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Australia

Born in Norwood on the 11th March 1911, Norman Joshiah was the second son of William Hurtle and Ethel Christina Leaney. Better known as Norm, he had two brothers, Frederick Victor and Arthur William Thomas and a sister, Eva. As children, they attended the local Wellington Road School (now called Trinity Gardens).
Norm was 20 when his 48-year-old father died at Northfield on the 30th January ’32 affected by ‘spastic paralysis’, which later also affected Arthur. This was a challenging time for the family with little compassion shown for a widow and her children. To earn more money, the oldest son, Frederick drove an ice cart during the summer months of ‘40 but did not disclose his full earnings to the Unemployment Relief Council. He was subsequently heavily fined £2 with 7/6 costs.
Post school Norm worked for the Norwood based soft drink manufacturer, Woodroofe Ltd and was a fit, active, sporting young man, who was chosen to play for the local Norwood & Kensington Methodist football team in winter and cricket in summer. Norm liked to ‘push the boundaries’ as a young man. In ’37 he received a fine for his driving skills not including a signal to turn a corner, resulting in an accident with another car. Norm accelerated, causing the other car to swerve and crash into a shop. The fine of £3, with 10/ costs was hefty. The following year, Norm and six friends were fined for behaved offensively at the Wayville Show grounds with each being fined 5/ with 10/ costs.
With the outbreak of WWII 29-year-old Norm enlisted on the 2nd July 1940. This was the same day as 30-year-old Ivan Hanel, who also lived in Norwood and became SX7483. Norm was allocated the number SX7502 and both men were placed in the newly formed 2/48th Battalion. (His two brothers initially served with the Militia, older brother Arthur, as S11864 and Fred as S11320. Later, Arthur, then 32 years old, enlisted in Port Moresby as SX24108 on the 9th July ‘42 serving in the 13th Field regiment. Younger brother, Arthur later also enlisted in January ’43 as SX30984, in the same Regiment.)
Norm’s early training was at Woodside in the Adelaide Hills before having a short time for pre-embarkation leave. Norm went Absent without Leave during this time for eight days, returning on the 2nd November. Inevitably he was heavily fined £3 and was confined to barracks for a week. He then left on the Stratherden on the 17th of November, arriving in the Middle East on the 17th December ’40. Army life proved to be restrictive for Norm and he again broke out of barracks with a further loss of seven days’ pay and a week of field punishment in January ’42.
On the 1st July ’42 the 2/48th Battalion arrived in Amiriya as Rommel launched a withering attack. John Glenn in Tobruk to Tarakan recalled that ‘The sky roared with battle, great clouds of dust billowed up from the combat. To the sullen rumble of the guns, reminiscent of Tobruk, the 2/48th dug in and prepared to make a stand should the German forces break through.’ The next day began with an early breakfast of cold bully beef. However, with so many allied planes in the air, the men became confident, until bombs began to fall. Then the men dived for cover. In Norm’s D Company, five men were casualties; SX6702 Lieutenant Dudley C. Williams, SX8459 Sergeant Joseph Buckley, Privates N Leaney, SX7100 Harold Bridges and WX9917 Jack Thompson. Norm had sustained a gunshot wound to his right wrist and was treated in a British hospital.
The July issue of the Advertiser carried the news that ‘Mrs E. Leaney, of Adelaide street, Maylands, has been informed that her second son, Pte. Norman J. Leaney, has been wounded in action. He enlisted in July, 1940, and left for overseas in October of that year. Pte. Leaney was interested in cricket and football and played with the Norwood football team. Before enlisting he was employed at Woodroofes Ltd. for 12 years.’
Fellow enlistee and friend, Ivan Hanel from Norwood was also killed in action that month on the 22nd July. He was 32. Norm’s mother placed a tribute to him in the Advertiser. ‘HANEL. On July 22, Pte. Ivan Hanel. killed in action in Egypt. Dear old pal of Norman Leaney. A.I.F. abroad. It's hard to part, old pal. lnserted by E. C. Leaney.’
Norm was able to re-join his 2/48th Battalion in October, ‘42 but by the end of that month, fighting had intensified. John Glenn describes that ‘the 2/48th had stirred up a real hornets’ nest’. During the preceding nights where ‘an occasional burst from a machine gun disturbed the night of 24th October. Nevertheless, it was a busy time for the tired men. Little or no sleep could be had. A hot meal sent forward after dark was quickly swallowed. There was no time for yarning. Defences had to be improved, more digging and wiring done and patrols sent out.’ On that night alone 9 of the Battalion were killed and 20 wounded in action. Of these 16 were from South Australia and the remainder from Western Australia. The conditions where ‘arrangements were made for mines, wire ammunition, food, water, overhead cover, sandbags, tools, anti-tank guns, and all the rest, and holding the present position while preparing to launch another attack. And while all this was being done, the battalion was subjected to murderous fire from artillery and mortars. It says much for the battle-drill of the battalion and supporting arms that everything worked out smoothly, going off without a hitch.’
Norm was part of the offensive at El Alamein to destroy a nest of machine guns. At that time, fierce fighting was underway in the massive assault to take Trig 29. Unbeknown to the men at the time, all members of D Company Headquarters had either been killed or wounded. As they approached the mound, they were swept with fire where the men lay in the open. Five fellow solider were killed . ‘Ray Bloffwich was wounded; Norm Leaney had a leg broken by a mortar bomb.’ Sergeant Kibby stormed the Post, silencing it with grenades, but lost his life in doing so. (He was later awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery.)
Glenn described that day as the ‘bloodiest fighting in the history of the 2/48th Battalion’ with ‘only forty-one weary troops remaining in the field’, that night was pronounced as the climax of the Alamein Battle. Glenn’s final summing up was ‘Truly it can be said of these men, “They fought themselves and their enemy to a standstill until flesh and blood could stand no more, then they went on fighting.” ‘When next the sun drove away those shadows from the desert, death would have reaped a rich harvest of gallant men.’ This was all that remained of these proud Rats of Tobruk. In total 48 men from the 2/48th lost their lives in this battle. In added high praise about those who tended the wounded and collected those killed in action “It says much for them that not one man was missing in their search over the four thousand yards from Trig 29 to the Blockhouse, or in the attack of 3,600 yards to Ring Contour 25.” This included Norm. An horrific battle for the proud and very brave 2/48th Battalion.
The events of that month created a turning point in Egypt. John Glenn attempted to capture the conditions. ‘They were the unsmiling eyes of men who have killed or tried to kill and have faced death in its most vicious forms. Theirs was the pride and sorrow of me who had endured too much. When all else was forgotten, they would remember Alamein and their mates who died there…. They had lived a lifetime in one night.’
Norm was officially listed as being wounded with a fracture to his elbow and right thigh. These injuries meant he returned to Australia on a hospital ship in November, with a compound fracture to his right tibia. From Victoria, he then returned to South Australia for a further fortnight of sick leave. The complexity of his wounds meant that Norm was assessed as being temporarily unfit for service for more than six months.
The November issue of the Advertiser again reported that ‘The mother of Pte. Norman Leaney has been informed that he was wounded in action, this being the second time. Private Leaney enlisted on July 1 1940, and has one brother in the AIF and another in the AMF.’
The November ’42 issue of the Chronicle carried the names of all those injured. The 2/48th Battalion was particularly affected. ‘Dangerously Wounded. — SX8280 Pte. J. H. Abraham, Inf.. Moonta Mines; SX7824 Pte. Cyril A. Braund. Pt. Victoria, Seriously Wounded.— SX12499 Lt. George J Butler, Henley Beach;(Later died of wounds in N.G.) Wounded In Action.— SX9092 Pte. John. W. P Digan. Adelaide; SX13636 Fte, Kenneth F. Goldner, Colonel Light Gardens; SX7502 Pte. Norman J. Leaney, Maylands; SX10090 A-Sgt. John G. Glenn, Victor Harbor; SX6865 Pte. Robert T. McLaren, Barmera; SX11802 Pte. Alan H Harradine. Adelaide; SX8628 Pte. Leonard Kader, Adelaide; SX7512 L-Sgt. A. R. Cross, Wallaroo Mines; SX14264 Pte. Harold M. Cates, Portland; SX11090 Pte. Howard K. Eastick, Brighton; SX12801 Fte. George C. Bradford, Col. Light Gdns.; SX7436 Pte. John D. Cox, Woodville; SX8595 Pte. Francis W. Botten, York; SX10848 Pte. Alfred C. Capper, Ovingham; SX6931 Pte. Oscar J. Aesche, Monarto; SX8910 Pte. Jack R. Cufley, Allenby Gardens; SX7866 Pte. Raymond A. W. Bloffwitch, Bowden.
Just prior to being transferred to Alice Springs, Norm married Iris Gertrude in October ’43. Unfortunately, the tropical conditions of Central Australia resulted in him contracting malaria and a decision that he was unsuited to that climate, with a return to South Australia the following month. Frustrated, Norm again went AWL from a parade in December, inevitably again being confined to barracks for a week. His leg injury and dermatitis saw Norm attached to the Supply Depot. However, a series of being AWL followed with the forfeiture of pay and a fortnight of being confined to barracks over September ‘44.
Norm continued to make poor choices with his health and regarding standing orders, resulting in several special hospital stays, forfeits of pay and detentions. The latter was a serious breach which resulted in a formal Court Martial – over several cans of preserved cherries. A fellow soldier had stolen a case of 24 tins of preserved cherries, belonging to the Adelaide Steamship Co. He passed half on to Norm who put the tins in the cookhouse to be used by his unit. Norm pleaded guilty to a civic offence in receiving the 12 tins valued at 15/6, but added he had nothing to do with the stealing of the goods. The Advertiser of March ’45 reported that Norm ‘had intended to put the cherries in the cookhouse to be used by his unit. The defending officer said that there was much more reason for leniency than in the previous case. Leaney’s was by far the lesser crime: he had been concerned in only half the goods, and deserved consideration for his war service. He had been wounded on two occasions, had seen 8 ½ months' constant action in the desert, and had suffered malaria in Syria.’
Arthur was the first of the brothers to be discharged in June ’45, followed by Norm on the 10th September ‘45 and finally, Fred in January ’46.
Norman and Iris Gertrude had two sons, Brian, born in October ‘44 and Graham William born in April ’48.
Norm lived to the grand age of 90. He died on the 7th February 2002 and was buried in the Centennial Park Cemetery, General section H, Path 6 Grave 248. Iris pre-deceased Norman and died, aged 77 on the 15th September 1998. Sadly, their son, 40-year-old Graham died in July 2019. His ashes were interred with his parents.
Researched and written by Kaye Lee, daughter of Bryan Holmes SX8133, 2/48th Battalion.