HAMILTON, Leslie Charles
| Service Number: | 3308 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 16 July 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 6th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Collingwood, Victoria, Australia, 24 May 1897 |
| Home Town: | Alphington, Darebin, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Assistant Produce Merchant |
| Died: | 25 October 1969, aged 72 years, cause of death not yet discovered, place of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Alphington Soldiers Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 16 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 11 Oct 1915: | Involvement Private, 3308, 6th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Nestor embarkation_ship_number: A71 public_note: '' | |
| 11 Oct 1915: | Embarked Private, 3308, 6th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Nestor, Melbourne |
Extract from diary of Private Hamilton dated July 19th 1916:
“ - Fromelles-
On Tuesday July 18th we left our billets for the trenches. We all knew what we were going into the line for. I was ........off as a runner for the Company & had to carry dispatches from the front line & supports to Batt H.Q. It was quiet enough through the day & night but next day it was hell on earth. At 11 O’clock the bombardment started at its highest and continued like it through the day. H. E (high explosives) and shrapnel was flying in all ways. Our front line was almost levelled to the ground and I think the Germans line must have been worse. Our wounded were coming out in scores. At 5.55 the lads prepared to charge & at 6 O’clock went over the top. The machine gun fire they met was awful but wave swept on. I was not in the front line at the time of the charge so I never went over but I set to & carried the wounded back to the dressing station. We had a good way to carry the wounded & it was awful hard work.
I saw H. Chivers at st ( dressing station) and he was badly wounded in 6 places. I saw some awful sights. German prisoners were coming back & they were broken up completely their nerves were gone & they were glad to get back behind our lines. They said their casualties were awful but our own were to. We were told to retire & on the commands of the Capt. fell in near the dressing station & had a roll call only 88 of us were left to tell the fate. All my mates were killed or wounded.
We went back into billets around 11 O’clock next day and OC gave us a good issue of rum & that was the last I remembered till that night when we were again called out to go up the line to bring back all the packs belonging to the lost. We are a sorry sight. Some of the lads who had been wounded & lying in no mans land for the last 2 nights crawled back to our own trenches. Some not coming in for 5 & 6 days later. “
Courtesy Chris Smith (Grandson) and Kevin Bockmann OAM.
Submitted 23 January 2018 by Faithe Jones