Profile

LEEDEN, David
(Service number 6/492)

Aliases
First Rank Lance Corporal Last Rank Lieutenant

Birth

Date 29 Februrary 1892 Place of Birth Milton, Otago, New Zealand

Enlistment Information

Date 13 August 1914 Age 22
Address at Enlistment Waimate, New Zealand
Occupation Grain Salesman
Previous Military Experience 19 Jul 1909 - 28 Feb 1911 Dunedin Cycle & Signalling Corps. 1 Mar 1911 - 12 Feb 1913 2 Div Signal Coy. 13 Feb 1913 - 15 Oct 1914 2nd (South Canterbury) Regiment
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mrs Jennie Leeden (mother), Gordon Road, Mosgiel, later 19 Lees Street, Dunedin
Religion Church of England
Medical Information 5 foot 8 1/2 inches tall, weight 168 lbs, chest 36 inches, dark complexion , brown eyes, dark brown hair, false upper teeth and good lower teeth

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation Main Body
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Canterbury Infantry Brigade
Date 16 October 1914
Transport Tahiti or Athenic
Embarked From Lyttelton, New Zealand Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Canterbury Infantry Brigade

Military Awards

Campaigns Egyptian, Gallipoli, & Western Europe
Service Medals 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal and (February 1920) 12 year Territorial Long Service & Good Conduct Medal
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date 18 January 1919 Reason End of war

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

16 August 1915, Gallipoli: shrapnel wounds to hand & shock - admitted to 1 Australian General Hospital Cairo

Post-war Occupations

Labourer, storeman & clerk

Death

Date 15 March 1978 Age 86
Place of Death Hamilton, New Zealand
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Hamilton Park, Cemetery
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

David was born at Milton on 29 February 1892 (a leap year baby), the son of David & Jennie Leeden. On 8 February 1897, he was admitted to the East Taieri School.

From 19 July 1909 to 28 February 1911 David served with the Dunedin Cycle & Signalling Corps, from 1 March 1911 to 12 February 1913 with 2 Division Signal Company, and from 13 February 1913 to 15 October 1914, with the 2nd South Canterbury Regiment. When he enlisted for war service at Timaru on 13 August 1914, he was working as a grain salesman for Guiness & Co at Waimate. He was described as being Anglican, single, aged 22, 5 foot 8 ½ inches tall, weighing 168 lbs, 36 inch chest, of dark complexion, brown eyes, dark brown hair and having false upper and good lower teeth. His mother, Mrs J. Leeden, Gordon Road, Mosgiel, later of 19 Lees Street Dunedin, was given as his next of kin.

David served in the Canterbury Infantry Brigade, 2nd Company, 3rd Battalion, and embarked as a Lance Corporal with the Main Body for Suez, Egypt, on 16 October 1914, on SS Tahiti or Athenic. After Egyptian service, he served on Gallipoli where, on 16 August 1915, he received shrapnel wounds to his hand and shock, and was admitted to 1 Australian General Hospital, Cairo. Later he saw service on the Western Front where he was promoted to Sergeant. In late 1916 he was sent to England where, on 21 January 1917, he was commissioned as a second Lieutenant. After further active service in France and training roles in England, he returned to NZ on SS Tofua November 1918.

Discharged from the army on 18 January 1919, he remained on the Officers Reserve list and, on 1 October 1920, was posted as a Lieutenant to No 47 Senior Cadet Company, Waimate. On 16 September 1921, he was transferred to the retired list of officers. David received the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medals for his war service and, in February 1920, received the Long and Efficient Service Medal for 12 years Territorial service.

In 1928, David was working at No 6 Camp Public Works Department as a labourer, 1935 he was at TePuke employed as a storeman and, in 1943, he married Marion Nicholson Raley. David spent the rest of his life in Hamilton where he worked as a clerk, and died there on 15 March 1978, aged 86. He is buried in the Hamilton Park Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland Museum Cenotaph database (June 2015); Archives NZ (Personal File); ancestry.com.au; Papers Past

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available.

Researched and Written by

Ted Hansen (SC branch NZSG)

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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