Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Leslie Clive Hancock is my father, unfortunately he died in March 1950 when I was not quite 4 years old, so I didn't really get to know him. However, I do clearly remember visiting him in the Greenslopes Repatriation Hospital Brisbane before he died. The things that are permanently imprinted in a child's memory.

Leslie Clive enlisted from Brisbane on March 12, 1941 at age 24 years and after basic training he was assigned to 101st Tank Attack Regiment. Six months after enlisting Leslie Clive spent 14 days in hospital, the records show he had Influenza. However looking at his health records in hindsight I suggest he was not in 100% good health when he enlisted. I suspect that had he tried to enlist at the early stage of the war he would have been subject to a more thorough medical examination, however at the time he enlisted we were in need of anyone who could walk.

Two months after that 2 weeks in hospital, Leslie Clive was shipped to New Guinea on the Dutch Merchant ship Bonte Keo, disembarking on July 15, 1942. Four months after arriving in New Guinea he was again hospitalised. One month later on Dec 6, 1942 Leslie Clive was medically evacuated on the S.S. Katoomba and once he was back in Australia he was transferred to the "Ritz Convalescent Hospital" (103 Australian Convalescent Depot) in Leura, the Blue Mountains in NSW. Over the next 3 to 4 months he was transferred between 103 Aust Conv Depot Leura, and 68 Aust Camp Hospital Ingleburn with various conditions.

In April or May 1943, Leslie Clive was released from the hospitals and marched into the 1 Australian Personnel Staging Camp in Townsville, Qld but within a month he was evacuated to the 2/14 Aust General Hospital in Townsville with "Recurrent Malaria and Chronic Nephritis".

He had a few further transfers between hospitals until on October 19, 1943 was assessed as "Medically Unfit for Military Service". Then on November 28, 1943 Leslie Clive was "Discharged Medically Unfit".

Ironically during his time at the 103 Australian Convalescent Depot in Leura, Leslie Clive met one Wilhelmina (Billie) Joyce Bond, who he married late 1943 and together had two boys and a girl. Billie had had a child (boy) from an earlier relationship, a soldier who didn't return from the War.

After the death of Leslie Clive, Billie was left with four children, the youngest not yet one year old, in a time when single parent support was not great and single parenting was not accepted as the "norm". Billie went on to remarry and had a further three children and lived until her 86th year in 2008.