COLLINS, James Lesel
| Service Number: | 391 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 January 1916, 6 mths Thursday Island, 2nd Infantry |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 41st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Winton, Queensland, Australia, 8 June 1894 |
| Home Town: | Irvinebank, Tablelands, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Grocer |
| Died: | Chronic interstitial pneumonia right lung with collapse, emphysema left lung and cardiac atrophy, Brisbane Hospital, Queensland, Australia, 20 February 1939, aged 44 years |
| Cemetery: |
Lutwyche Cemetery, Brisbane, Qld |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 391, 41st Infantry Battalion, 6 mths Thursday Island, 2nd Infantry | |
|---|---|---|
| 18 May 1916: | Involvement Private, 391, 41st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Demosthenes embarkation_ship_number: A64 public_note: '' | |
| 18 May 1916: | Embarked Private, 391, 41st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Demosthenes, Sydney | |
| 17 Jan 1918: | Discharged AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 391, 41st Infantry Battalion, 1st MD, wounding |
Help us honour James Lesel Collins's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Evan Evans
From Australian Remembrance Army
Lance Corporal James Lesel (Leslie) Collins (Service No. 391), an Australian World War One veteran, is among almost 800 previously unmarked WWI veterans’ graves in Lutwyche Cemetery we have now honoured with a plaque recognising their service for Australia.
On 20 September 2025, his plaque was unveiled in Lutwyche Cemetery, along with a further 161 plaques on the previously unmarked graves of Australian World War One veterans:
See Australian Remembrance Army Facebook page
James Leslie Collins (served as James Lesel Collins) was born on 18 June 1894 in Winton, Queensland, to George Collins and Eliza Thompson. In January 1925, he married Winifred Elizabeth Collier (1898-1995) in Queensland.
James Collins enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Cairns in January 1916, aged 21. He stated his occupation as grocer and named his father, George Collins of Cairns, as next of kin. On 20 July 1916, he embarked from Sydney aboard HMAT Demosthenes (A64) with the 11th Depot Battalion for overseas service.
In November 1916, he proceeded overseas from Southampton to France. On 1 June 1917, he was promoted to Lance Corporal and transferred to the 41st Battalion. During the Battle of Messines that same month, he was wounded in action, sustaining a gunshot wound to the left thigh and foot, and was admitted to Colchester Hospital. At that time, he was in hospital alongside his brother John (Jack), Service No. 389, as noted in a letter their mother sent to the AIF seeking information about their health. In September 1917, as a result of his injuries, he embarked for his return to Australia aboard HMAT Borda (A30), arriving in November 1917. He was formally discharged from the AIF in January 1918.
Following his return to Australia, he settled back in Cairns and resumed work as a grocer with the firm Armstrong, Leadley and Stillman. He and his wife Winifred later welcomed their son, Gordon, who was born in July 1928 in Cairns. By 1936, James and Winifred were recorded as living in Nundah, Brisbane.
Lance Corporal James Lesel (Leslie) Collins died in a Brisbane Hospital on 20 February 1939, aged 44 due to a chronic interstitial pneumonia right lung with collapse, emphysema left lung and cardiac atrophy.
After decades without recognition at his place of burial, his grave now bears a plaque commemorating his service to Australia — ensuring his name endures among those remembered for their duty and sacrifice.
His identity has now been restored.
We have remembered him.
Lest We Forget.
Click images to start slideshow.