NELSON, Leslie William Andrew
| Service Number: | 5024 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Unit: | 3rd Light Horse Brigade Train |
| Born: | Warrnaboll, Victoria, Australia, 12 November 1884 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Blacksmith |
| Died: | Australia, July 1959, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Fawkner Memorial Park Cemetery, Victoria |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 2 Feb 1915: | Involvement 5024, 3rd Light Horse Brigade Train, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '22' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Chilka embarkation_ship_number: A51 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 2 Feb 1915: | Embarked 5024, 3rd Light Horse Brigade Train, HMAT Chilka, Melbourne |
Help us honour Leslie William Andrew Nelson's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Vicki Martin
Leslie William Andrew Nelson
DOB: 12 November 1884 – Warnambool, Victoria
Staff Sergeant – 3rd Light Horse – Australian Infantry Forces (AIF)
Qualified Blacksmith / Farrier / Horse Husbandry
In charge of stabling, feeding and medical requirements for the horses
Decorated with a Meritorious Service Medal for being outstanding in his duties and mentioned in dispatches.
Service History:
Sergeant Nelson Trained at Camp Road, Broadmeadows, Victoria.
He left Melbourne in 1914 and went to Gallipoli taking his own horse with him. Being a large black Waler known as “Blackie”. Sergeant Nelson was extremely good with horses and could have been considered a horse whisperer.
Gallipoli was a bad place to land the horses and when they tried to put them ashore many horses were shot and killed by the enemy, including “Blackie”. The AIF decided that as they were losing more horses than men, Gallipoli was no place for the horses and moved them by boat to the Dardanelles where they served until the retreat was called.
Nelson then went with his brigade to France. While he was in France he managed to save an entire brigade who had been bogged in the marshes transporting large guns (cannons). He used 20 horses at a time to pull out the guns and men of the brigade and managed not to lose a single life of man or horse. This is why he was decorated later in London with the Maple Leaf. Nelson also spent some time in Belgium.
On 11 November 1918 The Armistance Treaty was signed signalling the end of WWI, Sergeant Nelson believed this was the best birthday present he ever received.
After the end of the war Nelson continued to serve in England until 1919 caring for the Australian Waler horses. Because Australian Quarantine would not allow the horses back into the country the AIF sold them to the Indian Army.
Many of the Light Horsemen were unhappy for their horses to go to anyone else and chose to shoot their mounts. Sergeant Nelson shipped the surviving horses to India where they became part of the Indian Army.
Sergeant Nelson returned to Australia after this where he served out his time at the Albert Park Army Barracks.
On leaving the army he vowed to himself that he’d never work or interact with horses again. He kept this vow.
Story as told by Leslie's daughter Enid Martin 2002
Click images to start slideshow.