The AIF Project

Leslie Clark DUNN

Regimental number641
Place of birthRichmond, Victoria
ReligionPresbyterian
OccupationCigarmaker
Address142 Dudley Street, West Melbourne, Victoria
Marital statusMarried
Age at embarkation27
Height5' 3"
Weight118 lbs
Next of kinWife, Mrs. Lilian Mary Dunn, 142 Dudley Street, West Melbourne, Victoria
Previous military serviceNil
Enlistment date12 July 1915
Date of enlistment from Nominal Roll6 July 1915
Place of enlistmentMelbourne, Victoria
Rank on enlistmentPrivate
Unit name31st Battalion, C Company
AWM Embarkation Roll number23/48/1
Embarkation detailsUnit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on 9 November 1915
31st Battalion Headquarters and Companies A, B, C and D sailed on two ships, HMAT A62 Wandilla, 9th November 1915 from Melbourne, and HMAT A41 Bakara, 5 November 1915, from Melbourne. It is not possible to tell from the Embarkation Roll on which ship an individual embarked.
Rank from Nominal RollPrivate
Unit from Nominal Roll31st Battalion
FateKilled in Action 21 July 1916
Place of burialPheasant Wood Military Cemetery, Fromelles, France
Panel number, Roll of Honour,
  Australian War Memorial
118
Miscellaneous information from
  cemetery records
Originally listed as 'No known grave'.
Other details

War service: Egypt, Western Front

Embarked Melbourne, 9 November 1915; disembarked Suez, 7 December 1915.

Embarked Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Force, 17 June 1916; disembarked Marseilles, France, 25 June 1916.

Reported missing, 21 July 1916.

'German list received by Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau, Australian Branch, British Red Cross Society', 4 November 1916, show that 'identification marks found on the Prisoner of War are inspected by the General War Bureau and shown in the lists as under:- DEAD'.

On 29 January 1917 Pte A. Beck, 1119, C Company, 31st Bn, provided a statement relating to Lance Corporal Dunn: 'I last saw Dunn at 7.30 p.m. on 19 July, 500 to 700 yds. behind the last line of German trenches at Fromelles. We got on too far and came into the barrage of our own guns. We had to fall back and Dunn was not seen to come back with us. I have already sent these details to his wife in Melbourne.'

Identification disc received from Germany, 24 February 1917. 'No particulars were afforded except that soldier is deceased. To be reported as:- KILLED IN ACTION', 21 July 1917, on the authority of the Assistant Adjutant General, ANZAC Section, War Office.

Handwritten note on the bottom of B.103, 'buried in vicinity of Fleurbaix, Sh[eet] 36 NW H.21 d.'

A translated German report of 27 October 1919 noted, 'Iden: Disc handed over by Intell : Officer with 6th Army H.Q. 12/10/16. Australian Pte. L Cl. Dunn, 641, 31st Bn. Fell in the neighbourhood of Fromelles on 19/7/16'.

Note, Red Cross File No 930609: 'The above name appeared on German death list dated 4-11-16'.

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
SourcesNAA: B2455, DUNN Leslie Clark
Red Cross file 930609

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