The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (207) Private Leslie Hyde, 14th 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 Troy Clayton, the story for this day was on (207) Private Leslie Hyde, 14th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

207 Private Leslie Hyde, 14th Battalion, AIF
KIA 27 April 1915

Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Leslie Hyde.
Leslie Hyde was born Francis Leslie Hyde in Hotham, Victoria in 1893, the eldest son of Francis and Amy Hyde. The family moved to Bendigo when he was a young boy, and he was educated at the Central State School. After completing his education, he undertook an apprenticeship with a local building contractor, Mr Davey, to become a carpenter. He studied at the Bendigo School of Mines in conjunction with his apprenticeship, and was able to earn several certificates related to building construction. Leslie was a member of the local carpenters’ union and Australian Natives Association, and was involved in the Golden Square Methodist Church’s Sunday School.

War broke out in Europe just as Leslie Hyde was completing his apprenticeship, and he joined the Australian Imperial Force within weeks. He was posted to the newly-formed 14th Battalion, and entered Broadmeadows Camp to begin his military training. He left Australia for active service overseas with his battalion on 22 December, arriving in Egypt at the end of January 1915.

On 11 April 1915, the 14th Battalion struck camp at Heliopolis and boarded a train for the port of Alexandria. It left on board the troopship Seang Choon two days later, with few, if any, members of the battalion aware of their destination. The 14th Battalion would spend a little over a week on the island of Lemnos, undergoing intensive training in preparation for the landing on Gallipoli.

Back on board the Seang Choon, the 14th Battalion left Lemnos Harbour at 9.30 am on 25 April 1915. The vessel passed Cape Helles on its way to Anzac Cove, and the men on board could see the naval attack going on there as they went by well out to sea. Reaching Anzac Cove at about 5 pm, the Seang Choon began to take on men wounded in the hours after the dawn landing almost straight away. The men of the 14th Battalion helped wave after wave of them on board throughout the night.

At 11.15 am on 26 April the men of the 14th Battalion began to disembark into two torpedo boat destroyers which would take them close enough to shore to be able to ferry to land in tows. The men, having spent all night helping the wounded, could have had little doubt as to what was in store for them. The journey was fraught with danger. They were under shrapnel fire all the way, and at least one man was killed and another wounded in the tows before they could make the beach.

The entire 14th Battalion, nearly 930 men, was landed by 1.30 pm on 26 April, forming a general reserve force with the rest of the 4th Brigade, and bivouacking on the beach for the night. The following morning the men were ordered off the beach to the heights in order to defend the shaky, hard-won perimeter.

It seems that Private Leslie Hyde made it to the trenches that the 14th Battalion was ordered to hold. He took up his position, and began sniping at the enemy over the parapet of the trench. However, not long after doing so, he was shot and killed.

Hyde’s commanding officer, Captain Henry Boyle, later wrote to Leslie’s mother in answer to her request for information on the death of her eldest son. He wrote, “he was very brave and trustworthy… I give you my deepest sympathy”. Leslie Hyde’s body was removed from the front line the same night he was killed, and he was buried behind Pope’s Hill. His grave was later lost, and today he is commemorated by a special memorial in Quinn’s Post Cemetery at Anzac Cove, under the words, “to live in hearts we leave behind, is not to die. Our dear boy at rest.” Private Leslie Hyde was 21 years old.

His 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 Leslie Hyde, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Meleah Hampton
Historian, Military History Section