - from the Adelaide Register 15 Sep 1916 (nla.gov.au)
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