89497
LEAHY, Bert
| Service Number: | 111 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 January 1916, at Adelaide |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 47th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Kogarah, New South Wales, Australia, May 1892 |
| Home Town: | Abbotsford, Boroondara, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Memorials: | Ballarat Australian Ex-Prisoners of War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 111, 43rd Infantry Battalion, at Adelaide | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 111, 43rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '18' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Afric embarkation_ship_number: A19 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 111, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide | |
| 11 Apr 1917: | Imprisoned Bullecourt (First) | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Private, 111, 47th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Saint Ignatius' College
Before the War
Bert Leahy was born in 1892 Kogarah, New South Wales. Bert was 6-foot tall (182cm), weighed 164lbs and worked as a labourer. Bert was one of the very few soldiers to be 6 foot tall as most soldiers were no taller than 5’10 (178cm). Bert had blue eyes, brown hair and was single with no children. Before the war, Bert lived with his next of kin and close friend Mrs Cook at the address 9 Park Street, Abbotsford, Victoria. Bert was enlisted to go to WW1 on the 17th of January 1916 and this was the day that Bert's life changed forever.
Life at War
At age 23 on the 24 of January 1916 Bert was placed in the 43rd Battalion and five months later he was transferred to the 52nd Battalion. In 1916 on the 9th of June Bert embarked on his journey to WW1 from Adelaide, South Australia. He disembarked the ship on the 24th of July 1916 in Southampton. Not long after arriving in Southampton he trained with the 52nd Battalion and was then taken on strength by the 47th Battalion on the 18th of March 1917. Bert was a Private and fought in the First Attack on Bullecourt with the 47th Battalion and was shot in the line of action. He was wounded (gun shot to left arm) and was then captured by enemy fighters. Bert and the 47th Battalion were in dug outs when they were captured and one of his allies managed to get away. The soldier that got away wrote to home base “I was with all these men in dug outs opposite Bullecourt and saw them all wounded by shell or bullet where they had to be left in our retirement. They will either be Prisoner of War or killed by enemy. I got away but was wounded in our own line later in the day. They were all A Coy and Cullen and Leahy were in my Pl.No2.” Not long after Bert was captured as Prisoner of War, he sent a letter to home base saying, “Wounded left arm, doing well.” After one year and five months Bert was repatriated from being a Prisoner of War and was returned to home soil on 2nd of December 1918. One month later Bert was discharged from the War as he was medically unfit.
The 47th Battalion
Bert Leahy was in multiple Battalions but spent majority of his time in the 47th Battalion. The 47th Battalion was formed in Egypt on the 24th of February 1916 with half of the recruits being veterans from the 15th Battalion and the other half being reinforcements from Australia. The commanding officers of the 47th Battalion were Robert Eccles Snowden, Thomas Flintoff and Alexander Peter Imlay. The 47th Battalion fought in the Attack on Dernancourt, the Battle of Messines, the Battle of Pozieres, the First Battle of Bullecourt (this was where Bert was captured) and the First Battle of Passchendaele.
After the War
After the War Bert received two medals for his service. He received the Victory Medal and the British War Medal. After settling down and healing from his injuries at war Bert married Lena Penney. Lena Penny died in 1949 at the age of 56. Six years after Lena Penney’s death he married and had a girl (Jennifer Wilson) with Gloria D. Wilson. Bert sadly died from old age seven years later at the age of 70 in Turramurra, New South Wales.