CHALLEN, Leslie George Reginald
| Service Numbers: | 2857, W26132 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 25 June 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Major |
| Last Unit: | 10 Garrison Battalion (WA) |
| Born: | Walhalla, Victoria, Australia, 20 April 1895 |
| Home Town: | Perth, Western Australia |
| Schooling: | Fremantle Boys’ School, Western Australia |
| Occupation: | Clerk |
| Died: | Perth, Western Australia, 1 September 1981, aged 86 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Karrakatta Cemetery & Crematorium, Western Australia |
| Memorials: |
Biography contributed by Chris Buckley
Lieutenant Leslie George Reginald Challen MC, MiD (Service No:2857) enlisted in the AIF on 25 June 1915 - he had previously served with Senior Cadets in 30 Signal Coy AE. Promoted to Corporal on 1 August 1915, he embarked from Fremantle for Suez on 5 October 1915 with 16th Infantry Battalion on board HMAT A20 Hororata. Transferred to 48th Infantry Battalion, he was promoted through the ranks to Lieutenant, and was Mentioned in Despatches on two occasions in 1916 and 1917 and awarded the Military Cross in 1918 for his outstanding devotion to duty and gallantry in the Field in France. Lieutenant Challen was hospitalised in London with bronchitis and embarked for the RTA on 7 February 1919 on board HT Lancashire. His appointment was terminated on 20 September 1919.
Lieutenant Challen (Service No:W26132) served with the ACMF in WWII - 12 August 1940 to 20 June 1946 - and was promoted to Captain (1 September 1942) and Major (1 January 1943). Major Challen, described as 'a keen and conscientious officer' (NAA), served with 5 and 10 Garrison Battalions in Northam, Merredin, Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Collie, Bridgetown, Albany, Geraldton and the North West of WA. Three of Major Challen's children (Robert, Jessie and Trevor) also served in WWII.
Born in 1895 in Walhalla in Victoria, Les was the eldest of three children of Robert William Pearson Challen (b1871 in Emerald Hill, Victoria) and Elizabeth Nash (b1872 in Walhalla, Victoria). Robert (an Electrical Engineer) and Elizabeth married in 1894 in Walhalla, Victoria. In 1902 Robert arrived in Fremantle WA on board the Pilbara and was joined by Elizabeth and the children in 1903. The family settled in Perth, and Robert worked as an Electrician and Electrical and Mechanical Engineer, some years travelling to Mt Leonora and Collie for work while Elizabeth and the children remained in Perth.
Les worked as a Clerk before enlisting in the AIF in 1914, and following his Discharge, in 1920 in Perth, married Kathleen Beatrice Wardell-Johnson (b1895 in York, WA) - Kathleen was a Typist in Perth. Les and Kathleen settled at Herne Hill in the Swan Valley where Les was a Viticulturalist, before moving to Perth by 1930 where he worked as a Motor Mechanic. Les died in 1981 and Kathleen in 1987.
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