PRIOR, Leslie Thomas
| Service Number: | 5071 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 3 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 23rd Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Carlton, Victoria, Australia, 30 January 1902 |
| Home Town: | Brunswick East, Moreland, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Central Brunswick State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, France, 3 May 1917, aged 15 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, City of Brunswick Honour Roll, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial (Australian National Memorial - France) |
World War 1 Service
| 3 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5071, 23rd Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Jul 1916: | Involvement Private, 5071, 23rd Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '14' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Armadale embarkation_ship_number: A26 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Jul 1916: | Embarked Private, 5071, 23rd Infantry Battalion, HMAT Armadale, Melbourne |
WW1
The story of this soldier has been written in the book titled "The Lost Boys" published 2019 and written by Paul Byrnes. The story is written at pages 258 to 269. Rest In Peace Lest We Forget
Submitted 11 November 2022 by Maxwell HILL
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From How We Served
The private commemoration for; - 5071 Private Leslie Thomas Prior of East Brunswick, Victoria, who prior to his joining up for War Service on the 5th of February 1916, had stated he was 18 on his enlistment, and that he had been employed as a labourer.
Official verification from his mother following his death in the next year proved that Leslie had enlisted under age, and was in fact only 15.
Leslie was allocated to reinforcements for the 23rd Battalion 1st AIF and was embarked for England and further training on the 19th of July. Following hospitalization for sickness Leslie was sent over to France where he was marched into the ‘Bull Ring’ at Etaples on the 21st of March 1917, for his final phase of training before entering the trenches.
Taken on strength with his Battalion in the field, Leslie was with his Unit when it was committed to the Second Battle of Bullecourt, and it was whilst serving during this heavy fighting that Leslie was ‘Killed in Action’ on the 3rd of May.
There was to be no formal recovery of Leslie’s body and due to his having no actual known grave he is instead officially commemorated on the Walls of the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France.
Back in Australia, Private Leslie Prior's supreme sacrifice made during the ‘Great War’ was privately commemorated at the Prior family’s collective burial site within Melbourne General Cemetery, Victoria.
Biography contributed by Peter Rankin
Leslie was only 15 years 3 months old at time of death. His family epitaph reads- HOW MUCH I LOVED YOU NO ONE KNOWS, YOUR DEATH CAME SUCH A BLOW TO ME, WHILE YOU ARE SLEEPING MY LOVE IS NIGH, IF ANY MISS YOU, DEAR LES, IT IS I.
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