Part 118

=LEATHER, ERNEST ARTHUR=, Major, Northumberland Fusiliers, 3rd _s._ of the late Frederick John Leather, of Middleton Hall, Belford, co. Northumberland, J.P., by his wife, Gertrude Elizabeth Sophia (The Friary, Tickhill, co. York), dau. of the Rev. Charles Walters, M.A. Oxon; _b._ at South Penge, co. Surrey, 18 Oct. 1868; educ. privately; joined the 5th Militia Battn. of the Northumberland Fusiliers as 2nd Lieut., 23 May, 1900; and served at Malta during the South African War, 1900 (medal), retired with the rank of Capt. in 1910, but on the outbreak of the European War in Aug. 1914 joined his old regt., and obtained his Majority 20 Oct. following; went to France, 11 Jan. 1916, and was killed in action near Fleurbaix, 10 Feb. 1916. Buried at La Croix Marechal. He _m._ at Hexham Abbey, 25 Oct. 1904, Mildred Louise, dau. of Charles Augustus Harrison, of Beacon Grange, Hexham, and had two children: Vivien Mildred, _b._ 22 March, 1907; and Anne du Sautoy, _b._ 13 Sept. 1913.

=LEATHWOOD, JOHN PEARSON=, Petty Officer (N.S.), 219283, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=LE BRUN, CHRIS=, Stoker, 2nd Class, K. 21950, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=LECKIE, MALCOLM, D.S.O.=, Capt., Royal Army Medical Corps, attd. 1st Northumberland Fusiliers, yr. surviving _s._ of James Blyth Leckie, of Monkstown, Crowborough, co. Sussex, and Peebles, formerly of Blackheath, co. Kent, by his wife, Selina, dau. of Robert Bousfield; _b._ Eltham, co. Kent, 18 April, 1880; educ. Blackheath Preparatory School, privately abroad, and Guy’s Hospital; gazetted Lieut., R.A.M.C., 4 Feb. 1908, and promoted Capt. 4 Aug. 1911; was attd. to the Egyptian Army from 1 Feb. 1910 to Feb. 1914, and served in Upper Egypt, the Soudan, and in an expedition up the Blue Nile; went to France with the Expeditionary Force in Aug. 1914, being attd. to the 1st Northumberland Fusiliers (9th Brigade, 3rd Division), and died at Frameries, near Mons, on the 28th of that month, of wounds received there on the 24th. Buried in the cemetery at Frameries; _unm._ He was awarded the D.S.O. [London Gazette, 8 Dec. 1914] “for gallant conduct and exceptional devotion to duty in attending to the wounded at Frameries, where he was himself wounded.” Capt. Leckie was one of the best hockey players of his day. He was a member of the Blackheath Hockey Club, and Captain of Guy’s Hospital Club when there; played for the Kent Hockey Club, for the Army, and for England against France. He was a descendant of the Leckies of the Barony of Leckie in Stirlingshire, 1352. One of his ancestors, Sir Walter Leckie, of King Charles VII of France’s Bodyguard, commanded the Scottish troops at the Battle of Lagny on 10 Aug. 1432--the last exploit of the Maid of Orleans--when these troops were instrumental in the utter defeat of the English under the Duke of Bedford. Sir John French, in his first Despatch, said that for the advance from the Marne his left wing rested on Lagny.

=LEDGER, FREDERICK=, A.B. (R.F.R., B. 4248), 220386, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=LEDGER, RAYMOND KIRWOOD=, Lieut., 6th (Reserve) Battn. Rifle Brigade, attd. 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 4th _s._ of the Rev. Charles George Ledger, M.A., Vicar of St. Paul’s, Tupsley, co. Hereford, by his wife, Isabel Mary, dau. of the Rev. George Henry Kirwood; _b._ Hereford, 26 Oct. 1891; educ. Marlborough (Scholar), and Wadham College, Oxford (graduated B.A. with honours in Modern History, and was Captain of his college tennis, hockey and Association football teams); gazetted 2nd Lieut. 6th Rifle Brigade, 15 Aug. 1914, and promoted Lieut., 19 Dec. 1914; went to France 13 Nov. 1914; was attached to 1st Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and was killed in action near Neuve Chapelle, 13 April, 1915, being shot by a sniper while in the trenches. He was buried the same night near Picantin, side by side with Lieut. Gladstone; _unm._ His Commanding Officer wrote: “He had done more reconnaissance work than any other officer in the battn. He volunteered for everything possible, and carried out successfully whatever he set himself to do. What he did at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle was characteristic; he volunteered to go and find where the 21st Brigade was when it had got out of touch with his own Brigade (the 22nd). The way he took was sprinkled with the dead bodies of those who had tried, before him, to get across; he managed to do it and returned with valuable information. He was away seven hours.” He was mentioned in Sir John (now Lord) French’s Despatch of 31 May, 1915.

=LEDIARD, FRANCIS=, Private, No. 7948, B Coy., 2nd Battn. The Royal Scots, _s._ of the late Henry Lediard, of Birmingham, Cab Proprietor, formerly a Police Constable in the Birmingham Force, by his wife, Sarah; _b._ Birmingham, 25 Nov. 1867; educ. St. Thomas Church Schools there; was a Cab Driver in Birmingham, but enlisted in the Royal Scots in 1902; served eight years with the Colours and four years with the Reserve, during which time he held a good position in a motor garage in Birmingham; was called up on mobilisation, 5 Aug. 1914; rejoined his old regt.; went to France about 18 Aug., and was killed in action on the 26th, during the retreat from Mons; _unm._

=LEE, ALBERT ALFRED=, Private, No. 2132, A Coy., 1/8th Battn. The Middlesex Regt. (T.F.), eldest _s._ of Alfred Lee, of 16, Waltham Road, Southall, Basketmaker, by his wife, Ann, dau. of Ruben Kempster; _b._ Southall, 29 Dec. 1896; educ. Featherstone Road Boys’ School there; was employed in the Boxmaking Department of Messrs. Otto Monsted, Ltd., Margarine Works, Southall; joined the 1/8th Middlesex Territorials in April, 1913; mobilised from the training camp on the outbreak of war in Aug. 1914; volunteered for foreign service; went to Gibraltar with his regt. in Sept.; returned to England in Feb. 1915; went to France, 8 March, and was killed in action at Zonnebeke, 1 May, 1915, during the Second Battle of Ypres; _unm._ Buried there. Capt. A. H. Woodbridge, Officer Commanding A Coy., wrote: “It is with infinite regret that I write to tell you of your son’s death, which occurred in the fighting near Ypres on 1 May. In your great grief it may be some comfort to you to know that he suffered no pain and met his end nobly doing his duty.”

=LEE, CHARLES=, Private, No. 5086, 2nd Battn. East Lancashire Regt., eldest _s._ of Samuel Herbert Lee, of Alnwick Street, Burnley, by his wife, Margaret Ann, dau. of William Whittaker; _b._ Burnley, 20 Feb. 1893; educ. St. Peter’s School there; joined 2nd East Lancashires, 16 May, 1912, previously to which he was employed at Towneley Collieries; went to France, 1 Dec. 1914, and was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle, 12 March, 1915; _unm._

=LEE, CHARLES=, Stoker, Petty Officer (R.F.R., B. 3954), 155422, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._

=LEE, GEORGE FRANCIS=, Stoker (R.F.R., Ch. B. 5473), 301936, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=LEE, LENNOX CLELAND LEE=, 2nd Lieut., 1st Battn. Irish Guards (Special Reserve), elder _s._ of Lennox Bertram Lee, of How Caple Court, near Ross, co. Hereford, by his wife, Edith, dau. of the late Malcolm MacLellan, of Clairmont Gardens, Glasgow; _b._ Knutsford, co. Chester, 27 March, 1893; educ. St. David’s, Reigate; Eton, and the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich; and when war broke out was awaiting examination for the Diplomatic Service; was gazetted 2nd Lieut. Irish Guards (Special Reserve), 15 Aug. 1914; went to France, Nov. 1914, and was killed in action at Cuinchy, 1 Feb. 1915. Buried there; _unm._

=LEE, LEWIS (DICK)=, L.-Corpl., No. 9915, 6th Battn. Lincolnshire Regt., 2nd _s._ of George Lee, of 26, Trafford Street, Scunthorpe, Steel Worker, by his wife, Florence, dau. of Richard Walker; _b._ Crowle, co. Lincoln, 23 Sept. 1890; educ. Scunthorpe; was employed in steel works; enlisted after the outbreak of war, Aug. 1914; trained at Frensham Camp, Farnham; went to the Dardanelles in June, and was killed in action at Suvla Bay, 29 Aug. 1915; _unm._ Two of his brothers are (1916) on active service.

=LEE, REGINALD=, _alias_ =THOMAS=, L.-Corpl., No. 1574, 5th Battn. Australian Imperial Force, _s._ of Thomas Lee, of Elsted, Sussex, Police Constable, by his wife, Ellen; _b._ Brighton, 29 Jan. 1895; educ. Amberly, Bognor, and Funtington, co. Sussex; enlisted in the Royal Garrison Artillery, 9 Nov. 1910, and served three years, taking his discharge while at Simon’s Town, Cape Colony, 9 May, 1913; he then went to Adelaide, and was getting on well when war was declared. He immediately joined the Commonwealth Expeditionary Force, and after a short period of training at Melbourne, was sent to Egypt and from there to the Dardanelles, where he was wounded by a shell while fetching up ammunition and died on board the Hospital Ship Royal George, between Alexandria and Malta, 16 May, 1915; _unm._

=LEE, WILLIAM=, Stoker, 1st Class (R.F.R., Ch. B. 9000), S.S. 105811, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=LEECH, WILLIAM LEONARD BOGHURST=, Rifleman, 1/9th Battn. (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) The London Regt. (T.F.), only _s._ of the late Arthur Herbert Leech, M.R.C.S.E., L.S.A. (who was in practice at Woolpit and afterwards at Broseley, where he died in 1894), by his wife, Annie Madeline (28, Egerton Gardens, West Ealing, W.), dau. of William Philip Boghurst; _b._ The White House, Woolpit, co. Suffolk, 22 Nov. 1887; educ. Epsom College; passed his A.R.I.B.A. in June, 1913, and was assistant in the firm of Messrs. Wratten and Godfrey, London; volunteered on the outbreak of war, but was five times refused at the recruiting station on account of wearing glasses, and acted as Special Constable from Aug. to Nov. 1914, when he was at last accepted by Queen Victoria’s Rifles, and joined the 1st Battn.; trained at Crowborough Camp, where he twice refused Corporal’s stripes, as he thought it would keep him in England longer; went to France with a draft, 27 March, 1915; was severely wounded in the head on 8 April, 1915, and died at Overcliff Red Cross Hospital, Westcliff-on-Sea, on 14 May following; _unm._

=LEEK, WILLIAM=, A.B., 218963, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=LEES, EDMUND HASTINGS HARCOURT=, Capt., 2nd Battn. Border Regt., _s._ of Thomas Orde Hastings Lees, of Guilsborough, co. Northampton, Barrister-at-Law, formerly Chief Constable of that county; _b._ Northampton, 21 Dec. 1875; educ. Marlborough, Royal Academy, Gosport, and Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut., 2nd Border Regt., 5 Sept. 1896, promoted Lieut. 10 Feb. 1900, and Capt. 24 June, 1906; was Adjutant to a Territorial Battn. (The Artists’ Rifles), 19 Oct. 1909 to 20 Oct. 1912; served in the South African War, 1899–1901; took part in operations in Cape Colony, south of Orange River, 1899; in Natal, 1899; relief of Ladysmith, including actions at Colenso; operations of 17 to 24 Jan. 1900, and action at Spion Kop; operations of 5 to 7 Feb. 1900, and action at Vaal Kranz; operations on Tugela Heights (14 to 27 Feb. 1900), and action at Pieter’s Hill; operations in the Orange Free State, April and May, 1900; operations in the Transvaal, June, 1900; in the Transvaal, east of Pretoria, July, 1900; in the Transvaal, west of Pretoria, July to Nov. 1900, in Orange River Colony, May, 1900; in Cape Colony, north of Orange River, May, 1900; in the Transvaal from 30 Nov. 1900 (was wounded and mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 10 Sept. 1901], received Queen’s medal with six clasps); and with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from Sept. 1914 to 26 Oct. 1914, was killed in action at Ruiseek, near Ypres (whilst defending Calais) on the latter date. An officer referring to this action wrote: “Our men fought desperately from nine o’clock till six, when the Germans withdrew, and our little remnant was ordered to retire. We have only about 400 men left out of over 1,000 and hardly any N.C.O’s.”

=LEES, PERCY BERESFORD=, 2nd Lieut., 2nd Battn. Northamptonshire Regt., _s._ of Col. Charles Percy Lees, of Herne Lodge, Oundle, co. Northampton, by his wife, Anna Madeleine, dau. of Edward Whetham Allpress; _b._ Newton Hall, Middlewich, co. Chester, 12 June, 1890; educ. Wellington College and the School of Mines, Camborne, where he took his degree; was engaged in mining in Canada when war broke out, and at once returned to England, applied for a commission, and was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 3rd Northamptons, 14 Oct. 1914; went to France, 1 March, 1915, where he joined the 2nd Battn., and was killed in action at the Battle of Neuve Chapelle, 12 March, 1915. Buried at Neuve Chapelle; _unm._

=LEES, THOMAS PRIOR=, Major, 9th Battn. (Queen Victoria’s Rifles) London Regt. (T.F.), 2nd _s._ of the late Alfred Lees, by his wife, Rosa Matilda, dau. of Thomas Flood; _b._ at the Old Priory, Bedford, 3 Sept. 1874; educ. Bedford Modern School and Clare College, Cambridge (M.A. and 8th Senior Optime). Entered the Home Civil Service, Senior Division, and was Assistant Secretary, Civil Service Commission, Burlington Gardens. Joined the old Victoria and St. George’s Rifles, 22 May, 1889; became Capt., March, 1905, and Major, 15 Aug. 1913; obtained Special Certificate, Chelsea Barracks, and passed the Army examinations for Field Rank (distinguished). He volunteered with the officers of his regt. for active service during the South African War, but only a limited number were required, and he remained in England. Volunteered for the present war, landed in France, 5 Nov. 1915. The battn. went straight into the trenches and was afterwards attached to 13th Infantry Brigade. On 17 April the brigade was detailed for the capture of “Hill 60.” The fighting was so severe during the 17th, 18th and 19th that the West Kents, Scottish Borderers, Yorks L.I and West Riding Regts., who had fought magnificently, were withdrawn and another brigade brought up. The Queen Victoria’s had been occupied in carrying munitions to the front trenches, but miraculously escaped with few casualties. They were not relieved with their brigade. On the night of the 20th the enemy took the trenches on the top of the hill, and Major Lees counter-attacked with two companies, the rest of the battn. being held in reserve in dug-outs near the foot of the hill, where they were subjected to a terrible bombardment lasting for hours. Major Lees’ night assault was successful. He then found he was the senior officer left alive on the hill and reorganised the defence. The German artillery and machine-gun fire was continuous, save when they launched repeated infantry attacks against our trenches. About 5 a.m. on the 21st, Major Lees had gone to the most exposed trench held by the Bedford Regt., in which there were nearly 300 of our killed and wounded. The enemy were assaulting, showering grenades into the trench and sweeping the parapet with machine-gun fire. It was at this critical moment that he was shot through the head and heart, only 10 yards from the Germans, while shouting orders to hold on. He fell off the parapet into the arms of a Sergt. of the Bedfords and never spoke again. The N.C.Os. and riflemen were heroic. Out of the 150 men with Major Lees all were killed and wounded, except 20 who were still holding on with 2nd Lieut. Wolley, V.C., when relieved by the Devons and Camerons. Lieut.-Col. Shipley, C.M.G., wrote to his brother, Major Lees, late 3rd South Wales Borderers: “He died like a hero, having retaken and made good a position of primary importance which the enemy were on the point of re-occupying. His last gallant charge was, as he would have wished it, to the assistance of his county regt., the Bedfordshires. The last words I heard him speak as he led his company off into the trenches were: ‘Now, remember, if anyone is wounded, the others must carry on. If I am hit, go on.’ It was his initiative and courageous behaviour that has enabled us to hold on to the position. I cannot even attempt to tell you what a stupendous loss his is to the regt. and myself, but we must console ourselves by remembering and trying to emulate your brother’s unswerving devotion to duty and the unflinching gallantry shown by him in all times of stress; his life so earnestly devoted to others will live in our memories for all time.” He was buried in the larch wood near Hill 60.

=LEGGAT, WILLIAM=, 2nd Lieut., 7th Battn. The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) (T.F.), eldest _s._ of James Leggat, of 89, Wilson Street, Glasgow, Wholesale Provision Merchant, by his wife, Jane, dau. of Robert Carswell, of Duncarnock, Newton Mearns; _b._ Strathbungo, Glasgow, 29 Jan. 1883; educ. Bellahouston Academy, Glasgow; was a Wholesale Provision Merchant in Glasgow, served four years with the Dumbartonshire Rifle Volunteers until they were disbanded on the organisation of the T.F.; received a commission as 2nd Lieut. in 7th Cameronians, 21 March, 1914; volunteered for Imperial service on the outbreak of war; left for the Dardanelles, May, 1915, and died at Malta, 2 July following, of wounds received in the Allied attack on the Krithia-Achi Baba position, Gallipoli, on 28 June. Buried Pieta Cemetery, Malta; _unm._

=LEGGATT, EDWARD=, E.R.A., 1st Class (Pensioner), 159975, H.M.S. Good Hope; lost in action off Coronel, on the coast of Chili, 1 Nov. 1914.

=LEGGE, RONALD GEORGE=, Capt., 2nd Battn. Devonshire Regt., 7th and yst. _s._ of the late Hon. Charles Gounter Legge, H.M. Inspector of Constabulary, by his wife, Mary, eldest dau. of the late Very Rev. Thomas Garnier, Dean of Lincoln, and grandson of William, 4th Earl of Dartmouth; _b._ Southgate, co. Middlesex, 4 July, 1878; educ. Sherborne School; served with the 59th Coy. Imperial Yeomanry in the South African War, 1900–1 (Queen’s medal with four clasps); was gazetted 2nd Lieut. 2nd Devons, 23 April, 1902; and promoted Lieut. 13 March 1906, and Capt. 15 Nov. 1914; was Adjutant to the Territorial Force, 30 April, 1910, to 29 Oct. 1913; went to France, 5 Nov. 1914, and was killed near Neuve Chapelle, 18 Dec. following. He _m._ at Holy Trinity Church, Exmouth, 19 Nov. 1910, Phyllis Mildred, dau. of the Rev. Mortimer Ford, of Yarcombe, co. Devon, and had a son, Rupert Mortimer, _b._ 8 Sept. 1911.

=LEGGE, STAFFORD HENRY=, Private, No. 847, 16th (Service) Battn. The Middlesex Regt.; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action, 1 March, 1915.

=LEGGETT, ALAN RANDALL AUFRÈRE=, Lieut., 1st Battn. Prince of Wales’s North Staffordshire Regt., yst. _s._ of Lieut.-Col. Frederick Octavius Leggett, of Underhill House, Cheriton, co. Kent, late Army Ordnance Dept., by his wife, Maria (Minnie), dau. of Thomas Browning; _b._ Delce Grange, Rochester, co. Kent, 31 May, 1893; educ. Oxford Preparatory School, Tonbridge School, and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, where he was Hon. King’s Cadet, 1911–12; gazetted 2nd Lieut., 1st North Staffords, 4 Sept. 1912, and was promoted Lieut. 18 Sept. 1914; went to France, 4 Sept. 1914, and was killed in action in the trenches near Armentières, during the First Battle of Ypres, 31 Oct. 1914. Buried St. Martin’s Churchyard, Cheriton, Kent; _unm._ He was mentioned in Sir John French’s Despatch of 20 Nov. 1914–14 Jan. 1915 [London Gazette, 17 Feb. 1915], in respect of an action on 20 Oct. 1914, when he was sent with his platoon to support the Leinster Regt., which was hard pressed, and by “his steadiness, good leadership, and well considered action held up the enemy’s attack and enabled the offensive to be resumed.” His commanding officer wrote: “He did his duty cheerfully and fully, without a thought of self.”

=LEGGETT, GEORGE=, Stoker, R.N.R., 2068U, H.M.S. Cressy; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=LEGGETT, GEORGE=, Private, R.M.L.I., Ch./15320, H.M.S. Aboukir; lost in action in the North Sea, 22 Sept. 1914.

=LEIGH, ALBERT EDWARD=, L.-Corpl., No. 9814, 1st Battn. Middlesex Regt.; served with the Expeditionary Force in France, etc.; killed in action, 25 Sept. 1915.

=LEIGH, CHANDOS, D.S.O.=, Major, 2nd Battn. King’s Own Scottish Borderers, elder _s._ of the late Hon. Sir Edward Chandos Leigh, K.C., K.C.B., by his wife, Katherine Fanny (Knuston Hall, Irchester, Northants; 45, Upper Grosvenor Street, W.), dau. of the late James Rigby, of Moss House, Lancashire, D.L., and gdson. of Chandos, 1st Lord Leigh; _b._ 29 Aug. 1873; educ. Harrow and Cambridge; gazetted 2nd Lieut., 2nd King’s Own Scottish Borderers, from the Militia, 29 May, 1895, and promoted Lieut. 22 Sept. 1897, Capt. 1 April, 1901, and Major, 17 June, 1914; served (1) in the South African War, 1900–2, employed with the Mounted Infantry; took part in the advance on, and relief of, Kimberley; operations in Orange Free State, 1900, including actions at Paardeberg, Poplar Grove, Houtnek (Thoba Mountain), Vet River and Zand River; operations in the Transvaal, May–June, 1900, including actions near Johannesburg and Diamond Hill; operations in Orange River Colony, 1900, including actions at Wittebergen and Bothaville; and in operations in the Transvaal, Orange River Colony and Cape Colony, 30 Nov. 1900 to 31 May, 1902 (mentioned in Despatches [London Gazette, 10 Sept. 1901]. Queen’s medal with five clasps, D.S.O.); (2) with the Egyptian Army, 17 April, 1902, to 1912; took part in Bahr-el-Ghazal Expedition against the Nyam-Nyam Tribes 1905–6 (Egyptian medal with clasp; Medijidich and Osmanich Orders); and (3) with the Expeditionary Force in France and Flanders from 13 Aug. 1914; was reported missing and wounded after the Battle of Mons, 23 Aug. 1914, and died at Boussu shortly afterwards. When last seen, though severely wounded, he told his men to go on and never mind him, as the enemy were in great strength, and it was imperative to get back to blow up the canal bridge against their advance. Major Leigh was a fine horseman and polo player, winning his regimental cup the year he joined the Army. He was well known with the Meath, Pytchley and other packs, won honours in the open jumping at the Dublin Horse Show, and headed the winning record for steeplechase riders, both amateurs and professional, on the Cairo Turf. He _m._ 6 June, 1912, Winifred Madeline, dau. of the late Rt. Hon. Arthur Frederick Jeffreys, of Burkham, Hampshire, P.C., M.P.; _s.p._

=LEIGH, CHARLES=, Petty Officer, 174539, H.M.S. Hawke; lost when that ship was torpedoed in the North Sea, 15 Oct. 1914; _m._