LEOPOLD, Archibald
| Service Number: | 609 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 12 March 1915, Sydney, N.S.W. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 20th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | St. Helier, Jersey, Channel Islands, 11 September 1887 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Died of Illness, Bomaderry, New South Wales, 11 April 1920, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
Nowra General Cemetery Anglican Plot. B. Row 9. Grave 29. |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Mar 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 609, 20th Infantry Battalion, Sydney, N.S.W. | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 609, 20th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '13' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Berrima embarkation_ship_number: A35 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 609, 20th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Berrima, Sydney | |
| 22 Aug 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 609, 20th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 4 Aug 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 609, 20th Infantry Battalion, Battle for Pozières , GSW Left Shoulder and Neck | |
| 1 Jul 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 609, 20th Infantry Battalion, Sydney, N.S.W. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Karen Standen
Archibald Leopold was born on the 11th September 1887 on the island of Jersey, the largest of the Channel Islands located between England and France. His parents, Isaac Leibman and Mary Ann Leopold, had Archibald baptised in St Helier’s, Church of England Parish church, the following month. He was their sixth child and third son.
At the outbreak of the First World War, Archie as he was more commonly known, was living in Australia. As was his older sister, Miriam, who had arrived in Melbourne aboard the “Orsova” in 1911 with her husband, Herbert Stanley Lee and their three children. When Archie enlisted in the A.I.F. on the 12th March 1915 in Sydney, he listed Miriam as his next of kin.
Assigned to B Company in the newly formed 20th Battalion, Archie embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Berrima on the 25th June 1915. Arriving in Egypt in late July, the Battalion underwent further training before proceeding to Anzac Cove. Landing on the 22nd August 1915, Archie became very familiar with “Russell’s Top”, as the 20th was one of the battalions tasked with its defence.
Returning to Egypt in January 1916, Archie and the Battalion began preparing for the Western Front. They first entered the trenches in France in April 1916, however their first major offensive was Pozieres. During this battle, the Battalion diary records that on the evening of the 4th August, B Company were ordered to attack, jumping off at 9:18 pm. Archie was wounded by machine gun fire. Two bullets entering his left shoulder and neck.
Evacuated to the 11th General Hospital the following day, it would be a further two and a half weeks before Archie was embarked at Calais, aboard HS Dieppe for England. Admitted into the Dudley Road Section of the 1st Southern General Hospital, in Birmingham on the 23 August 1916, Archie was less than four miles from where his parents and family now lived in Balsall Heath. On the same day, Archie’s sister in Melbourne was advised that, “No 609 Private A. Leopold, 20 Battalion, is seriously ill suffering from gunshot wound neck”. The family wouldn’t learn officially of Archie’s close proximity for another month.
In January 1917, the Medical Board deemed Archie was “unfit permanently for general service, unfit for home service for six months”. Given a lower berth on HMAT Benalla, he embarked from Devonport on the 13th February bound for Australia. Archie was discharged from the A.I.F. on the 1st July 1917. The following day his war pension of £3 p.f. was confirmed. Attempting to resume his civilian life, Archie initially lived in the Sydney suburb of Bondi.
In April 1919, Archie, like so many others, succumbed to the influenza epidemic and was admitted to Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. The following year, he was a patient at the Bomaderry Convalescent Home. After a sudden illness, Archibald Leopold died on Sunday, 11th April 1920. The Matron notified Archie’s sister in Melbourne almost immediately. Archie was buried with Military Honours, at the Nowra Public Cemetery the following day. Miriam placed In Memoriam notices, in newspapers for many years after her brother’s death, in one it could be assumed Archie was affectionately called ‘Leo’ by the family. In 1924, Archie’s three war medals were forwarded to his mother in England.
Karen Standen, 2018.