ONE OF THE MISSING
Lionel Henry Levy - 53rd Battalion
Born in Sydney in 1886, Lionel Henry Levy was the second child of Henry and Esther Levy. Living in Redfern and finding employment as a cab driver, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in July 1915, listing his new wife Helen as next of kin.
Assigned to the 9th reinforcements of the 1st battalion he left for the Middle East at the end of 1915. Once at Tel-El-Kebir he found himself promptly transferred into the 53rd battalion and part of the newly created 5th division. Lionel was then sent to the defence of the Suez Canal where he spent most of early 1916.
In June he left for France onboard the Royal George, arriving in Marseilles and taking a train to billets in Northern France .
On July 19 1916 Lionel took part in the battle of Fromelles where he was killed in action sometime during the initial attack.
The 53rd battalion was one of the attacking battalions of the 14th brigade during Fromelles and as a result Lionel most likely met his end in No-Man's-Land or behind the German front line.
Lionel's remains were never recovered and as such he has no known burial, becoming one of the many missing of Fromelles. He is commemorated at VC Corner.
As a Jewish soldier, an article was recently written abut Lionel and his descendents in the Australian Jewish News.
Research Notes:
1) According to the Births, Deaths & Marriages listing Henry and Esther Levy had 12 children.
2) Lionel married his wife in 1914, interestingly she is listed as Ellen Gray (not Helen) or their marriage certificate.
3) There is no Red Cross file for Lionel, which is strange considering the many heart-felt letters from his family included in his file.
Photos:
1) Postcard featuring Lionel (3rd from right) this was also used to illustrate a Sydney Morning Herald article by CEW Bean.
2) Royal George transport ship AWM H16441
3) Lionel's name at VC Corner, photo by Robert Pike.
Thank you to Peter Allen, Ben Hirsh, Sandra McKenna and Robert Pike for their help with this memorial.