ELLISON, James Leslie
| Service Number: | 665 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 18 August 1914, Broadmeadows, Victoria |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 8th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Warracknabeal, Victoria, Australia, October 1891 |
| Home Town: | Warracknabeal, Yarriambiack, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Warracknabeal State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Photographer |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Turkey, 25 April 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey Panel 30 |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing, Warracknabeal War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 18 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 665, Broadmeadows, Victoria | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 665, 8th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Benalla embarkation_ship_number: A24 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 665, 8th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Benalla, Melbourne | |
| 25 Apr 1915: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 665, 8th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli |
Help us honour James Leslie Ellison's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
Known as Les., or by his nickname ‘Ginty’. The family lived in Molyneaux St., Warracknabeal where his father worked as a railway yardsman. The other children were William Ivo, Lillian Irene, Isabella May and Florence Mary. Les was one of the first in Warracknabeal to enlist. The Ouyen Mail reported that when he made up his mind to enlist he rode his bicycle 40 miles to Hopetoun to say goodbye to his friends. He then did two hours work, returning to Warracknabeal to catch the 9.30 train to the training camp at Broadmeadows. He was a bandsman and stretcher-bearer with the 8th Battalion.
He had been a member of the Warracknabeal Brass Band. He worked for J.L. Discaciati for 6 years after leaving school. Discaciati operated a photography business at 50 Scott St., Warracknabeal. Les had just opened a photography and tailoring business with his brother, Ivo, at Hopetoun and Ouyen when he decided to enlist. He was a member of the Hopetoun Rifle Club and served with 73rd Company of the Victorian Rangers. His name is on honor rolls at Warracknabeal HES and Warracknabeal Presbyterian Church. His name is on the war memorials at Hopetoun and Ouyen. His name is inscribed on the family headstone at Warracknabeal Cemetery.
He was killed at 4pm on the day of the landing when he and five comrades tried to capture a Turk machine gun post on Bolton’s Ridge towards 400 Plateau. His death was reported in the Warracknabeal Herald and the Ouyen Mail on in June 1915.
The Ouyen Mail wrote: ‘On Friday last Mr. Ivo Ellison of Ouyen received the following telegram from his father at Warracknabeal: “Cheer up! Les fell fighting in good cause.” It seems only yesterday we shook hands with him, yet today we know he’s gone forever. Never the less we know he died doing his duty - how many can say the same. Nobly he fought for his king and country and in the midst of battle he fell. We admire him for his services to the Empire, but we wish to express our regret to the parents of our friend, Les, at the sudden end of a fine career.’
A memorial notice was inserted in the Warracknabeal Herald May 1918 by his father and sisters: Only a grave of a hero, only a mound of earth Far from the land of wattle, the spot that gave him birth But in the cause of Empire, he answered his country’s call On the heights of Gaba Tepe, he gave his life, for all. A brave Anzac.
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