McLEISH, John
(Service number 6/4100)
Murthly, Perthshire, Scotland
P. Office, Morven
Mrs M. McLEISH (mother), Alford Forest, Ashburton
11th Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Battalion, C Company
Tahiti or Maunganui
Suez, Egypt
New Zealand Machine Gun Corps, 1 Company
Somme, France
Lyttelton Times, 25 October 1916
Caterpillar Velley (New Zealand) Memorial, Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval, Somme, France; Alford Forest Cemetery - memorial on parents' headstone
John McLeish, known as Jack, was the youngest son of Lewis Grant and Margaret (née Gibson) McLeish. The family came to New Zealand between 1881 and 1891. Jack who was educated at Alford Forest Schoo, took up the carpentry trade. Private J. McLeish, Morven, was one of the recruits for the Tenth Reinforcements who left South Canterbury in mid November 1915 for Trentham Camp. He had enlisted from Waimate with the 10th Reinforcements, but left with the 11th Reinforcements, having been transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. His name was recorded on the Waimate Roll of Honour printed by the Waimate Daily Advertiser from 19 April 1916. He is remembered on his parents' headstone in the alford Forest Cemetery. His mother died in 1921, his father in 1924.
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [14 August 2019]; Alford Forest Cemetery headstone transcription (NZSG cemetery records) [15 August 2019]; Timaru Herald, 13 November 1915, 9 October 1916, Lyttelton Times, 25 October 1916; refer Waimate Daily Advertiser, 9 & 16 November 1915, Sun, 24 October 1916, Ashburton Guardian, 7 December 1916 (Papers Past) [12 & 18 August 2019]