Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Acknowledgment to Emma Hawke and Joyce Marshall from “Millicent and District Men of the Past”

Leslie Stuart Emanuel Brooks (Stumpy) was born at Millicent on the 28th April 1891. He was the oldest of 13 children, 12 reaching adulthood. He went to live with his parents Emma and Emanuel) at the age of six years, to a little farm called Tri Hi about five miles from Kalangadoo.

He attended the Kalangadoo Public School between 1903 and 1904 at the age of twelve years.

He had to walk to school five miles each way every day and he had to be out of bed around six o’clock in the morning and have water carted in buckets from a bore some distance from the house for his mother’s use during the day and also to cut wood.

His schooling was put off because he had to help his father with farm work in general plus learning how to shear sheep with blade shears.

Leslie also learnt how to crack stones with a special hammer for road making, how to split posts from logs of wood for fencing the property, keeping the drainage clean, and how to plant vegetables and look after them.

His mother kept a couple of cows, which Leslie learnt to milk, even sold the mil for sixpence a gallon to Bakers Range Drain workers. He eventually went to work at Woakwine Station until the age of 25 years, when he enlisted at Millicent on the 9th March 1916.

Private Brooks completed his initial training at Mitcham, SA, with the 10th Battalion, 18th Reinforcement unit which embarked from Melbourne, Victoria on board HMAT A37 Barambah on the 27th June 1916.

Upon arrival in France Private Brooks was taken on strength as part of the 48th Battalion on the 31st October 1916. Shortly after Private Brooks was admitted to an in field hospital with mumps.

Once well Private Brooks returned to his unit on the 22nd December 1916.

From the 30th March until 27th April 1917 Private Brooks was detached to the 12th Brigade Machine Gun Company with an Australian attack on German trenches east of the village of Bullecourt on the 11th April 1917.
The plan was to advance some three kilometres north, taking the village of Hendecourt, two kilometres north east of Bullecourt. Operations of this kind were usually supported by a prior artillery bombardment of the German trenches. However at Bullecourt the Australian 4th Division attacked without artillery support, in an attempt to surprise the Germans, but with the assistance of a dozen tanks. In spite of the failure of most of the tanks to reach the German line, the Australian infantry advanced northwards, with Bullecourt on their left flank, and seized two lines of German trenches. There they were halted by increasing German resistance. Let down a second time by the failure of their own artillery to fire on the German counter attacks, the Australians, having held the enemy trenches for several hours, were driven back to their starting line with the loss of over 3000 men. Poorly planned and hastily executed, the first battle of Bullecourt resulted in disaster.

Private Brooks returned to Australia on the HMT Miltiades on the 5th of August 1919.

Upon his return Leslie went back to work at Woakwine Station until he married Kathleen Crowe, of Beachport in 1925. He then went to live at Mt McIntyre, where he and Kathleen had a family of nine children, rearing eight to adulthood.

His work once again was cracking stones for road making, fencing, shearing and crutching sheep and trapping rabbits. He worked at Glencoe clearing forest for pine trees planting, splitting wood for posts and worked at Wattle Range Station.

During his spare time, Leslie loved to go camping in the scrub, as well as fox hunting, kangaroo shooting, duck shooting, fishing at Lake Leake and Lake Edward. The Kangaroo skins he tanned and made into boot laces, soles for shoes, even tanned the kangaroo pouches for wallets and money purses.

When World War Two broke out at the age of 52 years Leslie joined the Voluntary Defence Corps in March 1943 and was discharged in November 1944.

Leslie went to work night shift as watchman at the Mt Burr Sawmill riding his push bike six miles, each way in all weathers. He later bought himself a new Panther Motorbike, which he had for a number of years.

After leaving the Mt Burr Sawmill Leslie again went doing odd jobs on a farm at Neil Cameron’s near Kalangadoo.

Leslie eventually bought and owned his own home (his one ambition in his life his own home) in Mt McIntyre, where he continued to live with his wife of 54 years, Kathleen until her death in July 1979. He continued to live on his own, keeping a few sheep and kept busy gardening until 1983 when Ash Wednesday Fires claimed his beloved hard earned treasures, his home and sheds and all his belongings.

His last six and a half years were spent in Millicent Hospital, where he died aged 99 years and 4 months on the 15th August 1990.

Private Leslie Stuart Emanuel Brooks is interned at the Millicent Cemetery