Anderson, Leslie Charles

5309 Sergeant Leslie Charles Anderson - 1st Division Train AIF

Leslie Charles Anderson was born in Fremantle WA in August 1893. He was one of three children born to Charles Anderson and Louisa "Lucy" Bobbinett, a woman of aboriginal descent from the Katanning area. Leslie was a brother-in-law of William Jackson, another Fremantle soldier who served in the Great War.

On Christmas Eve 1897 Leslie and his two sisters were taken from their mother, who was ill with fever, and placed in the Swan Native and half-caste mission, their parents having separated. Leslie remained in the mission for 12 years where he was educated and met his future wife.

At the age of 16 he was sent out to work in the local Moora area before heading back to Perth in 1913. Leslie was employed as a Farrier and Blacksmith in Victoria Park, working for R Summers. During this time Leslie also served in the 89A Cadets in the Citizens Military Forces.

In 1915 he married Susie Jackson.

On the 25th February 1916 Leslie enlisted into the AIF. The medical examiner passed him as fit for service and recorded his physical attributes as;

Height - 5 feet 3 & 1/2 inches tall;

Weight - 115lbs;

Chest Measurement - 32-35 inches;

Complexion - Dark;

Eyes - Light Brown;

Hair - Brown.

After his successful enlistment Leslie was sent to Blackboy Hill Camp where he was initially assigned to a training unit where he was taken through the basics of infantry work. Two weeks later Leslie was taken on strength of the 14th Reinforcements of the 28th Battalion AIF.

He trained with this group in WA for the next few months while they waited for their embarkation orders to arrive. These finally came through and on the 9th August 1916 Les and his group boarded the transport ship HMAT Miltiades and set sail for England, reaching Plymouth on the 25th September 1916.

They were then sent off the ship to the 7th Training Battalion at Rollestone Camp on the Salisbury Plains.

He trained here for the next several weeks but on the 3rd November 1916 was transferred to the Australian Army Service Corps Depot at Parkhouse. It appears that his skills as a Farrier saw him reallocated to the Service Corps and he spent the next several months in England where he spent time in many of the Australian army camps. He also held the rank of Shoeing Smith. 

Leslie was kept busy in England through to 1918 and it wasn't until September 1918 that he went to France. He was taken on strength of No.2 Company of the Australian Army Service Corps and was also appointed Temporary Corporal. He was still in France when the Armistice was announced and remained with his unit in France till the 15th May 1919.

In July 1919 Leslie left England aboard the transport ship Takada and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 29th August 1919.

He was discharged from the AIF on the 13th October 1919.

After returning from the war Leslie resumed his employment as a Farrier and Blacksmith and the family were living in Rivervale. Susie and Les had five children, Hazel (1916), Leslie (1920), Esther (1921), Lawrence (1924) and Raymond (1926).

In 1941 Les enlisted into the Australian Army during the Second World War. He was once again accepted as fit for service. He would be assigned to the Western Command Ordnance Workshop at Midland before being sent to the Bushmead Depot.

In 1944 he was found to be suffering with rheumatism and also developed shoulder issues. In August 1945 he was found to be unfit for further heavy work and was thus discharged from the Army.

Leslie Anderson died on the 4th August 1960 at Hollywood Repatriation Hospital aged 67. He was buried at Karrakatta Cemetery.