Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Hilda LEGGO, 18 Pavilion Street, Queenscliff, Manly

Arthur was born in Sydney, NSW, and is a veteran of the Second World War.

When Arthur left school, he worked as a telegraph boy for the Postmaster-General Department (PMG), today known as Telstra, where he became fluent in Morse code. He was working as a junior assistant motor mechanic when he enlisted in the Australian Army in January 1944.

After his recruit training, Arthur was posted to the 19th Infantry Training Battalion, which was based at Cowra, NSW. In August 1944, he was on picket duty when the Cowra breakout occurred, which saw more than 1,000 Japanese attempt to escape from the Prisoner of War (POW) camp at Cowra. It was the largest uprising by POWs during the Second World War, resulting in the deaths of 231 Japanese POWs. In the aftermath of the breakout, Arthur was involved in transporting survivors to Hay and he also assisted with the funerals of the four Australian soldiers who lost their lives as a result of the Cowra breakout.

Arthur embarked for overseas in June 1945, serving in New Guinea with the 2/4th Infantry Battalion. After the war, he served on garrison duties in New Guinea with the 2/4th and the 35th Infantry Battalion, and later in New Britain with the 31st/51st and 55th/53rd Infantry Battalions. During this time, Arthur was promoted to sergeant. He was finally able to return to Australia in September 1946 and was discharged in November. Arthur says the best thing about his service was that he had the honour of serving his country, made lifelong friendships and got paid.

After the war, Arthur worked as an interstate truck driver for 12 months. He then worked for the Commonwealth Transport Pool for about 7 years. After this, he went ‘galivanting around NSW with my best mate Jim, from my Army days’. Later, Arthur bought a pineapple farm in Amamoor, a small country town in Queensland. He says he knew nothing about farming or pineapples!

In 1951, Arthur married Doris. The couple had a very happy union until Doris’ death in 2011, just a couple of months before their 60th wedding anniversary. Arthur and Doris had 4 children and now have 3 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. One of their sons is named Jim after Arthur’s best mate who tragically died in a car accident in 1951.

In his spare time, Arthur enjoyed boating and fishing. In his younger days, his time was spent having a good time in general, and ‘trying to stay out of trouble’.