Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of Charles Odell Levings and Lily Grace Levings, of 40, Timor St., Warrnambool, Victoria

FATHER IN THY GRACIOUS KEEPING LEAVE WE NOW OUR LOVED ONE SLEEPING

Mr. H. Levings, assistant at T. Guthrie and Co, Fryers-street, received the sad intimation on Thursday night that his younger brother, Pte. Ralph Levings, was killed in action in  France on June 13th. He was 26 years of age, was attached to the 2nd Pioneers, and had been three years at the front. The family had for many years been residing at Numurkah,  where the deceased soldier was born; but his mother and the young members of it have for some time been re siding at Warrnambool. His father, who is a munition worker in England, sailed from Melbourne in August last year. Pte. Levings, before going to France, had seen much service at Gallipoli, and was at the Lone Pine battle.

PTE. RALPH J. LEVINGS.
Pte. Ralph J. Levings, son of Mr. C. O. Levings, munition worker, now in England, and Mrs. Levings, of Banyan-street, Warrnambool, was killed in France on 13th June last. The sad  intelligence was conveyed to his mother by the Rev. Wood, B.A., who at the time, was acting vicar who was born in Numurkah, was 26 years of age, and was a carpenter by trade.  He came to Warrnambool about seven years ago. Prior to enlisting he was a member of the local battery of the A.F.A. He enlisted on 17th February, 1915, sailed on 8th May 1915 with A Company, 23rd Battalion, 6th Infantry Brigade. He left Egypt in August, 1915, for Gallipoli, where he served four months and was present at the historic evacuation.  Subsequently he went to France with the first contingent of the 2nd Pioneer Battalion. The deepest sympathy will be felt for his relatives in their time of bereavement.
In August, 1917, testimony to the humanity and bravery of Pte. Levings came from an unexpected source. Pte. H. J. Adams, who had been badly wounded in France, while a  patient in an English hospital, wrote to his mother, telling her of his rescue by Pte. Levings on the battlefield, and asking her to find the latter's mother and thank her. The letter  contained the following:
"I suppose you are dying to know how I managed to get to our trenches. I waited until the snipers had finished work. Then one brave chap volunteered to carry me in, and he did  so right around the slope three quarters of a mile, with bullets fly ing all around and shells bursting everywhere. I thanked God for the bravery of that young lad. He carried me on his back all the wav, and I might mention that he is a Warrnambool boy - his name is Levings. Darling mother, try if you can find his mother's address. Put an advertisement in the Warrnambool papers and find her, no matter what it costs, out of my money, and tell her how brave her son was, and thank her yourself for me. The Lord knows how I would have got on only for him. May God bless him and protect him from all harm, also his mother for having so brave a son." Mrs. Adams came to Warrnambool and personally thanked  Mrs. Levings for the rescue of her son.  Archdeacon Bennett (then vicar of Christ Church) referred to the matter in one of his sermons, remarking that "Ralph Levings' bravery is typical of the Australian on active service. It is good to hear of one whose name is on our Honor Roll, 'playing the game' as Ralph did under trying conditions." Pte. Levings was a member of Miss Fuller's Bible class at St. George's, East Warrnambool, of which six have fallen in battle.