Leslie Bray SEXTON
Nature of Casualty:
Wounds/Illnesses
19/5/18 Hospitalised with Trench Fever Rejoined Unit 26/8/18
Service
France:
Other
1/4/18 to France from Dover
16 June 1916 sent to NCO training school Duntroon
31/12/17 Disembarked Devonport, England
Rank Platoon Sergeant
1/8/17 promoted Acting Sergeant
2/11/17 appointed V/O Sergeant
6/1/18 reverts to ranks on arrival in France
6/1/18 promoted to Acting Lance Corporal
7/3/18 reverts to Private on attachment to 43rd Battalion
6/9/18 promoted Lance Corporal
9/5/19 promoted E/R Sergeant and to retain rank on return to Aust.
KI CONNECTION:
Worked at Kingscote branch of Union Bank – see article on file
Served 4 yrs with Scottish Infantry (reserve, prior to war)
May 1920 employed with Union Bank of SA and based in Kadina (see change address letter on file)
Married
Mabel Florence Criddle in Adelaide 1921 Son 1926 Richard Bray Sexton
Groom Given Name(s): Leslie Bray
Groom Last Name: SEXTON
Bride Given Name(s): Mabel Florence
Bride Last Name: CRIDDLE
Marriage Date: 1921, October 10
Marriage Place: Holy Trinity Church Adelaide
Groom Age: 39
Groom Approx. Birth Year: 1882
Groom Marital Status: S
Groom Father: Richard James SEXTON
Bride Age: 29
Bride Approx. Birth Year: 1892
Bride Marital Status: S
Bride Father Name: Samuel Richard CRIDDLE
District: Adelaide
Symbol:
Book/Page: 289/118
Died
Surname: SEXTON
First Names: Leslie Bray
Death Date: 21-Dec-1969
Age: 79
Gender: M
Marital Status: M
Place of Death: Daw Park
Residence: Glenelg East
Relative: Trenna Eugenie SEXTON [W]
District: Adelaide
Book/Page: 80A/9171
Notes: Symbol=H.
'Trench Fever' was first reported in the trenches of the Western Front in December 1914.
Encyclopedia - Trench Fever
Unlike the similar-sounding condition Trench Foot incidences of Trench Fever continued to grow throughout the war.
Trench Fever attacked all armies and until the final year of the war baffled doctors and researchers. Chief symptoms of the disease were headaches, skin rashes, inflamed eyes and leg pains.
Despite such wide-ranging symptoms (which resembled typhoid and influenza) the condition was not itself particularly serious, with patients recovering after some five or six days although prolonged hospitalisation amounting to several weeks was common.
In military terms however it proved one of the most significant causes of sickness and military authorities were therefore keen to determine the root of the problem.
In 1918 the cause was identified as excretions from lice, affecting all trenches: Rickettsia quintana. The disease was transmitted via the bites of body lice and was chiefly prevalent on the somewhat warmer Western and Italian Fronts.
In 1917 a renewed incidence of the disease was recorded with effects much as before although the average duration of sickness was slightly longer. In 1918 victims reported suffering frequent relapses after intervals of several days.
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