Peters, Leslie Ernest
679 Private Leslie Ernest Peters (Croix de Guerre) - 44th Battalion AIF
Leslie Ernest Peters was born on the 28th January 1889 in Mirboo North Victoria to John and Elizabeth Peters. He as one of thirteen siblings and he was educated and grew up in Victoria.
Leslie soon moved to Western Australia and in 1912 he married Ethel May Symonds in Fremantle. They had a daughter Ethel in 1913, Isobel in 1915, Lillian in 1919 and Dorothy 1920.
In 1913 Leslie and Ethel were living near Coogee in South Fremantle.
On the 21st January 1916 Leslie enlisted into the Australian Imperial Force. He was found to be fit for service, with the medical examiner recording Les's physical attributes as;
Height - 5 feet 8 & 1/2 inches tall;
Weight - 121lbs;
Chest Measurement - 38-41 inches;
Complexion - Fresh;
Eyes - Grey;
Hair - Fair.
Upon his successful enlistment, Leslie was sent to Claremont Camp where he was initially assigned to No.47 Training Depot and was then transferred to the 44th Battalion AIF. He spent the next few months training with the 44th Battalion at Claremont Showgrounds Camp.
On the 6th June 1916, the 44th Battalion departed from Fremantle Harbour aboard the transport ship Suevic and set sail for England, disembarking in Plymouth on the 21st July 1916.
After they were disembarked, the men were sent to the 3rd Division Training Ground on the Salisbury Plains. They would train in England for the next few months.
Les's training was interrupted as on the 4th October 1916 he was sent to hospital with colitis. He had recovered by the 27th October 1916 and was sent to No.1 Command Depot Camp at Perham Downs. In November 1916 he was returned to the 11th Training Battalion.
Due to his bout of ill health Les was retained in England. The 44th Battalion had left for France in November 1916. Les left England on the 20th December 1916 and was sent to the 3rd Australian Division Base Depot at Etaples. It appears that a soldier at this camp had a contagious disease as Les and other soldiers there were sent to a segregation camp.
He spent January 1917 in this segregation camp and was then diagnosed with dysentery. On the 5th February 1917 he left Calais bound for England. Upon arrival he was sent to Addington Park Hospital in Croydon.
Despite being a patient in hospital Les was punished for failing to salute a British Officer and as a punishment was given 5 days of being confined to hospital.
On the 16th March 1917 Les was released from hospital and was given a generous period of furlough to the 28th April 1917.
On the 30th April 1917 Les reported for duty to No.1 Command Depot Camp at Perham Downs. He had a month there as on the 29th May 1917, he left England and proceeded to France. On his arrival les was sent to the 3rd Australian Division Base depot camp at Le Havre. He remained in this camp until the 16th June 1917.
Les was then sent to join the 44th battalion who were then in the Messines sector of Belgium. On the 19th June 1917 he was officially taken on strength of the 44th Battalion.
Five days after joining them Les was wounded on the 24th June 1917. He suffered a shrapnel wound to his right forearm. He was sent to the 2nd Casualty Clearing Station and from there to the 24th General Hospital at Etaples. On the 29th July 1917 he was released from hospital and then spent a month in the Convalescent Camps.
On the 25th August 1917 Leslie was sent to the 3rd Australian Division Base Depot. He spent two weeks there and on the 8th September 1917 rejoined the 44th Battalion.
From September to November 1917 the Australians took part in the Third Battle of Ypres in Belgium. Leslie saw action around Zonnebeke, Broodseinde Ridge and Passchendaele but came through unwounded though he did get affected by a German gas bombardment but remained on duty.
From December 1917 to March 1918 the 44th battalion helped to hold the front line positions in Belgium between Messines and Ypres. On the 10th February 1918 he was granted a two week break in England. Les returned on the 25th February 1918.
On his arrival back at the Battalion it was announced that Les was receiving the Belgian Croix de Guerre. Unfortunately there doesn't appear to be a surviving recommendation of what it was awarded for but it would have been for his time in Belgium.
As a result of the Germans offensive of March 21st 1918 which broke through the British line further south, the Australian units were moved from Belgium and sent south to the Somme sector. The 44th Battalion came into contact with German forces around the Somme river at Sailly le Sec and Sailly Laurette.
The 44th Battalion advanced into the German forces and while they were stopped they also prevented the Germans from advancing any further. The 44th Battalion remained in this sector from April to June 1918.
On July 4th 1918 the 44th Battalion took part in the capture of Hamel village in a very successful operation. les came through this action unscathed.
On August 8th 1918 the 44th Battalion participated in the opening day of the Great offensive from the Amiens front which began pushing back the Germans back. The 44th Battalion were in action from August 8th till October 1st 1918, seeing action in places such as Clery, Peronne and the Hindenburg Line at Bony.
Though successful in their actions, casualties had been heavy for the 44th Battalion, though Les once again came through safely. After October 1st 1918, the 44th Battalion was pulled out of the line and was given a well deserved rest period.
When the Armistice was announced on the 11th November 1918, the 44th Battalion were still out of the line.
When the Germans pulled back to their own border, the Australian units were sent into what had been German occupied parts of Belgium and France. On the 18th January 1919, Les's rank was changed from Private to Driver and he became part of the Battalion transport section. He would have been kept busy during the last few months of the Battalion's existence.
On the 8th April 1919 Les returned to England and was sent to No.3 AIF Camp at Codford on the Salisbury Plains. He would wait here to be assigned a berth on a troopship home. On the 1st June 1919 Les boarded the transport ship Somali and set sail for home, reaching Fremantle on the 8th July 1919.
After being disembarked Les was sent to No.8 Australian General Hospital in South Terrace Fremantle for a medical checkup. They went through the wounds and sickness he had been through during his service.
Les was discharged from the AIF on the 24th August 1919.
After he had left in 1916 Ethel had moved to 121 Hubble Street in East Fremantle and this was where Leslie returned to when he was first discharged.
The family them moved to Nannup where Les secured employment at the Saw Mills.
Sadly Leslie died not get long to enjoy the peace that he had fought for as he died on the 2nd July 1921 in a timber logging accident when he was crushed between a log and a winch frame. Leslie was buried in Nannup Cemetery.
In 1924 Ethel remarried to a friend of Les's who was also originally born in Mirboo in Victoria and was also an ex soldier from Fremantle, Ernest Joseph Stratton. Ernest and Ethel would go on to have six more children.
(Family photo of Les and Ethel courtesy of Ethel's family page in Ancestry)