18252
HARRIS, Leslie James Henry
| Service Number: | 77 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 4 January 1916, at Adelaide |
| Last Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 43rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Burra, South Australia, 29 July 1887 |
| Home Town: | Kooringa, Burra, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | 30 June 1960, aged 72 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Burra Cemetery, South Australia |
| Memorials: | Burra District WW1 Honor Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 4 Jan 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 77, 43rd Infantry Battalion, at Adelaide | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 77, 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, 77, 43rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Afric, Adelaide | |
| 23 Oct 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 77, 43rd Infantry Battalion, Third Ypres, Mustard gassed | |
| 11 Nov 1918: | Involvement Lance Corporal, 77, 43rd Infantry Battalion |
Help us honour Leslie James Henry Harris's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by St Ignatius' College
Leslie James Henry Harris was born on the 29th of July in Kooringa, South Australia and lived in the town of Burra with his mother. He was 29 years old when he enlisted into the army and his relationship status was single, His father was called William Harris, his sister was Gwen Harris, and his next of kin was his mother Mary Anne Harris. Leslie lived on Bridge Street in Kooringa, and his occupation before enlisting was a labourer and had religious beliefs of a Methodist. Before the war he was never an apprentice, never served His Majesty’s Army and because he didn’t serve in his army, never had been discharged by them.
He was 5 foot 9 inches, so he was a bit taller than average and had brown eyes and blue hair. His overall complexion was described as fresh.
He enlisted in the AIF (Australian Imperial force) on the 4th of January 1916 and obtained the service number of 77. He later embarked on the ship HMAT A19 Afric from Adelaide, South Australia. In 1916, Harris and the battalion were transported and raised in Egypt and then they were moved to the UK in France along with all of the 3rd division where they would do training. When the whole battalion including Leslie proceeded to the destination of France on the 25th of November 1916, he had been caught for committing a big crime which was being absent without leave for 14 days. In the early 1917 they were involved in trench warfare against Germany in the battle of Messines during the first world war. During the World War one, he got injured and transferred to the Cambridge Eastern General Hospital on the 6th of November 1917. The reason for being transferred into hospital was because he had gotten wounded in action and was mustard gassed on October the 10th of 1917. He was later told back to return back to Australia from duty as he was deemed as medically unfit and returned on the date of January the 31st 1918 from England. At the time of service, he was rank private. In total, he officially served in the military for 2 years and 169 days but was only abroad service for 1 year and 309 days. He got promoted during his time in service and obtained his final rank of Lance Corporal before he got discharged on June the 21st 1918.
Harris died at the age of 74 on the 30th of June in 1960 and on his gravestone, his sister was also mentioned when she died at the age of 70 on the 14th of July 1959. A gravestone with their names engraved on it was located in the Burra cemetery in the Goyder Regional Council in South Australia which was both their hometown.
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