Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Leonard Wellings Lieutenant 41st Battalion

Len Wellings was born in Manchester in May 1894. He reported his address as Kirkland Avenue Coorparoo and gave his mother Sarah Ann Wellings as his next of kin. The application for a commission as an officer completed on 22nd February 1916 records that Leonard had attended primary school for the full term (8 years) and had then had private coaching while attending the College of Pharmacy for five years. He also stated that he had been a member of the senior cadets, and then Citizens Military Forces (where he was commissioned as a second lieutenant) for almost five years. This was a remarkable achievement for a young man who was 21 years old. It is highly likely that Leonard delayed his enlistment until he had completed his pharmacy course and secured employment as an analytical chemist with Taylor and Colledge; Chemists and Druggists of Brisbane.

Leonard’s application for a commission was approved in March 1916 and he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was called up for enlistment on 8th May 1916, being drafted into the 41st Battalion and ten days later embarked on the “Demosthenes” in Sydney.

The 41st Battalion was part of the 11th brigade in the 4th Division AIF. The 4th Division was training in England under Divisional Commander John Monash when Leonard arrived in Plymouth on 20th July 1916. Leonard was detached to the Bayonet Fighting School at Tidworth in October 1916 and was promoted to full Lieutenant on 15th November 1916 before proceeding overseas for France.

In a typical display of military logic, Leonard was seconded to the 3rd Railway Construction Party in January 1917, where no doubt his bayonet and chemistry skills were in great demand. He did not rejoin his battalion until late April, whereupon he was attached temporarily to 11th Brigade Headquarters. The brigade at this time was positioned in the line south of Messines near Ploegsteert (soldiers called it Plug Street) engaging in intelligence gathering prior to the big assault on the ridge planned for the first week of June.

The brigade War Diary for June 1917 details the extent of the planning for the Messines offensive with numerous intelligence reports and battalion and company movement orders. An entry for the 1st June, written in a very blunt blue pencil states simply: “Attached to brigade HQ for the offensive, Lt Wellings succumbed to gas.”

The gas which caused Leonard to be evacuated to the 9th Field Ambulance was most probably mustard gas, which was used in Flanders extensively in 1917. On 2nd June, Leonard was transferred to the 53rd Casualty Clearing Station where he died the following day; initially listed as Died of Wounds, this was later changed to Died of Gas Poisoning. Leonard was buried at Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension just to the west of Ploegsteert across the Belgian/ French border with the Rev. Heath presiding at the graveside.

Some time elapsed before Leonard’s personal belongings were despatched to his father, which was the cause of a deal of correspondence. When his steamer trunk and valise finally arrived in the middle of 1919, among the usual uniform and toiletry items were three grenades (disarmed) and a quantity of photographic paper, developing chemicals and trays. There was also a camera and a cigar box of photographs. It would seem that even at the front, Leonard was able to engage in his love for chemistry and photography.