Leslie Thomas COLGRAVE

COLGRAVE, Leslie Thomas

Service Numbers: TX4545, T165012
Enlisted: 27 March 1941
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 2nd/14th Infantry Battalion
Born: Launceston, Tasmania, Australia, 5 December 1916
Home Town: Railton, Kentish, Tasmania
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Painter & Decorator
Died: Devonport, Tasmania, Australia, 15 October 1997, aged 80 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Central Coast Memorial Park, Ulverstone, Tasmania
The Launceston Garden of Remembrance
Memorials: Tasmania (Launceston) Garden of Remembrance
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World War 2 Service

27 Mar 1941: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, TX4545
25 Jun 1941: Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Signaller, TX4545, Signals Training Battalion, ex Sydney for Middle East
30 Jan 1942: Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Signaller, TX4545, Infantry Training Battalions, ex Middle East for Australia per Ile de France
14 Aug 1942: Embarked Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Signaller, TX4545, 2nd/14th Infantry Battalion, ex Brisbane to Port Moresby per SS James Wilson
30 Dec 1942: Wounded Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, TX4545, 2nd/14th Infantry Battalion, New Guinea: GSW foot and Malaria; evacuated per HS Manunda
3 Sep 1943: Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, TX4545
28 Jun 1944: Enlisted Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, T165012
25 Jun 1945: Discharged Australian Military Forces (Army WW2), Private, T165012

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Biography contributed by Chris Buckley

Private Leslie Thomas Colgrave (Service No:T165012) enlisted in the ACMF for Part Time Duty on 28 June 1944 and was attached to HQ 6 Australian Line of Communications Signal (Postal and Courier Group) when he was Discharged on 25 June 1945. Private Colgrave had initially served with the AIF (Signaller; Service No:TX4545) - he enlisted on 27 March 1941 and embarked for the Middle East from Sydney. Signaller Colgrave served with Signals Training Battalion, 7 Australian Infantry Specialist Group (formed in Palestine to train reinforcements for mortar, transport and intelligence roles) and 21 Australian Infantry Training Battalion. On 30 January 1942 Signaller Colgrave embarked from the Middle East for Australia on board the Ile de France. On 14 August 1942, Private Colgrave embarked from Brisbane for Port Moresby with the 6th Reinforcements 2/14 Infantry Battalion on board the SS James Wilson. Private Colgrave was WiA (GSW to feet) on 30 December 1942 and evacuated on board the HS Mununda. He was Discharged on 3 September 1943.

Born in 1916 in Launceston Tasmania, Les was the eldest of two children of Thomas Leslie Colgrave (b1895 in Evandale, Tasmania) and Winifred Emily Jane Markham (nee Harris; b1886 at Breadalbane, Tasmania). Thomas (a Labourer) and Winifred married in 1916 in Launceston, Tasmania and settled at Evandale where they raised their family and Thomas was a Labourer and a Hunter.

Les worked as a Painter and Decorator in Launceston, Tasmania prior to his enlistment in the Army, and in 1942 in Wynyard married Nellie Watts (b1922 in Wynyard, Tasmania). Les and Nellie lived in Kentish where Les was a Labourer, in Wynyard where he was a Postal Employee and in George Town, Launceston, Port Sorrel, Wynyard and Devonport where Les worked as a Painter and Decorator. Nellie died in 1989 and Les in 1997.

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