Leslie Rupert Thomas (Les) RAMAGE

RAMAGE, Leslie Rupert Thomas

Service Number: 6071
Enlisted: 14 March 1916
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 1st Infantry Battalion
Born: Violet Town, 1898
Home Town: Violet Town, Strathbogie, Victoria
Schooling: Violet Town State School
Occupation: Carpenter
Died: Rouse Hill, NSW, 1973, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Castlebrook Memorial Park
Memorials: Euroa Telegraph Park, Violet Town Honour Roll WW1, Wangaratta and District Victory Roll
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World War 1 Service

14 Mar 1916: Enlisted AIF WW1, 6071
22 Aug 1916: Involvement Private, 6071, 1st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '7' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Wiltshire embarkation_ship_number: A18 public_note: ''
22 Aug 1916: Embarked Private, 6071, 1st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wiltshire, Sydney

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Biography

RAMAGE Leslie Rupert Thomas 6071 PTE
1st Battalion
1898-1973

Leslie was born on 25 July 1898 in Violet Town, eldest son of Henry and Louisa (née Rule) Ramage.  After leaving school he completed his apprenticeship as a carpenter working with his father.

Les was only 17 years and 3 months when he enlisted on 14 March 1916 but like so many others had put up his age.  He was drafted into the 1st Battalion.

Les sailed from Sydney aboard HMAT A18 Wiltshire on 22 August 1916 arriving at Plymouth, England in October.  In December after more training he proceeded to France. Les was wounded in May 1917 at Bullecourt with a gunshot wound to his left shoulder and spent six weeks in hospital. In September he evacuated to England and was admitted to the 1st Southern General Hospital in Birmingham suffering from Trench Fever. Les spent six months convalescing in England before returning to his battalion in France at the beginning of April 1918.  He was wounded again in August near Harbonieres with a gunshot to his right shoulder and was evacuated to the Beaufort War Hospital in Bristol England.  Les remained in England until he embarked for home in early February 1919 aboard HMAT A11 Ascanius.  He arrived on 4 April and was discharged in May 1919.

After the war Les married and worked as a carpenter in Victoria until the death of his wife Florence ‘Poss’ Christofferson in 1962. He moved back to New South Wales in 1963.  Les died suddenly at home in 1973 and is buried in the Castlebrook Cemetery, NSW.

Service Medals:     British War Medal     Victory Medal

Memorials: Violet Town State School Honour Board
                    Main Honour Board, Memorial Hall, Violet Town
                    Copper Plaque affixed to exterior wall of Memorial Hall, Violet Town

A memorial tree was planted in 1917.

In 2013 a Ceratonia siliqua - Carob Tree - was planted in McDiarmid’s Road by Joyce Asquith and Dawn Ford, nieces.

© 2016 Jenni Kennedy

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