Leslie James HOLLOWAY

Regimental number2919
Date of birth30 September 1890
Place of birthGoulburn, New South Wales
SchoolKing's College, Goulburn, New South Wales
ReligionMethodist
OccupationBank clerk
Address42 Margaret Street, Manly, New South Wales
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation25
Next of kinFather, Richard Holloway, 42 Margaret Street, Manly, New South Wales
Enlistment date27 June 1916
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name55th Battalion, 7th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/72/4
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A11 Ascanius on 25 October 1916
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll55th Battalion
Other details from Roll of Honour CircularJoined the Bank of New South Wales, Henty branch, 16 March 1908. Transferred to Coolamon branch, April 1908; to Ganmain branch, August 1908; to Coolamon branch, March 1911; to Coonamble branch, November 1911; to Head Office, Sydney, March 1915.
FateKilled in Action 9 May 1917
Place of death or woundingBullecourt, France
Age at death26.7
Age at death from cemetery records26
Commemoration detailsAustralian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France

Villers-Bretonneux is a village about 15 km east of Amiens. The Memorial stands on the high ground ('Hill 104') behind the Villers-Bretonneux Military Cemetery, Fouilloy, which is about 2 km north of Villers-Bretonneux on the east side of the road to Fouilloy.

The Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux is approached through the Military Cemetery, at the end of which is an open grass lawn which leads into a three-sided court. The two pavilions on the left and right are linked by the north and south walls to the back (east) wall, from which rises the focal point of the Memorial, a 105 foot tall tower, of fine ashlar. A staircase leads to an observation platform, 64 feet above the ground, from which further staircases lead to an observation room. This room contains a circular stone tablet with bronze pointers indicating the Somme villages whose names have become synonymous with battles of the Great War; other battle fields in France and Belgium in which Australians fought; and far beyond, Gallipoli and Canberra.

On the three walls, which are faced with Portland stone, are the names of 10,885 Australians who were killed in France and who have no known grave. The 'blocking course' above them bears the names of the Australian Battle Honours.

After the war an appeal in Australia raised £22,700, of which £12,500 came from Victorian school children, with the request that the majority of the funds be used to build a new school in Villers-Bretonneux. The boys' school opened in May 1927, and contains an inscription stating that the school was the gift of Victorian schoolchildren, twelve hundred of whose fathers are buried in the Villers-Bretonneux cemetery, with the names of many more recorded on the Memorial. Villers-Bretonneux is now twinned with Robinvale, Victoria, which has in its main square a memorial to the links between the two towns.

Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
160
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Parents: Richard adn Emily HOLLOWAY, Shirley Road, Roseville, New South Wales
Family/military connectionsTwo cousins were killed in action and one cousin died of illness.
Other details

War service: Western Front

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Sources'Bank of New South Wales Roll of Honour' (Sydney, 1921), p. 186.