Leone Fabre shares the story of her second cousin, Leslie Norman Krause.

Leslie Norman Krause was born in Richmond in 1896 to John Thomas Krause and Elizabeth Jane Bartram. He was their sixth and last child. His father, John, died in 1897 at the age of 37. His mother, Elizabeth, remarried in February 1902 to Sidney Norman Ellis.

Leslie attended the Eastern Road State School in South Melbourne. In his enlistment records, Leslie listed his residence in 1916 as 200 Park Street, South Melbourne. Reports describe him as fairly tall, well-built and as a splendid athlete.   

Leslie enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 24 February 1916. Four months later, on 20 June 1916, he departed Melbourne on board the transport ship HMAT Runic. His service records show that he was a stretcher bearer with the 10th Field Ambulance.

By 24 November 1916, Leslie was leaving Southampton, England, heading for France. The next update on his records shows that he was admitted to hospital with an undiagnosed sickness on 4 April 1917. He rejoined his unit 10 days later.

Leslie was killed by a ‘whizz bang’ on 22 July 1917 in the Battle of Messines in Belgium. He was first buried at Messines Ridge, then at the Kandadar Farm Cemetery in Belgium.