BOVELL, Leslie John
| Service Numbers: | WP6267, WX34872 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 27 August 1940 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | Not yet discovered |
| Born: | Donnybrook, Western Australia, 3 October 1920 |
| Home Town: | Donnybrook, Donnybrook-Balingup, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Mullalyup Primary School, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Orchard Hand (Case Maker) |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 29 April 1969, aged 48 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia The Western Australian Garden of Remembrance |
| Memorials: |
World War 2 Service
| 27 Aug 1940: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Bombadier, WP6267 | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Jul 1942: | Enlisted Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX34872 | |
| 22 Nov 1943: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Lance Sergeant, WX34872, embarked Townsville for Buna | |
| 6 Jul 1944: | Embarked Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX34872, embarked Port Moresby for Brisbane on board SS Boschfontein | |
| 1 Apr 1946: | Discharged Australian Military Forces (WW2) , Sergeant, WX34872 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Sergeant Leslie John Bovell (Service Nos:WP6267/WX34872) enlisted in the Army on 27 August 1940, and was a Bombardier attached to 3rd Heavy Brigade at Bickley Battery (Rottnest Island) when he transferred to the AIF on 19 July 1942. Sergeant Bovell served in New Guinea (22 November 1943 - 6 July 1944), and was attached to D Australian Heavy Battery at Discharge on 1 April 1946. Older brother Tom also served in WWII, and younger brother Ron enlisted in the Army and the Navy (giving the wrong date of birth to increase his age) in 1946 and 1947.
Les was born in Donnybrook, Western Australia in 1920, sixth of nine children of Aubrey Leonard Bovell (b1890 in Blackwood, Western Australia) and Edith Lina Flemming (b1893 in York, Western Australia). In 1910 Aubrey was a Labourer in Mallalyup via Balingup, and he and Edith married in 1912 in Donnybrook. The couple lived in Greenbushes and Mallalyup, where they raised their family before moving in 1918 to Kirup via Balingup, where Aubrey worked for the WAGR as a Repairer. The family returned to Mallalyup in the early 1930s, and Aubrey again worked as a Timber Hewer. In the early 1940s, Aubrey and Edith moved to Perth, where Aubrey worked as a Labourer.
Les attended Mallalyup Primary School and was a keen sportsman. He started work in Donnybrook as an Orchard Hand (Case Maker) and, following his Discharge from the Army, was in Perth in 1947 when he married Joy Patricia Kathleen Whitehead (b1925 in Perth, Western Australia). Les and Joy settled in Perth, where they raised their family and Les was a Terrazo Worker - and by the 1950s a Tarrazo Manufacturer. Following Les' death in 1969, Joy remarried and died in 2010.
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