PARSONS, Leslie Alfred
Service Number: | 1168 |
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Enlisted: | 6 October 1914, Blackboy Hill, Western Australia |
Last Rank: | Sergeant |
Last Unit: | 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1) |
Born: | Oladdie, South Australia, 1 June 1889 |
Home Town: | Korrelocking, Wyalkatchem, Western Australia |
Schooling: | Fremantle Boys' School |
Occupation: | Barber & Farm labourer |
Died: | Killed in Action, Mouquet Farm, France, 3 September 1916, aged 27 years |
Cemetery: |
Serre Road Cemetery No.2 Beaumont Hamel, France Plot XIII, Row L, Grave 4 |
Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Fremantle Fallen Sailors & Soldiers Memorial, Wyalkatchem War Memorial |
World War 1 Service
6 Oct 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1168, 11th Infantry Battalion, Blackboy Hill, Western Australia | |
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22 Dec 1914: | Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 1168, 11th Infantry Battalion, Enlistment/Embarkation WW1, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Themistocles embarkation_ship_number: A32 public_note: '' | |
22 Dec 1914: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 1168, 11th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Themistocles, Melbourne | |
3 Sep 1916: | Involvement AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1168, 51st Infantry Battalion (WW1), Battle for Pozières , --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: 1168 awm_unit: 51 Battalion awm_rank: Sergeant awm_died_date: 1916-09-03 |
Pozieres...... Sgt L.A. Parsons
‘We have just come out of the firing line, it was absolutely the worst experience I have been in. In fact, I would sooner be on Gallipoli for another six months than spend a week more where we have just come from in the Big Push.’
NB - Parsons was fatally wounded at Mouquet Farm the following week. With the last of his strength he wrote a short note in his own blood to his brother - also in the 51st Battalion. The note was found on his body and passed to his brother. The family still has the note.
For King and Cobbers - 51st Bn AIF - 2007 Neville Browning
Submitted 8 December 2015 by Steve Larkins
Biography
Served with his brother 2001 Cpl. Cecil Clement Parsons (MM) (/explore/people/231740) in 11th and 51st Battalions
"...1168 Private (later Sergeant) Leslie Alfred Parsons, 11th Battalion (later 51st Battalion), of Korrelocking, WA. Sergeant Parsons was killed in action at Mouquet Farm on 3 September 1916, and is buried at Serra Road Cemetery No. 2. His brother 2001 Corporal Cecil Clement Parsons, 51st Battalion, was awarded the Military Medal for actions at Villers Bretonneux on the night of 23/24 April 1918." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)