KEMMIS, Leslie Frank
| Service Number: | 426 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 September 1914, Rosehill, New South Wales |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Armidale, New South Wales, Australia, 1 September 1881 |
| Home Town: | Willala, Gunnedah, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Natural causes, Willala, New South Wales, Australia, 31 October 1958, aged 77 years |
| Cemetery: |
Private Burial Plot Buried at property 'Be-Bara', Willala, New South Wales. |
| Memorials: | Boggabri War Memorial, Willala Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 25 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Trooper, 426, 6th Light Horse Regiment, Rosehill, New South Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 21 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 426, 6th Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '2' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Suevic embarkation_ship_number: A29 public_note: '' | |
| 21 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 426, 6th Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Suevic, Sydney | |
| 15 May 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Trooper, 426, 6th Light Horse Regiment, ANZAC / Gallipoli | |
| 27 Jul 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 6th Light Horse Regiment | |
| 12 Mar 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 12 Mar 1916: | Transferred AIF WW1, Private, 3rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 29 Jun 1916: | Promoted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 3rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 5 Nov 1916: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17, Lard Trench, Gueudecourt | |
| 9 Jan 1917: | Honoured Military Cross, 'The Winter Offensive' - Flers/Gueudecourt winter of 1916/17, For devotion to duty and gallantry at Lard Trench, Geudecourt on 5 November 1916 in leading a party against an enemy strong-point with courage and initiative, setting a splendid example. | |
| 1 Nov 1917: | Promoted AIF WW1, Captain, 3rd Infantry Battalion | |
| 20 Feb 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Captain, 3rd Infantry Battalion, Returned to Australia on 20 February 1919 in 'Orsova'. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Michael Silver
Captain Leslie Frank Kemmis carried the scars of World War 1 on his property in the Willala district , near Boggabri, New South Wales - one of tens of thousands of soldiers who had to endure pain and suffering for the rest of their lives.
After working as a jackeroo on Mooki Springs Station near Quirindi he won a land ballot in the Wllila district in 1912 and fot two years cleared, fenced and cultivated his property before enlisting with the 6th Light Horse Regiment at the out break of World War 1.
After service with the Light Horse at Gallipoli he was transferred to the 3rd Battalion of the AIF and sent to France with the rank of Lieutenant, later receiving his promotion to Captain.
At Lard Trench, Guedecourt on 5 November, 1916 he was severely gassed and badly injured in a bomb blast when leading his party in an engagement aginst the enemy. He was evacuated to hospital in London, where his legs were amputated, the left below the knee and the right above the knee.
In January 1917, King George V conferred on him the Military Cross for 'devotion to duty and gallantrty in leading a party against an enemy strongpoint with courage and initiative, setting a splendid example". The decoration was later pinned on him by the King.
While in hospital in London Captain Kemmis met a volunteer nurse, Madeline Nicholson, from Edinburgh, and they married in 1919. After the war the couple came home to his property at Willala, which they named 'Be-Bara'.
The running of a farm was a tough proposition for someone with a permanent disability. But Leslie Kemmis was never short on courage - and he managed.
Doing all the stock work, with the help of his horse and sulky and his dogs, he trained his horses to back the sulky up to gates, so that he could open and shut them without leaving his seat.
Although he had artificial limbs, they were crude. He would get around on these legs with the help of two walking sticks. Apart from loosing his legs, he also suffered the life long after-effects of mustard gas, which caused intermittent haemorrhaging.
Nothing deterred him - he worked from early in the morning till sunset and would be so tired that he would have dinner and go straight to bed so that he could make an early start next day.
Captain Leslie Frank Kemmis MC died in 1957 at the age of 77 and his wife Madeline died in 1968. Both were buried on 'Be-Bara'.
Credit: RG McLean & NL Kemmis.
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