- Leslie Andrew
Brigadier Leslie Wilton Andrew, VC, DSO (23 March 1897 -9 January 1969 ) was aNew Zealand soldier who served in bothWorld War I andWorld War II . He was born inManawatu, New Zealand .He was 20 years old, and a
corporal in the 2nd Battalion,Wellington Infantry Regiment ,New Zealand Expeditionary Force during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.On
31 July 1917 atLa Bassee Ville ,France , Corporal Andrew was in charge of a small party in an attack on the enemy's position. His objective was a machine-gun post which had been located in an isolated building, but on leading his men forward he encountered another machine-gun post which was holding up the advance of another company. He immediately attacked it, capturing the gun and killing several of the crew. He then continued with his attack on the original objective and finally captured the post, killing a number of the enemy and putting the remainder to flight.In World War II he commanded the 22nd Battalion of the Second
NZEF , and led theNew Zealand victory contingent inLondon in 1946.He later achieved the rank of
brigadier .His grave/memorial is at Levin RSA Cemetery, Tiro Tiro Road, Levin, New Zealand. Returned Serviceman's Section, row 13. Headstone. The "Andrew Barracks" for 60 field engineers in
Linton Army Camp is named after him.His Victoria Cross was displayed at the
QEII Army Memorial Museum , Waiouru, New Zealand. On Sunday2 December 2007 it was one of nine Victoria Crosses that were among 96 medals stolen from the museum. [cite web|author=Derek Cheng|title=Army medal theft 'insult' to our nation's heritage |publisher=nzherald|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10479634|date=December 2007|accessdate=2007-12-02] On16 February 2008 New Zealand Police announced all the medals had been recovered as a result of a NZ$300,000 reward offered byMichael Ashcroft and Tom Sturgess. [ [http://police.govt.nz/news/release/3701.html Stolen War Medals Recovered] ]References
*
Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
*The Register of the Victoria Cross (This England, 1997)
*VCs of the First World War - Passchendaele 1917 (Stephen Snelling, 1998)External links
* [http://www.ozemail.com.au/~vcweb/winners/nz_winners/andrew.htm Andrew L.W.]
* [http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Park/7572/nzvcross.txt New Zealand Troops who have won the Victoria Cross] "(brief biography details)"
* [http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ggnewzea.htm Burial location of Leslie Andrew] "Wellington, New Zealand"
* [http://www.victoriacross.org.uk/ddnzewel.htm Location of Leslie Andrew's Victoria Cross] "Army Museum Waiouru"
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