DOBBS, Leonard Stanley
| Service Number: | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 5 November 1915, Cootamundra, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Gunner |
| Last Unit: | 1st Field Artillery Brigade |
| Born: | Grafton, New South Wales, Australia, 29 October 1896 |
| Home Town: | Wagga Wagga, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Home schooled |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Belgium, 17 August 1917, aged 20 years |
| Cemetery: |
Reninghelst New Military Cemetery, Belgium |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Wagga Wagga Cenotaph, Wagga Wagga Victory Memorial Arch |
World War 1 Service
| 5 Nov 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2017, Cootamundra, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 16 Mar 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 2017, 7th Light Horse Regiment, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Malakuta embarkation_ship_number: A57 public_note: '' | |
| 16 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 2017, 7th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Malakuta, Sydney | |
| 29 Apr 1917: | Transferred AIF WW1, Gunner, 1st Field Artillery Brigade | |
| 17 Aug 1917: | Involvement AIF WW1, Gunner, 2017, 1st Field Artillery Brigade, Third Ypres, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 2017 awm_unit: 1st Australian Field Artillery Brigade awm_rank: Gunner awm_died_date: 1917-08-17 |
Help us honour Leonard Stanley Dobbs's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Leonard's parents, Francis and Alexandrina, gave him permission to enlist on 28 October 1915, when he was just 19 years old. Dogged by ill health throughout the first few months of active service, Leonard was still only 20 when he died at Zillebeke, SE of Ypres.
A farewell letter written on 21 July 1917 was found upon Leonard's body. It read:
"I am going into action tomorrow for a big stunt and it is going to be very warm, we have had a few wounded in our battery already and a lot killed in some of the other Batterys (sic), and we have only been a couple of days and we are sure to have a big casualty list when the stunt starts in earnest... I may have to go up at any moment, so I am going to carry this with me in case I get knocked, but I want you to know that I am quite ready to go up and may God's will be done, but if I do get knocked right out, try not to worry too much Mum Darling & everyone else, I say once more, here, that I am glad I came, and if I do die it is in a glorious cause - in my own mind I am fighting for all of you whom I love at home and if I die, I die for you, what better does a man want..."
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