William James Le Sueur

Le Sueur1

Corporal William Le Sueur

2nd Battalion, AIF

Service Number: 2435

 

 

 

 

 

Born: 1890, Adelong, NSW

Died: 24 July 1916, Pozieres France

William (Bill) Le Sueur was born in Gundagai in 1890, the son of William and Caroline (nee King) Le Sueur. After leaving school, Le Sueur worked for the NSW Railways and at the time of enlistment, was a fireman based at the Penrith Locomotive Depot.

Le Sueur enlisted on 3 May 1915 and was allocated to the 7th Reinforcements, 2nd Battalion. He left for the Gallipoli campaign aboard HMAT Orsova on 14 July 1915. After a brief period of training in Egypt, Le Sueur joined his unit at Gallipoli on 31 October 1915. His unit was one of the last to leave Gallipoli during the evacuation and on 28 December 1915, Le Sueur disembarked from the troopship Huntsgreen at Alexandria. On 23 March 1916, Le Sueur embarked on the Invernia bound for the Western Front, disembarking at Marseilles on 28 March 1916.

Le Sueur was killed in action on 24 July 1916, during the Battle for Pozieres. He has no known grave. On 31 August, Le Sueur’s fiancée Elsie White who was living in Victoria House, Castlereagh Street Penrith, enquired about the validity of his death notice.

On 3 September 1916 at a memorial service held in the open-air picture theatre in High Street, Le Sueur was described as having a ‘hale and hearty nature which won the affection of everyone’.

Memorial Details:

  • Honor Roll, Villers-Bretonneux, France
  • Honor Roll, Memory Park, Penrith
  • Honor Roll, St Stephens Anglican Church, Penrith
  • Honor Roll, Penrith Superior Public School

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