THIS story is the first in a series about military veterans laid to rest at Dungog General Cemetery by Dungog RSL sub-Branch Vice-President Martin Holmes.

2000A Private Leslie John Henry Tetley – WW1(1st AIF)

LESLIE Tetley was born at Stockinbingal, near Temora NSW, in 1897 to parents Samuel and Rebecca Tetley.

At age 19, he enlisted in the AIF on 2 March 1916 at Cootamundra NSW.

After initial training he was taken on the strength of the 56th Battalion and proceeded overseas for England on 23 June, arriving in Plymouth on 25 August.

He was transferred to the 35th Battalion on 23 September and joined the unit in France on 21 November, which was in the trenches on the Western Front.

In June 1917, the 35th Battalion fought in the Battle of Messines.

Leslie was wounded in action on 7 June, the first day of the battle, receiving a gunshot wound to a finger on the right hand.

He rejoined his unit on 10 August in time to fight in the Battle of Passchendaele (October).

He fought with the 35th Battalion at Villers-Bretonneux (March/April 1918) then in the Battle of Amiens (August), through to the end of the war.

In 1919 he returned to Australia on the ship MT Borda, arriving home on 28 June.

He was discharged on 12 August.

The 35th Battalion was Newcastle’s ‘Own Battalion’ and many Dungog locals joined this unit.

After discharge Leslie came to Dungog working as a labourer.

In 1920 he married a local girl, Miss Caroline Carlotta “Lottie” Moore of Monkerai, at the Dungog Anglican Church.

Leslie and Lottie had several children and his family remained in Dungog where he worked as a mill hand until his death.

Leslie died on 30 December 1959 in Dungog Hospital, after a five week illness.

He was buried in the Dungog General Cemetery (War Section) as a returned soldier from WW1.

His headstone is of white marble and was erected by the Office of Australian War Graves.

By Martin HOLMES CSM