Corporal Walter Legge

Ancestor Details

Name of Ancestor: Walter Givenap Legge
Ancestor's date of birth: 01/02/1865
Ancestor's date of death: 23/05/1944
Cause of Death: Chronic Myocarditis
Service Number: 965
Colony or State of enlistment: NSW Place of Enlistment: Detail not provided
Unit: 1^st Australian Horse
Rank attained in Boer War: CPL, Date Effective: 23/04/1900
Highest Rank attained (if served after war): SSGT, Date Effective: 28/09/1914
Murray Page: 47
Contingent: First New South Wales
Ship: Langton Grange, Date of Sailing: 14/11/1899
Memorial details: Detail not Provided
Decorations: Queen's South Africa Medal with clasps. 1914 - 15 Star, Victory Medal.
Personal Characteristics: Detail not provided
Reasons to go and fight: Detail not provided
Details of service in war: December 1899 - March 1901 in northern Cape Colony, Free State, and east Transvaal; with French's cavalry division from relief of Kimberley (February 1900) to sweep to Heidelberg (October 1900).
Service and life after the Boer War: Returned to Australia 2 May 1901. Joined 6 Light Horse Regiment AIF on 28 September 1914, Aged 44, he was Regimental Orderly Room Sergeant with the rank of Staff Sergeant. Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board Transport A29 Suevic on 21 December 1914. The 6^th Light Horse landed in Gallipoli late May 1915. The unit became responsible for a sector on the far right of the ANZAC line, and played a defensive role until it left the peninsula on 20 December 1915.
Back in Egypt, the 2nd Light Horse Brigade became part of the ANZAC Mounted Division and, in April 1916, joined the forces defending the Suez Canal from a Turkish advance across the Sinai Desert. It fought at the battle of Romani on 4 August, at Katia the following day, and participated in the pursuit that followed the Turks' retreat back across the desert.
The regiment spent late 1916 and early 1917 engaged on patrol work until the British advance into Palestine stalled before the Turkish bastion of Gaza. It was involved in the two abortive battles to capture Gaza directly (27 March and 19 April) and then the operation that ultimately led to its fall - the wide outflanking move via Beersheba that began on 31 October.
With the fall of Gaza on 7 November 1917, the Turkish position in southern Palestine collapsed. The 6th participated in the pursuit that followed and led to the capture of Jerusalem in December. The focus of British operations then moved to the Jordan Valley. In early 1918 the 6^th was involved in the Amman (24-27 February) and Es Salt (30 April - 4 May) raids, both of which were tactical failures but helped to convince the Turks that the next offensive would be launched across the Jordan.
Instead, the offensive was launched along the coast in September 1918, with the 6^th taking part in a subsidiary effort east of the Jordan. It was part of the force that captured Amman on 25 September, which proved to be its last major engagement of the war; Turkey surrendered on 30 October 1918. The 6th Light Horse was employed one last time to assist in putting down the Egyptian revolt of early 1919, and sailed for home on 28 June. (AWM)
Arrived back in Australia 18 February 1919.

Descendant Details

Name of Descendant: George Legge, Melbourne VIC
Relationship to Ancestor: Great Nephew
Name of Descendant: Shirley Collins, Berowra Heights NSW
Relationship to Ancestor: Great Niece

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