LEES, John
| Service Number: | 3432 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 28 November 1916, Brisbane, Qld. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 49th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Dumbarton, Scotland, 1887 |
| Home Town: | Redcliffe, Moreton Bay, Queensland |
| Schooling: | College St School Dumbarton Scotland |
| Occupation: | Labourer |
| Died: | Killed In Action, Polygon Wood, Belgium, 27 September 1917 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" |
| Memorials: | Menin Gate Memorial (Commonwealth Memorial to the Missing of the Ypres Salient), Mooloolah, Glenview & Highlands WW1 Honour Board, Mooloolah, Glenview and Highlands Honour Roll, Redcliffe Humpybong Roll of Honor, Woody Point Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 28 Nov 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3432, 49th Infantry Battalion, Brisbane, Qld. | |
|---|---|---|
| 24 Jan 1917: | Involvement Private, 3432, 49th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ayrshire embarkation_ship_number: A33 public_note: '' | |
| 24 Jan 1917: | Embarked Private, 3432, 49th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ayrshire, Sydney |
Narrative
LEES John # 3432A 49th Battalion
John Lees was a native of Dumbarton in Scotland. His parents, Thomas Lees and Catherine Burns Lees lived at Ballagen Balloch in Dunbartonshire and John attended College Street School. At some point John emigrated to Australia and lived with Mrs Jane Burns (possibly his mother’s sister in law) at The Harbour, Redcliffe. It was reported that John worked for the then Redcliffe Shire Council as a labourer.
John Lees had attempted to enlist on a previous occasion but was rejected due to a hernia. On 28th November 1916, John again presented himself to the recruiting depot in Adelaide Street, Brisbane where he was accepted. He was 29 years old. He had obviously had his hernia attended to as his medical details note a hernia scar. John’s younger brother, James, had enlisted one month before John. James gave his address also as the Harbour, Redcliffe and reported his occupation as timber getter. James would survive the war and return to Australia in 1919.
John Lees reported directly to Enoggera where he was marched in to the 14th Depot Battalion. After a short period of training John was granted home leave of two days to visit friends and family in Redcliffe. He advised his commanding officer then the journey home would take a ½ hour by train to Central Station and then a 2 hour journey by steamer from the city across the bay to Redcliffe. Upon returning from home leave, John along with other reinforcements boarded a train for Wallangarra where they transferred to a NSW train for the journey to Sydney. On 24th January (two months after enlisting and still a raw soldier) John boarded the “Ayrshire”.
John Lees disembarked in Devonport near Portsmouth three months later. This long at sea is probably due to the “Ayrshire” sailing via the Cape of Good Hope and into the Atlantic to avoid the threat of U-Boat attack in the Mediterranean. After so long at sea, the barracks at Codford must have been a welcome sight. Further training ensued.
Across the channel, the British had launched a new summer offensive in Flanders; beginning with the firing of 19 underground mines at Messines. This was the start of Haig’s plan to breakthrough in the Ypres salient towards the village of Passchendaele. John Lees finally received his orders to proceed overseas in August 1917 and was taken on strength by the 31st Battalion on 22nd August.
The 31st at that time were in a rest area to the west of Ypres preparing for an attack along the Menin Road towards a heavily wooded area named Polygon Wood. On the evening of 25th September, the battalion moved up to jumping off tapes and waited for the creeping artillery barrage to begin which would signal the advance. By the next day the objective had been taken and the troops dug in and waited for the expected counter attack. The battalion held the line for the next few days before being relieved. The Battalion War Diary gives an excellent account of those few days, noting how well the artillery barrage aided the advance. Almost as a postscript, the battle report states that 25 ORs (Ordinary ranks) were killed. John Lees was one of them. He had been with his unit just over a month and Polygon Wood was his first action.
John Lees army file notes on a single page “buried” however there is no further reference to a burial. Instead John Lees is one of the more than 50,000 British and Dominion servicemen killed in Flanders with no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. John’s mother was granted a war pension of 2 pounds per fortnight.
Each evening at 8:00pm the townsfolk of Ypres hold a Last Post memorial service at the Menin Gate to honour the sacrifice of men with no known grave.
Submitted 31 August 2022 by Ian Lang
Biography contributed by Ian Lang
LEES John # 3432A 49th Battalion
John Lees was a native of Dumbarton in Scotland. His parents, Thomas Lees and Catherine Burns Lees lived at Ballagen Balloch in Dunbartonshire and John attended College Street School. At some point John emigrated to Australia and lived with Mrs Jane Burns (possibly his sister in law) at The Harbour, Redcliffe. It was reported that John worked for the then Redcliffe Shire Council as a labourer.
John Lees had attempted to enlist on a previous occasion but was rejected due to a hernia. On 28thNovember 1916, John again presented himself to the recruiting depot in Adelaide Street, Brisbane where he was accepted. He was 29 years old. He had obviously had his hernia attended to as his medical details note a hernia scar. John’s younger brother, James, had enlisted one month before John. James gave his address also as the Harbour, Redcliffe and reported his occupation as timber getter. James would survive the war and return to Australia in 1919.
John Lees reported directly to Enoggera where he was marched in to the 14th Depot Battalion. After a short period of training John was granted home leave of two days to visit friends and family in Redcliffe. He advised his commanding officer that the journey home would take a ½ hour by train to Central Station and then a 2hour journey by steamer from the city across the bay to Redcliffe. Upon returning from home leave, John along with other reinforcements boarded a train for Wallangarra where they transferred to a NSW train for the journey to Sydney. On 24th January (two months after enlisting and still a raw soldier) John boarded the “Ayrshire”.
John Lees disembarked in Devonport near Portsmouth three months later. The length of the voyage is probably due to the “Ayrshire” sailing via the Cape of Good Hope and into the Atlantic to avoid the threat of U-Boat attack in the Mediterranean. After so long at sea, the barracks at Codford must have been a welcome sight. Further training ensued.
Across the channel, the British had launched a new summer offensive in Flanders; beginning with the firing of 19 underground mines at Messines. This was the start of Haig’s plan to breakthrough in the Ypres salient towards the village of Passchendaele. John Lees finally received his orders to proceed overseas in August 1917 and was taken on strength by the 31st Battalion on 22nd August.
The 31st at that time were in a rest area to the west of Ypres preparing for an attack along the Menin Road towards a heavily wooded area named Polygon Wood. On the evening of 25th September, the battalion moved up to jumping off tapes and waited for the creeping artillery barrage to begin which would signal the advance. By the next day the objective had been taken and the troops dug in and waited for the expected counter attack. The battalion held the line for the next few days before being relieved. The Battalion War Diary gives an excellent account of those few days, noting how well the artillery barrage aided the advance. Almost as a postscript, the battle report states that 25 ORs (Ordinary ranks) were killed. John Lees was one of them. He had been with his unit just over a month and Polygon Wood was his first action.
John Lees army file notes on a single page “buried” however there is no further reference to a burial. Instead, John Lees is one of the more than 54,000 British and Dominion servicemen killed in Flanders with no known grave. His name is inscribed on the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres. John’s mother was granted a war pension of 2 pounds per fortnight.
Each evening at 8:00pm the townsfolk of Ypres hold a Last Post memorial service at the Menin Gate to honour the sacrifice of men with no known grave.
Biography contributed by Faithe Jones
Son of Thomas and Catherine LEES, Milton Grove, Ballagan, Balloch, Dumbartonshire, Scotland
His sister, Jane Burns, lived at The Harbour Redcliffe. His brother, James [6343], also lived at Woody Point and served overseas. John was employed by Redcliffe Shire Council when he enlisted in November 1916. He was killed in action at Polygon Wood, Belgium in September 1917.
Click images to start slideshow.