NUTTALL, Leslie

NUTTALL, Leslie – A Southern Downs Veteran

CONFLICT : WWI
SERVICE NO : 4182
RANK : Private
UNIT : 31st Battalion
ENLISTMENT DATE : 30/04/1916
AGE : 21
PLACE OF ENLISTMENT : Brisbane, Queensland
PLACE OF BIRTH : Manchester, England
RELIGION : Church of England
OCCUPATION : Bushman
DATE OF DEATH : 26/09/1917
PLACE OF BURIAL : No Known Grave, Belgium

MEMORIALS : Yelarbon War Memorial, Yelarbon Roll of Honour, Goondiwindi War Memorial

View Veteran’s Service File : NUTTALL, Leslie

NOTES :  The only L Nuttall to have enlisted in Australia during the First World War was Leslie Nuttall who listed his address as Chermside. His occupation showed he was a bushman and for this reason it is believed he could have been working in the Yelarbon area at the time of his enlistment.

If this is the same man, then Leslie Nuttall left his parents John Henry and Annie Nuttall in England and sailed to Australia when he was seventeen years old.

In April 1916 Leslie enlisted in Brisbane and was assigned to 10th Reinforcements before being transferred to the 31st Battalion. During fierce fighting in Belgium, Leslie was killed in action on 26 September 1917. A notation in the unit diary indicated he was during in the vicinity of Polygon Wood Sh.28.NE.J10

The Commonwealth War Graves war casualty register reads:

NUTTALL, Pts. Leslie, 4182. 31st Bn. 26th Sept., 1917. Age 22. Son of John Henry and Annie Nuttall, of 89, St. Andrew’s Rd., St. Annes-on-Sea, Lancs, England. Native of Blackpool, England.

Leslie is remembered on the Menin Gate Memorial, Ypres as well as the Yelarbon War Memorial and the Yelarbon Roll of Honour although the spelling of his surname is incorrect. It should be Nuttall and not Nutall.

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

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