Leonard Leslie GLUTH

Regimental number7500
Place of birthMelbourne, Victoria
ReligionChurch of England
OccupationSoldier
AddressHawthorn, Victoria
Marital statusSingle
Age at embarkation24
Height5' 11.5"
Weight151 lbs
Next of kinMother, Mrs W Gluth, Yarrola, St James Park, Hawthorn, Victoria
Previous military serviceServed for 469 days in the AIF; discharged; curerently serving for 7 months in Instructional Staff.
Enlistment date16 February 1917
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll15 March 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentSergeant
Unit name8th Battalion, 25th Reinforcement
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/25/6
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A71 Nestor on 21 November 1917
Rank from Nominal RollSergeant
Unit from Nominal Roll8th Battalion
FateKilled in Action 11 August 1918
Place of burialNo known grave
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
53
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Embarked Melbourne, 21 November 1917; disembarked Suez (date not recorded).

Embarked Alexandria; disembarked Taranto, Italy; by train to Havre, France (dates not recorded); disembarked Southampton, England, 5 January 1918, and marched in to 2nd Training Bn, Sutton Veny.

On Command, Drill School, Jellalabad Barracks, 24 February 1918; rejoined Training Bn, 17 March 1918.

Proceeded overseas to France, 1 April 1918; taken on strength, 8th Bn, in the field, 21 April 1918.

Admitted to 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, 4 June 1918 (influenza), and transferred to 58th Casualty Clearing Station; to Ambulance Train No 32, 7 June 1918, and admitted to 53rd General Hospital, Boulogne; transferred to No 10 Convalescent Depot, 12 June 1918; to Base Depot, Havre, 17 June 1918; rejoined Bn, in the field, 26 July 1918.

Killed in action, 11 August 1918.

Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Miscellaneous detailsSee 2154 Leonard Leslie GLUTH for first period of service.
SourcesNAA: B2455, GLUTH Leonard Leslie