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Leo Thomas Webster Gamble - Information

Leo was a member of the Gamble family who came to Campbelltown in 1883, settling down on Queen St. Leo'€™s father, Thomas, then became an auctioneer, general merchant, and storekeeper. In 1895, Thomas became Mayor and founded the Show Society and School of Arts. The Gambles had four children in Campbelltown Richard, Roy, Norman and Leo. When he was older, Leo found work as a postal official. The war was to become an important part of the Gambles'€™ lives, when Leo'€™s brother, Norman, joined the AIF in 1915. Leo then decided to volunteer in the AIF at the Showground Camp in Sydney on the 4th of December 1916, aged 21.

Leo began training as a Private at the Showground Camp, and then as a Sapper with Divisional Signal Companies. His unit was shipped out from Sydney upon the HMAT Port Sydney on the 9th of May 1917. Arriving at Suez, Egypt in late June, he was then marched into the Base Signal Depot at Moascar at the end of July. On the 22nd of October 1917, Leo was stationed to the 1st Signal Squadron at Esani, and at Beilah in November. Signal units were tasked with developing and maintaining communication for the operations of patrols and battles. Leo was an efficient soldier, promoted to Temporary Corporal in November 1918. On the 10th of February 1919 he was promoted to Corporal, Temporary Sergeant in March and then Sergeant in May. Leo was sent back home to Australia on the HT Orari on the 16th of May 1919. Returning to his life in Campbelltown, the Gambles' ties to the community grew, as Leo's brother, Roy, became Mayor in 1929.