Coffey, Leslie

No.5690 – Private Leslie Coffey – 16^th Battalion AIF

Leslie Coffey was born in Chewton Victoria in 1893 to Frank and Kate Coffey. He grew up in Victoria and was educated at St Killians Christian Brothers College in Bendigo. He moved across to Western Australia with the family and took up work as a Machinery Assembler in Fremantle, though his family lived in Mt Lawley.

On the 3^rd March 1916 Leslie went to the Fremantle Drill Hall and offered his services to the AIF. He was passed as fit and was found to be 5 feet 6 ½ inches in height; weight of 162 lbs; chest measurement of 35-37 inches; fresh complexion; brown eyes and brown hair. His religious denomination was Roman Catholic.

Initially allotted to No.56 Depot, on the 4^th April 1916 Leslie was assigned to the 18^th Reinforcements to the 16^th Battalion. This group trained in WA until the middle of July 1916. On the 18^th July this reinforcement group boarded the H.M.A.T. “Seang Choon” and made the long journey to England.

The ship arrived at Plymouth England on the 9^th September 1916 and the men were marched into the 4^th Training Battalion at Rollestone Camp on the Salisbury Plains. They were in camp here until the 4^th December 1916 when they left England bound for France. Disembarking at Etaples, Leslie and his group were marched into the 4^th Australian Division Base Depot. They were here for a couple of weeks and Leslie was officially taken on strength of the 16^th Battalion on the 22^nd December 1916.

Leslie spent the next few months with the 16^th Battalion though was officially listed as Killed in Action during the action at Bullecourt on April 11^th 1917.

However, No.5026 L/Cpl D Baines later stated that Leslie Coffey, along with Sgt Victor Watson & Pte William Watson had been killed on the night of 9^th April 1917 when they were asleep in a dugout at the railway cutting towards Reincourt when a shell burst in the dugout and buried them. They were buried together as soon as possible. Of the three only Pte William Watson has a known grave at Queant Rd Cemetery, with both Leslie and Sgt Marshall commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial.

Leslie had two brothers who also fought in the war; Frank and Thomas. Thomas Coffey served through the war with the 44^th Battalion and was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal for his role as a Regimental Quarter Master Sergeant. He also had a sister, Veronica Coffey