BREMNER, Leslie Gilbert

BREMNER, Leslie Gilbert – A Southern Downs Veteran

CONFLICT : WWI
SERVICE NO : 2419
RANK : Private
UNIT : 15th Battalion
ENLISTMENT DATE : 9/03/1916
AGE : 24
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT : Warwick, Queensland
PLACE OF BIRTH : Moama, New South Wales
RELIGION : Presbyterian
OCCUPATION : Farmer
DATE OF DEATH : 12/12/1980
PLACE OF BURIAL : Tewantin, Queensland

MEMORIALS : Yelarbon War Memorial, Yelarbon Roll of Honour

View Veteran’s Service File : BREMNER, Leslie Gilbert

NOTES : BREMNER, Leslie Gilbert – By Duncan McLean

Leslie Gilbert Bremner, known as Les, was born at Moama, New South Wales on 23 September, 1891. He was the sixth of eleven children born to Alexander William and Mary Ann Bremner (nee Guley).

He was aged 24 when he enlisted at Warwick on 9 March 1916. He embarked with the 4th reinforcements of the 42nd Battalion on 21 October 1916. He was wounded in action on 31 July 1917, with gunshot wounds to his left thigh, right wrist, and right knee, and was sent back to England on 19 August. He rejoined his unit in France on 28 November 1917.

On 26 May 1918, Les was wounded in action with gas shell poisoning, and was admitted to hospital in England on 1 June. He was transferred to 15th Battalion on 5 October 1918. After the armistice, he was charged with being absent without leave on 27 December, 1918, but the case was dismissed on 31 December.

Les returned to Australia, disembarking at Brisbane on 20 April 1919. He lived to age 92, and suffered the effects of being gassed throughout his life. His sister-in-law, Jean Bremner, reported that Les would describe how the gas was disguised to smell like a baked dinner; by the time you realized it was gas you’d already breathed it in deeply.

His younger brother Alick Guley Bremner 679 enlisted on 25 November 1916, six months after his older brother.

Copyright 2026 Deborah C Wheeler and Duncan McLean, Southern Downs Military History

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