THORLEY, Leslie
| Service Number: | 189 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1914, An original of B Company |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 8th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Geelong, Victoria, Australia, 1891 |
| Home Town: | Geelong, Greater Geelong, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Telephone linesman |
| Died: | Died of wounds, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 25 April 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey Panel 30 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Geelong Yarra Street Methodist Church Honour Roll Window, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 189, 8th Infantry Battalion, An original of B Company | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Private, 189, 8th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Private, 189, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Melbourne |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Leslie Thorley’s death was recognised in the Geelong Advertiser of 20 May 1915, noting that he was a Geelong native and the only son of Station-Keeper Thorley, of the City Fire Station. While the parents were proud that their boy died in his country's cause, the case was particularly sad because he was an only son and of good physique. He was 23 years of age, and for some years before enlistment was a lineman in the Geelong telegraph service. He was one of the earliest to volunteer from Geelong. Every week since departure he had written regularly to his mother, and a fortnight before his death a silk-faced souvenir card from Egypt expressed a veiled good-bye and a hint that the troops were moving somewhere. No more was heard of him till the Defence Department's telegram reported him as having died of wounds on the 10 May 1915.
This date is not correct as according to his service file Thorley is recorded as dying of wounds on the 26 April 1915, aboard the hospital ship “Ionian” and was then buried at sea. His official date of death on the Roll of Honour is 25 April 1915.