John Leak VC (abt. 1896 - 1972)

Australia's Victoria Cross recipients

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 First World War 1.2 Post war 1.3 Legacy 1.4 Research note 2 Sources 2.1 See also

Biography

John Leak VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in battle that could be awarded to a member of the Australian armed forces. It was during the Battle of Pozières in July 1916 that John performed the actions that led to his award. He was later seriously wounded in the Battle of Mouquet Farm. He was severely affected by the war. Today, we would recognise his symptoms as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

John Leak was born about 1896 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom. See research not below for details of the 'cloud' surrounding his parentage and formative years. By the outbreak of the First World War, his parents had died, and Leak was living at Clermont, Queensland; working as a teamster. ^[1]

First World War

On 28th January 1915, John enlisted as a Private in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) ^[2] and was assigned as a reinforcement for 9th Australian Infantry Battalion, 3rd Brigade, 1st Division. ^[3] On 16th April, he embarked on board HMAT Kyarra A55; joining his battalion on 22nd June on the Gallipoli Peninsula. ^[4][https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1852233

There he was involved in fighting near Lone Pine and during the fruitless August Offensive, before being evacuated to hospitals at Malta and then England with illness. He returned to his unit on 23rd February 1916 in Eqypt, after the evacuation of Gallipoli.

In March 1916, the battalion sailed for France and the Western Front. They spent several weeks in a quiet sector of the line near Armentières, before deploying south to the Somme river valley, to Pozières, where they would experience their first real fighting in France. The Australian 1st Division entered the fray with a preliminary operation on 22nd July. The following day, the division attacked again. As the 9th Battalion was being held up by a pair of German machine guns, John intuitively threw three Mills bombs (grenades) into the machine gun post, then leapt into the post, attacking the garrison with his bayonet.

Victoria Cross

Although the fighting continued after this incident, and two days later the Germans laid down a tremendous artillery barrage on the positions that had been captured from them, John was recommended for the award of the Victoria Cross (VC) for his actions. ^[5] After Pozières, the 9th Battalion was relieved, but it was back in action in mid-August during the Battle of Mouquet Farm.

During this fighting, the 9th Battalion suffered another 163 casualties; one of whom was John Leak, who suffered a serious wound to the back. It was while he was in a medical facility in France that his VC was gazetted. ^[6] On 4th November 1916, he was invested with the VC by King George V at Buckingham Palace. On 23rd March 1917, John was transferred to the 69th Battalion, a unit being raised as part of the short-lived 16th Brigade, 6th Division, which was being formed using men who were recovering from wounds or illness in the United Kingdom. On 11th August John was transferred back to the 9th Battalion, returning to the Western Front in October.

By this stage, John was not coping with the effects of shell-fire, and went absent without leave as he deployed forward into the front line on 1st November. Arrested five days later, he was court-martialled on 23rd November, and found guilty of desertion. Whilst his sentence was life imprisonment, this was commuted to two years hard labour and, ultimately, was suspended, and he returned to his unit on 23rd December. ^[7]

John continued to serve on the Western Front with his battalion until 7th March 1918, when he was gassed during a lengthy bombardment of his unit's positions near Hollebeke. Evacuated once more to the United Kingdom, he did not return to his unit before the Armistice on 11th November. In addition to the Victoria Cross, for his service in the war, John was awarded the 1914–15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Post war

On 30th December 1918 John married Beatrice Chapman in St John the Baptist Parish Church, Cardiff, Wales. ^[8] On 9th February 1919, John sailed for Australia aboard the SS Ascanius, arriving in Queensland on 26th March and returning to Clermont by mid-April. He was discharged from the AIF on 31st May. Beatrice did not emigrate, although no record has yet been located to indicate annulment or divorce. ^[7]

Moving from Clermont, John received a permit to sell firewood from The Commonage in the Allora District of Queensland's Darling Downs; eventually owning three leases in the region. The land was poor, however, he managed to raise some sheep and did some market gardening. He was eventually granted some government assistance. He later moved to the gold-mining districts of Western Australia. ^[7]

It was there, at East Coolgardie, on 12th January 1927 that John married Ada Victoria Bood-Smith. ^[9] The couple were devoted to one another from the outset. They had eight children, however, their first child, a daughter named after her mother and grandmother, Ada Victoria, died in her first year.

After jobs back in Queensland, then New South Wales and South Australia, they moved once more to Esperance, Western Australia, where John was the proprietor of a garage (service station) and mechanical workshop. Finally, in 1937, they settled at Crafers, South Australia. The same year, he was awarded the King George VI Coronation Medal. Their final child was born in 1946. In 1953, John was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Coronation Medal. ^[7]

John retired in 1963, however Ada died suddenly just a year later. John was devastated. ^[7]

John was severely affected by his war experiences, and was very reticent to discuss his VC exploits. Today, we would recognise his symptoms as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He did not talk about his service, even to his family, until very late in life. He stored his VC and other medals in a box in his bedroom, where they largely stayed. John did not attend reunions or ANZAC Day marches. ^[10]

He passed away, aged 76 years, on 20th October 1972 in Redwood Park, South Australia and is buried in Stirling Cemetery, Aldgate, South Australia. ^[11] He was survived by six children.

Legacy

• A street in Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera, Queensland, is named after John Leak VC.
• A unique mosaic monument stands in Rockhampton, Queensland, as a memorial to him.
• John's medals are held by his family.

Research note

John Leak's birth remains shrouded in mystery. His AIF attestation papers state that he was born in 1892, although many young soldiers did add years to their age to aid in enlistment. His age as inscribed on his gravestone indicates that he was born about 1896. John gave different places of birth when asked about his birth. In announcing his investiture with the Victoria Cross, the Cardiff Times stated his mother was from Mountain Ash and father was called James from Brynmawr, and they emigrated to New South Wales. No immigration records have been located. John's name is given on his marriage to Ada as William J E Leak.

Sources

1. ↑ Staunton, Anthony. Victoria Cross: Australia's Finest and the Battles they Fought. Hardie Grant, Prahran, Victoria, 2005. ISBN 978-1-74273-486-6
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: 2053A John Leak; accessed 22 May 2019
3. ↑ Australian War Memorial unit record: 9th Australian Infantry Battalion; accessed 22 May 2019
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial embarkation roll: 2053A John Leak; accessed 22 May 2019
5. ↑ Australian War Memorial Honours and Awards: John Leak; accessed 22 May 2019
6. ↑ London Gazette Sep 1916
7. ↑ ^{7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4} Mays, Helen. 'Leak, John (1892–1972)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1986; accessed online 22 May 2019
8. ↑ UK FreeBMD Marriage Index Dec qtr 1918, vol 11a, page 590
9. ↑ Western Australia Marriage Index #47/1927
10. ↑ Wikipedia profile: John Leak; accessed 22 May 2019
11. ↑ South Australia Death Index #184A/8397 1972; registered at Talunga

See also

• Blanch, Craig and Pegram, Aaron. For Valour: Australians awarded the Victoria Cross. New South Publishing, Sydney NSW, 2018. ISBN 978 17422 35424.