Leslie Hayden "Les" Gillett (1889 to 28 Jan 1943)




Leslie Hayden "Les" Gillett
(1889 to 28 January 1943)

I couldn't let Anzac Day pass without sharing this information which I've receive just hours ago.

Les is a grandson of William and Sarah - his parents are James Gillett and Sarah Wagg.

Les was awarded the Military Medal for his gallantry in leading a patrol on 29 August 1916 in France.

A great niece of Les has kindly provided us with this extract from his memoir.  In this, Les describes being buried in mud as a result of gunfire. He writes “I was with two others, one was buried up to the neck in mud, I was covered right up, but the other one dug us out. They both went back with shell shock, but I stayed on. I went back for my false teeth which I lost when I called out for help as the mud was coming over me. The Lieutenant said I couldn’t have any nerves".

Extract from the memoir of Les Gillett
We don' know if Les ever found his false teeth!
Les's Enlistment Papers - Page One

Details of Les's action, wounding, award of the Military medal and return to Australia.
Here are Les's embarkation details-

Service Number: 3101
Rank: Private
Roll title: 19 Infantry Battalion - 1 to 13 Reinforcements (May 1915 - July 1916)
Conflict / Operation: First World War, 1914-1918
Date of embarkation: 20 December 1915
Place of embarkation: Sydney
Ship embarked on: HMAT Suevic A29

To access Les's full military records, following this link-

The family of James Gillettt and Sarah Webb - Les was their youngest surviving child







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