Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Born 17th July, 1917, Leslie William Horswood was one of 10 children reared on the family farm ‘Mura’ (outside Chinchilla Queensland) by William John and Cecilia (née Royle) Horswood.

Leslie attended Chinchilla State School, which, at that time, looked out on a dense tangled forest of prickly pear, through which a narrow track, only inches wider than a dray, wound its way toward the railway line. By 1931, when Les left school at 14, the pear had been cleared to the ground by the introduced cactoblastis moth. Fires were then lit, which gradually inched their way over the vast areas, slowly burning the remaining dry prickly pear. 

While he didn't enjoy school, disliking the teachers and the homework, he was quite good at mathematics, and his reading level was above average. He found that the part of his education that depended on his committing information to memory and using it, caused him little trouble. It was only when he was required to submit painstakingly neat work, such as presentations for the exercise book and copybook writing, that he failed to meet the requirements of the Education Department.

Often late for school, after the morning chores of milking cows and feeding pigs and calves, and despite the best efforts of the family horse Fidget, he did not appreciate the criticism of his tardiness, meted out by disapproving teachers. The children in the school, however,  did not appreciate when the notorious Fidget escaped from his enclosure and stole the students' lunches and raided the bins before the poorer children could do so.

He declined to sit for the actual scholarship examination and further his education, being, he said, 'only too ready to leave school'.

After finishing school, he worked on the family farm until he enlisted in the AIF on June 18, 1941. When asked by some young History students why he had decided to do so, he said it was partly because he felt it his duty, but also because he wanted the adventure, to experience another part of the world.

He sailed on the ship 'Sibyeh' to Singapore, his first time on a ship. In Malaya, during this period, he was amazed by the sight of the invading hordes of Japanese on bicycles. He said he was lucky to have survived even before the Japanese taking of Singapore. A corporal came to their particular unit and asked for volunteers for a scout party. It was not Les's turn to 'volunteer', but the soldier whose turn it was, was asleep, so Les, thinking to do him a favour, volunteered. They went off to see if there was a better trail to move forward against the invading Japanese. When they returned, they found the encampment had been bombed, including the soldier whose turn it was to volunteer.

Along with thousands of others, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese on the 14th February 1942. He was a prisoner of war in camps in Malaya, Changi, Bokatina, and Blaka Mati.

As a POW in Changi, he carried out tasks such as cleaning up Singapore, building and repairing roads and bridges, and building an airport runway. The debilitating diseases such as beri beri and the lack of medicines made performing work difficult and arduous.

There seemed to be intense endeavours by the Japanese for these repairs to be carried out swiftly. Les recalled an occasion as he was working on a bridge, when a Japanese officer became so incensed with the inadequate effort performed by Les, that he swung his sword at the POW. Les swiftly ducked and dived into the river below. Thankfully, there were no further repercussions as the officer appeared to regain his equilibrium and Les escaped further punishment.

Despite the hardships, Les regarded himself as being lucky, as he was not one of those soldiers who were sent from Changi on work parties to build the Burma railroad; nor was he one of the 2500 Sandakan prisoners (of whom only six survived), many of whom died on the 250km trek to Raman in early 1945; nor was he one of the soldiers who attempted to keep back the Japanese advance on the notorious Kokoda Trail in New Guinea.

The POWs in Changi, however, were worked hard, given little food and their health deteriorated so much that many of them were under half their normal weight by the end of the war. It was not all deprivation and misery, however, as Les referred to the humour and sense of mateship that was a particular feature of the Australian troops.

Les was liberated on the 15th August 1945 and discharged on 27th November 1945, having spent some three and a half years as a POW. During the decades after the war, Les seldom spoke about the war and his experiences as a POW.  It was not until the 1990s that he opened up a little and when asked, began to speak about them.

After the war, Les returned to the family farm and then ran a mail run from Chinchilla to Hawkwood in 1946. In 1947, he met Margaret McIntyre from a Brigalow family, at a local dance. She said she was attracted by his laughter and his silly jokes and she loved dancing with him. They married in 1948 and they lived on their own farm, at first roughing it in a hastily built hut, and later in a more permanent and better home. The hut, however, stood the test of time, was used for storage, and remained upright until the 1990s.

The couple reared six children - Bruce, Shirley, Kathleen, Ken, Barbara and Sandra - but the death of the eldest, Bruce, aged 21, in a car accident hit the family hard. Although Les wasn't openly expressive in his love, the family acknowledged that his actions showed his pride in and love for his family.

Margaret always maintained that Les's best features were his sense of humour and his love for his family. He had a temper though, and Margaret said that was his worst feature. She remembers the time a grease pump got jammed and he became very frustrated. He threw the pump as hard as he could and it landed over the fence. But he was so mad, he climbed over the fence, picked it up and gave it another 'hiding'. He was very particular about hearing the news on the radio and later the tv, and woe betide any family member who was fighting or making a noise when the news was on.

He always enjoyed completing crosswords and was admired by his family and friends for his intelligence.

He was regarded as a generous man, always ready to help family, friends and neighbours. His daughter Sandy always remembers his words about giving. He said, 'The best gifts are those you give when you don't expect anything in return. That's what giving is about.' 

Les worked the farm, dairying until 1971, and then concentrating on grain and cattle.  He joined the Jehovah's Witness church, was baptised in 1966, and the church became a very important part of his life. Les and Margaret moved to town in 1997, but he still earned his living from the farm and took pride in being able to do so.

On January 19, 2000 at the age of 82, Les passed away. His wife Margaret died on 5 February, 2016 at the age of 90.