BESWICK, Lisle James
| Service Number: | 1246 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 19 May 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 26th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Port Sorell, Tasmania, Australia, 26 July 1894 |
| Home Town: | Ulverstone, Tasmania |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 18 November 1915, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli Plot I, Row A, Grave No 15, Shrapnel Valley Cemetery, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Ulverstone Baptist Church Honour Roll, Ulverstone Shrine of Remembrance |
World War 1 Service
| 19 May 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1246, 26th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 29 Jun 1915: | Involvement Private, 1246, 26th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: '' | |
| 29 Jun 1915: | Embarked Private, 1246, 26th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Brisbane | |
| 18 Nov 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1246, 26th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli |
Help us honour Lisle James Beswick's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Lisle Beswick's Company Commander Capt. R.E. Smith 26th Battalion, wrote the following letter to his mother, which was printed in the local papers,
‘The Turks were driving a tunnel towards our trenches at Walker's Ridge, Anzac, with the intention of blowing us up. We were driving to intercept them. Only one man could work at the end of the tunnel, while another filled sand bags with the loosened earth, which was then carried out by other men. For several days we could hear the Turks picking, and it was our intention to get close enough to them to blow up their tunnel. We had done this successfully on more than one occasion. On November I5, 1915, a Queenslander was picking at the end of the tunnel where your son was filling sand bags near him when the Turks exploded a mine which they had placed in the end of their own tunnel. A rescue party was at once set to work, and the Queenslander was got out unconscious but afterwards recovered; but your son was found to be dead when they were reached. Your son was in my company at Ulverstone (I5 Battalion), and this made me feel the loss more, he was a good boy, and fully realised the danger of the work, but undertook it without any hesitation. You may be very proud of him. Tasmania will reckon him amongst its heroes. His grave is on a slope overlooking the Aegean Sea with the Greek islands of Imros and Samothrace in view. There are a good few graves there of those who, like your son, died bravely fighting for their country and loved ones. I know what a grief it must be to you but I think it will be a consolation to know he did his duty well, and has set an example for others to follow. With such men the British Empire cannot go under.'
Lisle's brothers; 606 Lance Corporal Morton Ernest Beswick, 40th Battalion, was killed in action, 28 March 1918 and 136 Pte Basil Beswick DCM MM, 40th Battalion, returned to Australia, 16 June 1919.
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