The 'Fighting Leanes' of Prospect

Portrait of Sir Raymond Lionel Leane, the fifth son of the 'Fighting Leanes' family of Prospect South Australia. Later a long-serving Commissioner of Police in South Australia.

Five of the six surviving sons of Thomas John and Alice Ann (nee Short) Leane of Prospect, South Australia, served in the First AIF and six grandsons also served.

Many members of the Leane family served with the 48th Battalion which became known as 'The Joan of Arc Battalion', as the French saint is also known as the Maid of Orleans and the 48th was 'made of all Leans'. Charles Bean, Australian's first official war historian, said Sir Raymond Leane that by the end of World War One he was 'the head of the most famous family of soldiers in Australian history' (Bean, p. 558).

Click on the family member's name to view their service record on the National Archives of Australia's website (note that Raymond Lionel Leane's First World War records have been appended to his Second World War records).

• Edwin Thomas - Previously served in the South African War. In WWI was a captain and Company commander of 12th Battalion on embarkation from Australia. Illness kept him from serving at Gallipoli where he later became Director of the Ordnance Stores of the 2nd Australian Division. He served in France and Belgium and at AIF headquarters in London. In 1917 he was promoted to head of the ordnance services, 1st Anzac Corps and by the end of the War had attained the rank of colonel and the role of deputy director in the A.I.F. Repatriation and Demobilization Department, London. He was mentioned in dispatches five times, appointed C.B.E. and awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre.
• Ernest Albert - Enlisted at the age of 45 and served as a Warrant Officer in the 27th Battalion at Gallipoli until taken ill, then stationed at AIF headquarters in Cairo.
• Allan William - Enlisted on 28 April 1915, with rank of major in the 28th Battalion, and arrived at Gallipoli in September 1915. Second in command of the Battalion from January 1916. After the Battalion moved to the Western Front he achieved the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Died 4 January 1917 of wounds recieved at Delville Wood.
• Raymond Lionel - Captain and Company commander of 11th Battalion on embarkation from Australia. The Battalion went ashore as the covering force during the landing at Gallipoli on the dawn of 25 April 1915. After serving at Gallipoli he achieved the rank of major became the inaugural commander of the 48th Battalion and later took command of the 12th Brigade. Rose to the rank of Brigadier-General. mentioned in dispatches eight times, and his decorations included the Distinguished Service Order and Bar, the Military Cross, and the French Croix de Guerre. He was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1918, Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1919, and Knight Bachelor in 1944 (on his retirement as South Australian Police Commissioner).
• Benjamin Bennett - The third man to enlist in South Australia on the outbreak of World War One. On enlistment was First Orderly-Room Seargeant, 10th Infantry. Later became the unit Adjutant of the 48th Battalion, under his brother Raymond, and rose to the rank of major. Killed in action 10 April 1917 at Bullecourt, France.

Sons of Edwin Thomas and Catherine (Katie, nee Machin) Leane

• Allan Edwin - Served with the 48th Battalion and rose to rank of Captain. Died 2 May 1917 while a prisoner of war of wounds sustained in action at Bullecourt, France.
• Geoffrey Paul - Served with the 48th Battalion. Achieved the rank of Lieutenant and was awarded the Military Cross.
• Reuben Ernest - Served with the 48th Battalion as a corporal.
• Maxwell - Served with the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve.

Sons of Ernest Albert and Martha May (nee Boswell) Leane

• Arnold Harry - Served with the 27th Battalion, rising to the rank of corporal. Killed in action in France 5 November 1916.
• William Ernest Raymond (Ray) - Served with the 27th Battalion in France.

Several members of the Leane family appear in the records of the South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau. Search the website for the family name Leane to explore the packets.

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

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