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.