Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Leslie Gordon Freeman, known as Les, was born at Ipswich on 17 Feb 1920 one of 12 children of Hylton & Louisa Freeman. The Freeman family lived at Tallegalla not far from Rosewood where I now live! They moved to Wondai abt 1925 then to Home Creek soon after where Les and somw of his his siblings Ethel, Jim, Hylton, Mavis Roy and Gloria would have attended School.
Les’s older sister Ethel, 14 years of age, wrote a letter that was published in The Queenslander on Thursday 27 September 1928
DEAR Aunt Flleuse.—l enjoy the children's letters in the "Queenslander." 13 years of age, and live in a farming district named Home Creek, the nearest railway station being Tingoora, which is three miles distant. This is a great peanut district, some of the farmers growing them on a large scale. My father had 60 acres under peanuts last year, which yielded 827 bags. This year he intends planting 80 acres. We milk 26 cows daily, and send our cream to the Klngaroy Butter Factory, which paid 1/6 per lb. for butter-fat last month. Our hens are not laying well at present. We had a thunderstorm last Saturday evening, but it did not rain very much. The weather is fine now. We are having a concert in the Home Creek State School for the school children on September 29. I hope it will be a success. Please may I have "Pansy" for my pen-name ETHEL FREEMAN. Home Creek, Tingoora.
By 1938, aged 18 years, Les was a member of the Wide Bay and Burnett Light Horse group and is included in the photo shared by Lloyd Stumer on the Kinga~All Facebook group with brothers Frank & Bernie Stumer and Bill Pugh.
On 28 May 1941, Les joined the Australian Army and served in the 2/5 Commando Squadron. His Army records are not yet available on the NAA website but his nephew Sam Richters commented recently on the Kinga~All FB group that his Uncle, LG Freeman, served with the Black Diamond Commandos in New Guinea & Borneo.
When I spoke to Les & Olives daughter Maree I discovered that a book, “Commando Double Black”, was written by Andy Pirie on this Squadron and includes a photo of “Creamy Freeman”! This detailed history of the No.5 Independent Commando Company is now a scarce title and being sold online for at least $195.00!
Fortunately an extract is available from the book and I have added some of it here. : “Having completed their training, the 2/5th Independent Company was formed in March 1942 and the following month it sailed for Port Moresby. From Moresby, the 2/5th was flown to Bulolo, in New Guinea, where it joined Kanga Force. In a raid led by Captain N. I. Winning on 30 June the 2/5th raided Salamaua. The raid killed over a hundred and twenty Japanese for three Australians wounded.
When the Japanese attacked Wau in January 1943, the 2/5th participated in the defence of the airstrip. After the battle, the 2/5th carried out more long range patrols in the Markham Valley, before returning to Australia in May.
After some leave, in June, the 2/5th regrouped at the army’s jungle warfare centre at Canugra, Queensland. In August the company moved to the Atherton Tablelands. While it was there, all independent companies were reorganised into cavalry commando squadrons becoming the 2/5th Cavalry (Commando) Squadron, attached to the 7th Division. In July 1945 the 7th landed at Balikpapan, Borneo.
At the end of December the 2/5th left Borneo for Australia, and in early 1946, in Chermside camp, Brisbane, the squadron was disbanded.”
https://regimental-books.com.au/.../commando-double.../
Les was discharged from the army on 27 Mar 1946. He had married, local Home Creek lass, Olive Chapman during his Army Service sometime in 1945.
Les & Olive lived at Home Creek for several years before moving up to the Monto Area. Per their daughter, Diana Bolton in her writings in the Wooroolin Centenary book, the family moved to Wooroolin from Telebang, near Monto, in 1958. Diana stated it was her 4th school in 5 years.
Les and Olive lived on Woods Rd, Wooroolin where they share farmed with Frank Blake of Tingoora. They milked cows morning and night, reared pigs and grew peanuts. Les was a very hard worker and had the occasional extended trip to the Grand Hotel in Wooroolin!
I have fond memories of the Freeman family. I spent a lot of time at their home in the late 1960’s and I worked with Lynette at the Kingaroy Telephone exchange. The most exciting was when Maree came to London during the 1990’s and we had lots of fun together visiting various tourist attractions. Les died in 1999 and is buried at Taabinga Cemetery where he joined his wife who died in 1990.
Lest We Forget