HOWE, Leslie George
| Service Number: | 2709 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 21 July 1915, Enlisted in Bendigo |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 7th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Eaglehawk, Victoria, Australia, 1888 |
| Home Town: | Eaglehawk, Greater Bendigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Miner |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 21 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 2709, 7th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted in Bendigo | |
|---|---|---|
| 26 Aug 1915: | Involvement Private, 2709, 7th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '9' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Anchises embarkation_ship_number: A68 public_note: '' | |
| 26 Aug 1915: | Embarked Private, 2709, 7th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Anchises, Melbourne | |
| 20 Sep 1917: | Honoured Military Medal, 'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty and consistent good work, often under trying circumstances. He invariably displayed great courage and resource in the performance of his work, and set a fine example to his men.' Source: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 30 August 1918 on page 1783 at position 8 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Jack Coyne
Leslie George HOWE Distinguished Conduct Medal
'For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty and consistent good work, often under trying circumstances. He invariably displayed great courage and resource in the performance of his work, and set a fine example to his men.'
Source: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, 30 August 1918 on page 1783 at position 8
The Bendigoian reported in April, 1917: - ‘Sergeant L. Howe now with an Australian Tunnelling Company on the western front, also writing to Mr. Anderson, says:---"I have just left the firing line for a 12 hours' spell. . .I have been about nine months in the trenches, and have been very fortunate. I have been gassed on two or three occasions, but have survived them all. No doubt you have heard about the Eaglehawk boys being knocked about so much. We have lost a lot of them, but I can safely say they died game. I met a lot of them just before the big stunt in July. Am sorry too few of them came back. I saw most of them hop over the parapet, and can honestly say they were smiling. . . . Am now beginning to feel quite old, and have lost a lot of old pals both here and at Gallipoli - all game chaps. I often sits and think about them, and wonder if I will be spared to see you all again."[1]
Leslie Howe was ‘Taken on Strength’ (TOS) with the 8th Reinforcements for the famous 7th Battalion which was one of the Victorian battalions that had borne the brunt of much fighting on Dardanelles Peninsula. Leslie would land at Mudros on the Island of Lemnos on November 20, 1915 just one month before the eventual evacuation of all Allied forces at Gallipoli. He most likely did land at Anzac in that short few weeks however, his service record does not record this.
In early 1916, Leslie would return to the AIF camps in Egypt with the wounded, weary survivors of the Gallipoli campaign. In March, he would be transferred to the 1st Pioneer Battalion as the AIF greatly expanded and restructured with the arrival of fresh troops from Australia. He would travel to France with the Pioneers, most skilled tradesmen and engineers who would be put to use in the construction of roads, railways, bridges at the front. In early July, 1916 Leslie’s mining background would see him transferred again to the 2nd Tunnelling Company part of the Mining Corp.
The Bendigo Independent newspaper published a Government announcemnet on October 21, 1915: - ‘It has been decided to form a Mining Corp in Australia for active service abroad. The corps will consist of a headquarters and three companies. The conditions of enlistment and pay will be laid down for the A.I.F, excepting that the limits of age will be 18 to 50 years. Men experienced in underground work as foreman, shift bosses, facemen, tunnellers, tunneller’s mates and blacksmiths should apply.’ [2]
Leslie would survive the war despite suffering severe gas poisoning in March 1917 and then a German gas attack in a year later. He would serve right through till the end of the war in November 1918. On his return to Australia he would apply for a free passage to New Zealand to see his family.
SERVICE DETAILS:
Leslie George HOWE
Regimental number: 2709
Place of birth: Eaglehawk Vic
Religion: Church of England
Occupation: Miner
Address: 12 Clyde Street, Parnell, New Zealand
Marital status: Single
Age at embarkation: 26
Next of kin: Father, K G Howe, 12 Clyde Street, Parnell, NZ
Enlistment date: 21 July 1915
Unit name: 7th Battalion, 8th Reinforcement
Embarked: HMAT A68 Anchises on 26 August 1915
Final Rank: Sergeant
Unit : 2nd Tunnelling Company
Fate: Returned to Australia 20 May 1919
The 2nd Tunnelling Company, together with British and New Zealander tunnellers were ‘digging in’ to hold the German advance to the sea. Tunnelling was hard and dangerous work, however James would serve through the remainder 1916 and all of 1917 in the carnage and quagmire of mud in Flanders fields and Northern France. In 1918, the theatre of war shifted south towards the Somme river. The warfare changed significantly in nature and conditions were less suited to tunnelling as the fighting methods and new roles were found for the hardened mining men.
[1] Bendigonian (Bendigo, Vic. : 1914 - 1918) Thu 5 Apr 1917 Page 4 SERGEANT L. HOWE.
[2] Bendigo Independent newspaper reported on October 21, 1915
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