The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (14286) Lance Corporal Leonard Charles Elias, 1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Dennis Stockman, the story for this day was on (14286) Lance Corporal Leonard Charles Elias, 1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, AIF, First World War.

14286 Lance Corporal Leonard Charles Elias, 1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, AIF
Died of illness 29 April 1917
Photograph: DA15465

Story delivered 4 November 2017

Today we remember and pay tribute to Lance Corporal Leonard Charles Elias.

Leonard Elias was born on 27 August 1884 in the Parish of St Luke’s, London, to David and Emma Elias. His father was a well-known draper and Elias grew up in comfort. He was educated at the Charterhouse boarding school in Surrey and after leaving school went to work for a shipping line. At the age of 24, he immigrated to Australia and settled in Walgett where he found work as a boundary rider.

In the following year he met Etta Lenehan and the pair began a relationship before being married on 9 May 1913 in the Church of St Andrew on the outskirts of Sydney.
Etta moved with her husband to Walgett where, on 10 October 1914, their son David was born.

Following the outbreak of the First World War, Elias enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 30 March 1916. After a month’s training, he was posted to the 1st Australian Wireless Signal Troop.

At the end of May he left Melbourne aboard the transport ship Morea, bound for Mesopotamia, today’s Iraq. After stops at Colombo and Bombay, he landed at Basra on the 5th of July, where British and Dominion troops were preparing for a new offensive.
The offensive was launched in mid-December with troops advancing along both sides of the Tigris River towards Baghdad. Elias’s unit played
a vital role in intercepting and decoding enemy signals traffic. The unit’s mobility and ability to quickly decipher the enemy signals traffic greatly enhanced the ability of the British commander, Lieutenant General Sir Frederick Maude to make rapid changes to his advance. This almost led to the destruction of the Ottoman XVIII Corps, which was forced to retreat in disarray. The city of Kut fell on 22 February and the British advance continued.

Conditions on the ground were particularly harsh. With extreme heat, regular flooding, and flies, mosquitos and other vermin prevalent, lots of casualties were caused by diseases. On 27 February Elias was admitted to hospital in Amara with an undiagnosed illness. When his condition did not improve he was evacuated to the 3rd British General Hospital in Basra where it was discovered he had contracted typhus.

He was transferred to an isolation hospital, where his condition continued to deteriorate. He died on 29 April and was laid to rest in the Basra War Cemetery. He was 32 years old.
In an obituary placed in a newspaper shortly afterwards, Leonard’s wife Etta left the following epitaph, inspired by Tennyson’s poem Crossing the bar:
And when from out the bourne of time and space
my Barque has travelled far,
I hope to meet my Pilot face to face,
When I have crossed the bar.
A simpler, more moving tribute was added on behalf of her son:
My dear daddy, Leon Elias, gave his life in Mesopotamia, April 29. His little Dai.
Little Dai grew up and went on to serve during the Second World War. Like his father, he served in the signals corps. He survived the war and returned home in 1946.

Leonard Elias’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my right, among almost 62,000 Australians who died while serving in the First World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Lance Corporal Leonard Capsell Elias, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section