VC Action: Brigadier Leslie Wilton
Andrew, VC, DSO (23 March 1897 - 9 January 1969) was a New
Zealand soldier who served in both World War I and World War
II. 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 he was awarded the VC.
Andrew joined up in October 1915 and as a
member of the 12th Reinforcements, he sailed for Egypt in
May the following year. After some three months, he was on
his way to France to join the Second Wellington Battalion.
Just days after his arrival he was wounded in the fighting
at The Somme.
Following the success of the June 1917 attack
on Messines Ridge and the dislodgement of the Germans from
positions that looked down on Allied lines, fighting in the
area continued as the Germans attacked and the Allies consolidated
their gains. On July 26 1917, some seven weeks after the Battle
of Messines, New Zealand forces had taken the tiny Belgium
village of La Basseville just a few kilometres southwest of
Messines. They had suffered serious casualties, however, many
resulting from fire from a German machine-gun position in
a two-storey inn. This machine-gun post had also stopped the
New Zealanders effectively securing the gains they had made.
The next day the Germans re-took the village.
On July 31 the British launched another attack,
which included the Second Wellington and First Auckland battalions
at La Basseville. The Wellington men were to take the village
and move some 500 metres further to clear an additional area
and establish positions there. The Aucklands were to hit German
defences.
The artillery barrage began and shortly before
4 am the New Zealanders began advancing behind it. Leslie
Andrew was leading two sections with the express task of destroying
the machine-gun position in the inn. However, as they moved
forward behind the barrage they noticed another machine-gun
emplacement on the nearby railway line which was holding up
other New Zealand troops. They diverted, captured it, and
then ran to catch up with the creeping barrage. As they approached
the inn, they pushed through their own barrage and headed
for their objective which was firing continuously.
Leslie Andrew made a decision to approach
the inn from a different route in order to avoid being spotted.
This they did, famously crawling their way through thistles.
They threw in their Mills bombs and then rushed the position,
killing some of the Germans and capturing the gun.
While his men withdrew with the captured
gun, Leslie Andrew and a Private L. R. Ritchie moved some
300 metres further forward towards the town of Warneton and
to the limits of the barrage in order to scout out the area.
At Der Rooster Cabaret they found some of the Germans ensconced
in the cellar as well as a machine-gun in a trench. The two
men rushed the position, throwing Mills bombs and clearing
it before finally returning to their company. For this action
he was awarded the Victoria Cross.
A day later he was promoted to sergeant and
by March the next year he was an officer. He saw action on
the Somme, Messines and La Basse Ville. During this time he
was wounded twice and buried in debris, after high explosive
attacks, three times.
In October 1918 his service came to an end
but Andrew remained in the services after the war, filling
a number of positions in New Zealand as well as being attached
to the British and Indian armies.
At the outbreak of war in 1939 he was given
command of the 22nd Battalion and he filled this appointment
until early 1942. While commanding this battalion, he took
part in most of the major desert actions and in 1942 was awarded
the Distinguished Service Order, (DSO) for outstanding leadership
of his battalion during a very difficult time in the desert
fighting.
After WW II, Andrew commanded the NZ Victory
Contingent to London in 1946 and ended his military career
in 1952 as commander of the Central Military District in the
rank of Brigadier. Brigadier Andrew died in 1969 at Palmerston
North. |
