Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

One of four siblings who served in WWII, Private Leslie Franklin (Service No:WX17422) enlisted in the AIF on 27 October 1941, and was attached to 1 and 3 Training Battalions as a Gunner - graded Engine Hand. Private Franklin served with 173rd Light Anti Aircraft Battery and WA Fortress Engineers, and was attached to 2/3 Pioneer Battalion in Morotai and Tarakan (27 April 1945 - 4 January 1946). Private Franklin was attached to 2/3 Pioneer Battalion at Discharge on 20 March 1946.

Les (Lesmurdie, aka Leslie) was born in Kalamnda, Western Australia in 1915, fourth of seven children of Herbert Franklin (b1886 in Melbourne, Victoria) and his first wife Alice Amy Aitken (b1890 in Melbourne, Victoria) - Bertie later gave himself the name Herbert Augustus Theodore Franklin. Bertie moved to Western Australia in the early 1900's and was a Gardener in Leonora in 1911 when he and Alice married. The family moved often (Alice was frequently on her own with the children) - Marrinup where Bertie was a Timber Feller, Bunbury where he was a Sleeper Hewer, Midland Junction where he worked as a Labourer and Porter, and Greenbushes where he was a Guard for the Timber Corporation. Bertie served in the AIF briefly (August - December 1916; Private; Service No:8709) and in the 1920s left his family and returned to Victoria, where he remarried. Alice remarried and lived in Mt Magnet.

Les worked as a Farm Hand in Corrigin and was a Truck Driver in Welshpool in Perth when he enlisted in the AIF in 1941. Following his Discharge, Les lived in Meekatharra and Carnamah, where he worked as a Barman. Les was in Perth when he died in 1970.