Etienne Louis LASSERRE

LASSERRE, Etienne Louis

Service Number: 1771
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1)
Born: Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia., 8 February 1884
Home Town: Wongarbon, Dubbo Municipality, New South Wales
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Railway fettler
Died: Killed in Action, Belgium, 13 October 1917, aged 33 years
Cemetery: No known grave - "Known Unto God"
Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres, Flanders, Belgium
Memorials: Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Dubbo Memorial Drive & Rose Garden, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Wongarbon War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

17 Dec 1915: Involvement Private, 1771, 30th Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: ''
17 Dec 1915: Embarked Private, 1771, 30th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Sydney
13 Oct 1917: Involvement Private, 1771, 45th Infantry Battalion (WW1), Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1771 awm_unit: 45 Battalion awm_rank: Private awm_died_date: 1917-10-13

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Biography contributed by John Oakes

Etienne Louis LASSERRE (Service Number 1771) was born in Dubbo on 8th February 1884.  He joined the NSW Government Railways as a fettler on the Dubbo-Coonamble line in March 1911. In March 1913 he transferred to the Bathurst-Dubbo line.  In August 1915 he enlisted in the AIF at Dubbo, aged 31½.  One Saturday night in November:

 ‘…there was a large attendance at Mrs McKelvey’s hall, Wongarbon, when a send-off was accorded Private L. Lasserre, who was presented with a wristlet watch from the citizens, and a fountain pen from the Oddfellows’ (MUIOF) Lodge.  Dancing was indulged in.  Hughes’ orchestra provided the music.’ (Dubbo Dispatch & Wellington Independent, 16/11/1915)

He was sent at first to Egypt and landed at Suez in January 1916. He was ‘taken on strength’ by the 45th Battalion at Tel-el-Kebir in March and proceeded with them to France in June.  In November he was sent to hospital with dysentery and was evacuated to England in December. He was under treatment until mid-March, when he was discharged from hospital and given a fortnight’s leave. He was classed fully fit and returned to France in September 1917. He re-joined his battalion on 22nd September.

He was killed in action on 13th October 1917.  He has no known grave and is remembered with honour on the Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial.

On 16th November 1917 the Wongarbon correspondent of the Dubbo Dispatch & Wellington Independent wrote that:

 ‘It is with deep regret I report the death of … Pte. Lew Lasserre… recently killed in action in France.  The Wongarbon boys rallied well to the call of duty, 58 having enlisted from here.  Nine of these have been killed in action, and quite a number wounded… Pte. Lasserre enlisted about two years ago.  Lew, as nearly everybody knew him, had lived nearly all his life in Wongarbon, and was liked by all. He took the troubles and vicissitudes of life with a smile.  He was of a most cheerful disposition; a more even-tempered and popular young man it would be hard to find.  One brother, Tom, is still fighting at the front, and another, Jack, recently returned wounded.  He leaves four sisters, four brothers, and an aged mother to mourn their loss, and universal sympathy goes out to them.’

- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board. 

 

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