The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (3925) Private Leo Phillip Borowski, 48th Battalion, 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 Craig Berelle, the story for this day was on (3925) Private Leo Phillip Borowski, 48th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

3925 Private Leo Phillip Borowski, 48th Battalion, AIF
KIA 28 March 1918

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Leo Phillip Borowski.

Leo Borowski was born around 1886 at Penwortham, in the Clare Valley, South Australia. His parents were probably emigrants from Russia or Poland. Very little is known of his early life, although his childhood was probably troubled and he was in trouble with the law for petty theft and trespassing as a child. He was educated at Sevenhills College, where he was popular and well known as a sportsman. Borowski went on to work in Broken Hill and at a number of stations on the Murray River.

Borowski married Amelia Pollard in Broken Hill in 1911. Their son, Leslie, was born the following year, and the family eventually settled in Mildura, where Leo worked as a bootmaker.

Leo Borowski enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in December 1914. After initial training, he left Australia the following May on board the troopship Euripides. Borowski seems to have spread a story at home that he served with the 9th Light Horse and was wounded as many as five times. His service record, however, indicates that he had been posted to the 24th Infantry Battalion and was sent from Egypt to Australia for an operation in August 1915.

In September 1916 Leo Borowski was transferred to the 32nd Battalion and left Australia on board the troopship Commonwealth to once again attempt to serve overseas. On the journey to Europe, the Commonwealth stopped at Cape Town, and Borowski failed to reboard after shore leave. He instead completed the journey on board the troopship Karoo. This was the first of a number of instances of absence without leave on Borowski’s record, which resulted in a number of different field punishments and several months of forfeited pay. The worst of these occurred in early 1917, when he went missing for nearly a month and was sentenced to undergo detention for 60 days and forfeited a further three months’ pay.

In July 1917, Borowski was transferred to the 48th Battalion. The battalion rotated in and out of the front line during the winter of 1917 and 1918. In March 1918 the Germans launched their great Spring Offensive, pushing the Allied lines to breaking point in several parts of the Western Front. On 26 March the 48th Battalion was mobilised to meet the enemy, but with rumour and counter rumour swirling, they were sent to several different places before finally encountering the Germans near Millencourt on the Amiens-Albert Road two days later.

At around 4.30 am on 28 March 1918, the Germans attacked in strength, and came back another eight times as each assault was repulsed. The enemy managed to get through the 48th’s line at one point, but was pushed back out, losing a number of prisoners. Despite the confusion and the desperate fighting, the 48th suffered a relatively small number of casualties, and prevented the Germans from breaking through.

One of those killed was Private Leo Borowski. His manner of death is not recorded, and his grave in Ribemont Communal Cemetery extension has no epitaph. He was about 32 years old.

On 8 November 1919, Leo Borowski’s only child, his son Leslie, died of acute meningitis, aged seven. His wife remarried a year later.

Leo Borowski’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 Private Leo Phillip Borowski who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section