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Leslie Kershaw - Information

As the guns were firing across the world, Leslie was living with his family at 341 Bourke St in Darlinghurst, where he worked as a rigger. Leslie was born in Campbelltown in 1888 to Sarah and Thomas Kershaw. He then enlisted in the AIF at the Royal Showground Camp on the 11th of December 1916. He was then sent overseas on the 24th of January 1917, departing Sydney upon the HMAT Anchises as a Private with the 16th Reinforcements, 1st Pioneer Battalion.

Leslie disembarked in Devonport, England on the 27th of March 1917. He was then marched into the Pioneer Training Battalion for further instruction. Leslie received treatment for venereal disease, before leaving Southampton for France in October. Later that month, he joined the 1st Pioneer Battalion at the front. Leslie and his unit, helped frontline troops conduct operations, constructing roads, billets, waterways, trenches, building duckboards, dugouts and performing other services. However, working in the frontlines often put them in danger. Consequently, Leslie was wounded on the 1st of June 1918, when artillery shrapnel ripped open his right leg. He was treated in Rouen, and then invalided to England on the 5th. The following day, he was admitted to the Exeter War Hospital. The damage to his leg was severe, and he was unable to return to active duty. He was still in hospital when the war ended. He was then sent back to Australia in late January 1919 for a medical discharge.