Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Leslie was born on the 27th January 1917 at Elliston, on the coast of Eyre Peninsula, a port where wool and wheat was shipped for the farming community. Les’ parents were Arthur Percival and Edith Anne who operated the Post Office at Kimba. He had an older brother, Arthur Wallace (DFM) and younger Robert Frederick who also served during WWII and a sister, Greta.
At the end of the ’23 school year, the Kapunda Public School held their end of year breakup with numerous awards being presented. Leslie, in Grade 1 was presented with a prize for ‘Being the Most Helpful to Teacher’. Several years later, in ’38 a young student, Yvonne Freeth was awarded a prize for being the ‘most conscientious pupil in music’. She was to have a lasting influence on Les’ life.
Post school, Les became a butcher, but with the outbreak of WWII, aged 23, Les enlisted on the 6th July 1940 in Adelaide and was allocated the number SX8140 in the newly formed 2/48th Battalion. In September that year, Les’ older brother, Arthur, who had worked as a tractor driver in Queensland, also enlisted, but in the Airforce. He served in the 83 Squadron (Pathfinder Force) as 404468. Their younger brother, Robert was the third to enlist in August the following year as SX14257 with the 2/9th Regiment.
Les’ early days were spent at Wayville before intensive training continued at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills. Following pre-embarkation leave, Les boarded the Stratheden on the 17th November, arriving in the Middle East on the 17th December. Back home, the local newspaper published the addresses of their soldiers, including Les’, to enable friends to write and keep in contact. He was soon being treated for a range of niggling conditions including a fever (febricula), influenza and conjunctivitis. By August the following year Les was appointed Lance Corporal, which he held for six months while his battalion was in the midst of the Siege of Tobruk. He was to become one of the highly regarded Rats of Tobruk, a derogatory reference to the living conditions of the troops and designed to encourage them to surrender. It had the opposite effect and became an unofficial, highly praised title.
Six months later, Les was caught being absent for a few hours and returned to the rank of Private. However, within two months he was again promoted.
Returning to Australia via Melbourne in February ’43, Les enjoyed leave back in Kimba where a hugely popular social was organised in the Kimba Soldier’s Memorial Hall for those on leave. A guard of honor was formed and the guests marched on to the stage, where their parents were congregated. Following a warm welcome, dancing and supper concluded the evening. Les then headed to Queensland for training to replicate the conditions the men would experience in the heat and humidity of New Guinea. Soon after arriving in Milne Bay Les received a series of promotions, culminating in Corporal in February ’44. Unfortunately, he also contracted an extremely high temperature and malaria which inevitably resulted in his return to Brisbane.
In April that year, Corporal Leslie and Yvonne Lorraine Freeth of Kimba announced their engagement. It was to be a year of mixed emotions for Les. His parents in September received distressing news that their eldest son, 29-year-old Flt-Sgt. Wallace Poyzer, has been reported missing in a Flying Battle over France. The Advertiser added that ‘He was the gunner of a Lancaster aircraft detailed to attack an enemy target at Caen, France, on the night of June 6-7. It failed to return to base. He had carried out 59 operational flights. He also served in the Middle East. He joined the RAAF in July 1940 and left for England in March 1941. His two brothers, Les and Bob, are in the Army.’ In January ’45 Les’ parents received advice that Wallace’s grave had been found in France, having been shot down during the invasion of Normandy.
By January ’45, Les became an Instructor at the Australian Training Centre. Unfortunately, poor health again affected him in June that year, developing boils and possible diabetes which inevitably led to his discharge on the 7th November ’45. His young brother, Robert, who had become a Lance Corporal, was discharged just days before, on the 23rd October.
Bittersweet news from the Air Ministry was received by Les’ parents in February ’46 that Arthur had posthumously been awarded the Defence Flying Medal. The Advertiser report published ‘that Flt-Sgt. Poyzer, who was an air gunner, completed many successful operations against the enemy, in the course of which he invariably displayed high skill, fortitude, and devotion to duty. He was a member of the crew of a Lancaster bomber which left England on the night of June 6. 1944, to attack enemy targets near Caen, and failed to return. Flt-Sgt. Poyzer had completed 59 operational flights against the enemy in many parts, including El Alamein.
The family continued to remember Arthur, placing a tribute to him on the anniversary of his death. ‘POYZER, Flt-Sgt. A. W., D.F.M.—In loving memory of our dear son, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, who lost his life over Cean, France. June 6. 1944. So dearly loved, so sadly missed. —inserted by mother, father, Greta, Les, Bob, Yvon, Von and little Judith. POZZER., Wallace. Flt-Sgt., D.F.M.— Killed in action, June 4. 1944. Tender memories linger ever.—Always remembered by auntie Gladys.’
Les and Yvonne married in October '46 in the Kimba Methodist Church in what was described as 'a truly floral wedding’. Prior to the ceremony, the local residents organised a kitchen evening in the Kimba Institute for Yvonne, a highly respected and popular local. with Leslie choosing Yvonne’s two brothers, Neville and C.W. Freeth as his attendants. They welcomed a precious son, Graham Leslie in February ’51.
By November ’55 Les was appointed as an Australian mail officer, following in his father’s footsteps.
Aged 86, Leslie died on the 10th June 2003 and is buried in the Enfield Memorial Park.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.