Military Cross : Captain T D Leaper, 18th Battery, 6th Field Artillery Brigade, AIF

Military Cross (Geo V), in case of issue. Privately engraved on reverse with recipient's details and unit.

Born in Melbourne, Victoria on 5 August 1894, Thomas Duncan Leaper was employed as a mechanical engineer when he enlisted in the AIF on 18 September 1915, and was appointed a Second Lieutenant with the 2nd Division Artillery. He had previously served in the militia, from 1911, with the 21st Battery, Australian Field Artillery, reaching the rank of Battery Sergeant Major.

Leaper left Melbourne on 22 November aboard the troopship 'Persic'. After training in Egypt he was promoted to lieutenant and posted to the 18th Battery, 6th Field Artillery Brigade (6 FAB). He arrived in France with his unit on 23 March. After the battle of Pozieres he was mentioned in Divisional Orders on 26 August 'for good and gallant conduct in connection with the recent hard fighting round Pozieres'.

In 1917 Leaper was awarded the Military Cross. The recommendation for the award reads: 'On the 2nd April, 1917, this Officer was ordered to go forward with the Infantry advance on CROISILLES, and to establish communication, report events, and engage any fleeting opportunity targets. He carried out these duties with marked ability and great determination, in succeeding in maintaining telephone communication from the commencement of the operations until dark, and sending in several useful reports as a result of his observation. By bringing fire to bear on a dugout and Machine Gun position in a trench held by the enemy, they were forced to evacuate it and our Infantry, who were attacking this point, were able to occupy it. Throughout the day his services were of the greatest value to his Group. This officer has previously rendered excellent services as an F.O. [Forward Observer] on several occasions, and was mentioned in Army Corps Orders in August 1916 for such services.'

Between 25 May and 8 August 1917 Leaper acted as adjutant of 6 FAB. He sustained a mild shrapnel wound to the head at Ghyvelde, Belgium on 16 July, but was able to rejoin his unit three days later. He was wounded for the second time near Zillebeke, on 26 September, when he received gunshot wounds to the neck and ear, and a fracture to his cervical spine, described as severe. Leaper was initially treated at the 8th (British) General Hospital at Rouen, before being transferred to the 3rd London General Hospital. After treatment and convalescence he was posted to the Overseas Training Brigade on 13 December, and rejoined his unit in France in February 1918. There he was found to be unfit for frontline service and was posted to England for employment in the AIF Depots. In April, still suffering from the effects of his spinal injury together with neurosis, Leaper was sent back to Australia for a 'change'. He was discharged medically unfit on 20 July 1918.

Thomas Leaper rejoined the militia in the 1920s, serving with the Australian Garrison Artillery between 1921 and 1930. He died in 1984.