LEEDER, Reginald Gordon
| Service Number: | 284 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 24 September 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Sergeant |
| Last Unit: | 13th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 17 September 1885 |
| Home Town: | Crows Nest, North Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | State School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Tram conductor |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 4 July 1918, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Haymarket NSW Government Railway and Tramway Honour Board, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 24 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 284, 13th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Dec 1914: | Involvement Private, 284, 13th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '11' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Ulysses embarkation_ship_number: A38 public_note: '' | |
| 22 Dec 1914: | Embarked Private, 284, 13th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ulysses, Melbourne | |
| 10 Apr 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 13th Infantry Battalion | |
| 19 Apr 1915: | Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 13th Infantry Battalion, Replaced injured Sergeant in the field at Gallipoli. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by John Oakes
Reginald Gordon LEEDER (Service Number 284) was born on 17th September 1885 at North Sydney. He commenced work with the NSW Tramways as a casual conductor in Sydney on 17th March 1910. A year later he became a permanent employee. He was released from duty to join the Expeditionary Forces on 14 October 1914.
He enlisted at Rosehill on 24th September 1914. He was married to Renie and claimed to have served with the 1st Australian Infantry but was not now serving due to ‘inconvenience caused through work’. He was allotted to the 13th Australian Infantry Battalion. He embarked on HMAT ‘Ulysses’ at Melbourne on 22nd December 1914.
After a short period of further training Leeder proceeded to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force for Gallipoli on 12th April 1915. He was promoted to Corporal five days before the landing and to Sergeant four days after the landing. At first this rank was an acting one in place of Sgt Evans who had been wounded. However, the same day the promotion was confirmed when another NCO, Sgt Shapely, was killed.
By June he was sick with ‘Cardiac’ and evacuated to Cairo. He recovered and re-joined the 13th Battalion at Mudros (on the Greek island of Lemnos). He was designated ‘Class B’ and placed on the supernumerary list and did not return to Gallipoli. Upon evacuation of the whole force to Egypt in late December he was hospitalised with ‘Adenitis Groin’. By 1st February 1916 he had not only recovered from this ailment but was well enough to have regained ‘Class A’ status. He proceeded to join the British Expeditionary Forces through Alexandria and and arrived at Marseilles (France) on 6th June 1916.
He was charged with ‘drunkenness and absenting himself without leave from 9.20 a.m. until apprehended at 3 p.m. on 28 February’. This offence cost him his rank and 28 days’ pay.
In May he was charged that ‘When on active serving His Majesty’s Service, In that he absented himself from the attack from 10.30 p.m. 10/4/17 until 6 p.m. 11/4/17’. For this offence he was sentenced to Penal Servitude for Fifteen Years. This automatically included the forfeiture of 5606 days pay. (£1,376/10/-)
Both sentences had to be confirmed by Major General William Holmes, later known to people in Sydney by the Drive named for him.
Leeder was admitted to prison in Rouen on 27th June 1917. By July the sentence had been commuted to two years. After about one year, including time served before trial, the remainder of the sentence was suspended. He re-joined the 13th Battalion on 27th May 1918.
He was killed in action on 6th July 1918. Private S W Simpson 3159 reported:
‘I saw Leeder hit by a sniper at Veare Wood in an attack on the machine gun positions. He was left in No man’s land for some time but was later carried away by the Stretcher Bearers. I was told he died at the Dressing Station, holding his wife’s photograph in his hand. I do not know where he is buried. Eye-witness. Yes.’
Other soldiers say that Leeder was killed outright. Pte F S Lancaster 5715 reported, among other facts:
‘It was his first time in the line after an absence.’
Reginald Leeder has no known grave and is remembered on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.
There was some question as to whether, because of his long prison sentence, service medals would be issued for Leeder. However, in view of his early promotion on Gallipoli and his death in action they were given to his wife.
- based on the Australian War Memorial Honour Roll and notes for the Great Sydney Central Station Honour Board.
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