Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Born  26 Jan 1896 in North Shields, South Australia
(SA Birth record  1842 - 1906 Book: 578 Page: 44 District: Fli.)

Grandfather Thomas Leane and Grandmother Alice A Leane - Rose Street, Prospect
Had 6 sons who served in the war.

Father Ernest Albert LEANE (Warrant Officer) and
Mother Martha May Leane (nee BOSWELL)
living at 158 O'Connor Street, North Adelaide, SA.

Next of kin in service:
Father     Warrant Officer #        Ernest Albert Leane  -      London

Brother                             #        W E A Leane -         London

Uncle       Major Benjamin Bennett
Uncle       Lieutenant Colonel  - A W Leane   killed in France

Uncle       Brigadier General R L Leane - returned

Cousin     Lieutenant A Leane - killed

six Leane brothers, sons of Thomas and Alice Leane of Prospect, SA.

PICTURE attached Left to right:
standing:     Major Benjamin Bennett Leane (1889-1917), 48th Battalion
                   (killed in action on 10 April 1917.)
                   Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Lionel Leane MC (1878-1962), 11th Battalion
                   373 Warrant Officer 1 Ernest Albert Leane (1869-?), 27th Battalion
Seated:       Major Edwin Thomas Leane (1867-1928), AIF Ordnance Service
                   Major Allan William Leane (1872-1917), 28th Battalion.
                   (Lieutenant Colonel Allan William Leane died of shrapnel wounds received at
                    Delville Wood, France, on 4 January 1917.)

The Leane family became famous for their extraordinary wartime service.

During the First World War, with the exception of Norman Short Leane, almost every male member of military age offered himself for active service and was accepted.

Norman Leane later served in the Second World War.

Edwin Thomas Leane's sons:-
- Allan Edwin Leane
- Geoffrey Paul Leane
- Reuben Ernest Leane, all served in the 48th Battalion.
- Maxwell Leane also served in the RAN
- Allan Edwin Leane died of wounds in 1917
- Arnold Leane also served in the 27th Battalion and was killed in action in 1916
- Raymond Leane was awarded the Military Cross for actions at Gaba Tepe, Gallipoli on 4 May 1915.
- An action in which he led a successful attack on Turkish defences on 31 July 1915 led to the
  position becoming named Leane's Trench.
  On 1 June 1918 Raymond was promoted to Brigadier General.
  His outstanding war career and later service as a Police Commissioner led to a knighthood in 1944. 

Work in progress

Arnold's Previous service:
2 years senior cadets, then Sergeant in Citizens Forces, North Adelaide

Described on enlisting as 19 years 5 months old; single; 5' 6" tall; 156 lbs; fair complexion;
brown eyes; auburn hair; Church of Christ.

24/5/1915          Enlisted at Keswick
                          E Company Base Depot

31/5/1915          Embarked from Adelaide on board HMAT Geelong A2
                          with the B Company, 27th Infantry Battalion

4/9/1915            Embarked Alexandria to join the Meditteranean Expeditionary Forces, Gallipoli
                        
10/1/1916          Disembarked ex Mudros, Greece

5/2/1916            to field ambulance sick, Tel-El-Kebir
5/2/1916            admitted to No. 7 Australian Field Ambulance, Pyrexia (unknown fever), Ismailia
5/2/1916            admitted 2nd Casualty Clearing Station - Pharyngitis - Tel-El-Kebir
7/2/1916            discharged to duty
8/2/1916            Rejoined 27th Battalion - Ismailia

15/3/1916          Proceeded to join British Expeditionary Forces (BEF), ex Alexandria
21/3/1916          Disembarked into Marseilles, France

11/4/1916          to hospital sick - 6th Australian Field Ambulance - Rue Marle, France
12/4/1916          Laryngitis - admitted to 8th Casualty Clearing Station
17/4/1916          Discharged to duty
17/4/1916          Rejoined 27th Battalion - Armentiers, France

1/8/1916            Appointed to Lance Corporal - France
7/8/1916            Promoted to Temporary Corporal
7/8/1916            Promoted to Corporal

5/11/1916          Wounded in action
                          whilst being stretchered off of the field, Private Leane was hit by a shell
                          died immediately
buried in:           The vicinity of "The Maze and Blue Cut", Guedecourt, France

7/12/1920         Mrs Martha Leane wrote to the Base Records - as next of kin and about the
                         war gratuity,
                         "as she still had 3 children at home aged 13, 12 and 10 years.
                           Martha noted that her husband (Ernest Thomas Leane) had left her in 1915,
                           he returned from England then deserted her, her family and home,
                           and she had not received a cent from him since 1915."

Later his grave was not found.
23/12/1922          A special commemorative wooden cross was erected at:
                            Dernancourt Communal Cemetery Extension
                            2 miles south-south-west of Albert, France
                            - with an inscription written on the cross
                             "Believed to be buried in this cemetery, grave unknown".

He is commemorated on the Villers-Brettoneaux Memorial, M.R.26, Part IV, K-M.

Medals:
WWI 1914-15 Star (22688); British War medal (13206); Victory medal (13146)
Memorial Plaque and Memorial Scroll (31362).

Sourced and submitted by Julianne T Ryan.  30/10/2014.  Lest we forget.