The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (2141) Captain Allan Edwin Leane, 48th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by Charis May, the story for this day was on (2141) Captain Allan Edwin Leane, 48th Battalion, AIF, First World War.

2141 Captain Allan Edwin Leane, 48th Battalion, AIF
DOW 2 May 1917 Photograph: P01723.001
Story delivered 8 February 2016

Today we remember and pay tribute to Captain Allan Edwin Leane.

Allan Edwin Leane was born in May 1894 to Edwin Thomas (later Sir Edwin) and Katie Leane in Adelaide. His father had fought in the Boer War, and on returning moved his family to Burwood, New South Wales, where Allan and his siblings grew up. During his school years Allan served as a cadet soldier. He was working as a poultry farmer and serving in the Militia with the 39th Infantry when the First World War began.

At just under 21, Leane enlisted with his mother’s permission on 22 April 1915, and joined the 4th Battalion. He set sail in June and, after a short time in Egypt, was sent to Gallipoli.

Leane arrived on the peninsula in August and was taken on strength of the 2nd Division’s Ordnance Section. Here he worked as a clerk under his father’s command, but had been there for only a month or so before being evacuated with influenza to a hospital in Egypt.

Leane was later transferred to the 2nd Division headquarters in Cairo. He chafed at his life as a clerk and wanted to return to the infantry, and so put in for a transfer to the 48th Battalion, of which his uncle, Ray Leane, had just been given the command. Aside from Ray, the battalion contained several other relatives, including Leane’s uncle Ben, who was adjutant. Owing to the preponderance of Leanes in the battalion, the 48th became known as the Joan of Arc Battalion, as it was “made of all Leanes” (“Maid of Orleans”). Allan Leane was made second lieutenant three days after joining the battalion.

The 48th Battalion sailed for France in March, and in June Leane was promoted to lieutenant. The battalion suffered heavily in the fighting at Pozières and Mouquet Farm in August. Leane wrote to his mother of being under constant bombardment, and of the strain he felt as a result of the shelling and at seeing so many friends killed or wounded.

Leane was promoted to captain in early November. Throughout a series of letters to his mother he spoke of serving alongside family and how much they meant to him. His great fear was that he would be found wanting in his service, and said that if he had to die he wanted to do so “having played the game”.

In March 1917 the 48th took part in following up as the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. At 4.30 am on 11 April the battalion began its attack on the Hindenburg Line at Bullecourt. During the initial advance Leane led D Company to win its objective. He was the only company commander in the battalion to do so.

Later, Leane was leading his men down a trench when they encountered a large number of German troops. The Germans attacked with grenades, and in the ensuing explosions Leane was wounded in both legs. He ordered his men over the top and was seen by several of his men leaving the trench. Others had later seen him lying in a shell hole with a head wound and, thinking him dead, had moved on.

This first, hastily planned attack on Bullecourt was an unmitigated disaster for the Australians. More than 3,300 casualties were sustained by the 4th and 12th Brigades, of which 1,770 were taken prisoner. Among the prisoners was a badly wounded Allan Leane, who was taken to a German dressing station. He remained there until 2 May, when he died from his wounds. He was buried by the Germans near Bullecourt, but the location of his grave was not recorded.

Allan Leane was 23 years old. His name is listed on the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, and on the Roll of Honour on my right, among more than 60,000 others from the First World War. His photograph is displayed today beside the Pool of Reflection.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Captain Allan Edwin Leane, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Michael Kelly
Historian, Military History Section