Leslie Fairbairn Sangster, WWI, World War One, plaque
Summary
Leslie Sangster was born in Dookie, Victoria in 1896. He moved to Melbourne with his family, excelled in his studies and received a Diploma of Education. In 1916, aged only nineteen, he taught at Hamilton High School. In early 1917 he decided to enlist and trained at Royal Park and was soon promoted to Lance Corporal. He then left Australia for England, arriving in Plymouth in July 1917. He transferred to the 5th Field Company Engineers and was at Ypres, Belgium by November. While still in Belgium, he transferred to the 2nd Division Signal Company then at Ravelsberg, Belgium. In April 2018 the company moved to France to Bertangles in the Somme area then Beaucourt. By August, the company was in the Villers-Bretonneux area ensuring all lines of communication remained open.
On the night of 18 August, Leslie was with a group repairing telephone lines between Harbonnieres and Proyart when a shell exploded beside them. Leslie was hit with shrapnel to the throat and killed instantly. He was just a month short of his twenty-second birthday.
Leslie is remembered on the Hamilton War Memorial and was also given a long-lasting tribute at the Hamilton High School with one of the school’s sporting houses named after him.
