Makin, George Leslie (Lieutenant, b.1894 - d.1918)

Collection relating to the First World War service of Lieutenant George Leslie Makin, 5 th Battalion AIF. Collection consists chiefly of 141 letters written by Lieutenant George Leslie Makin to members of his family including his older brother Harry, and several letters of condolence written to Makin's mother by his friends in the AIF.

This extensive collection of personal letters contains numerous references to Makin's friends from the Albert Park-Middle Park area in Melbourne, who served in the AIF. The letters to his mother contain many endearments and expressions of pride and respect for her, and sympathy for the anxiety she must have endured, having two sons away from home on active service.


Biographical note: Lieutenant George Leslie Makin, 5 Battalion AIF. Clerk, of Middle Park, born North Melbourne 4 April 1894; educated at St. Alban's State School, Victoria; served in the Citizen Forces at Albert Park, Victoria, (51 Regiment); joined the AIF on 18 August 1914 as a private and was posted to the 5th Battalion, served in Egypt, Gallipoli, and France; appointed 2nd Lieutenant in August 1915; invalided to England with enteric fever, rejoined the unit in 1916 before the Battle of Pozieres, died at Rouen on 8 September 1918 of wounds received at St. Martin's Wood, Bray-sur-Somme.

• Correspondence from George Leslie Makin to his family, 1914-1915
• Letters from George Leslie Makin to his family, 1916
• Letters from George Leslie Makin to his family, 1917-1918
• Miscellaneous records and correspondence relating to George Leslie Makin, 1915-1919