Name COLEMAN, LESLIE GEORGE
Service Australian Army
Service Number 350289 (3165, VP7439, VX59352)
Date of Birth 4 Jul 1917
Place of Birth KEW, VIC
Date of Enlistment 18 Feb 1939
Locality on Enlistment SOUTH MELBOURNE, VIC
Place of Enlistment MELBOURNE, VIC
Next of Kin COLEMAN, MARGARET
Date of Discharge 21 Nov 1958
Rank LT COL
Posting at Discharge ARMY HQ
WW2 Honours and Gallantry None for display
Prisoner of War No
France adds veteran to its legion of heroes - National - www.theage.com.au Quote:
Australian World War II veteran Leslie Coleman received France's highest honour with a polite "merci beaucoup" in a ceremony at Point Lonsdale yesterday.
The 87-year-old former infantry lieutenant-colonel smiled broadly as French ambassador Patrick Henault pinned the Legion of Honour medal to his army uniform.
"It's their top award so I'm very happy to have it," Mr Coleman said later at his home.
Born in the Victorian country town of Birchip, Mr Coleman joined the army in 1939, a few months after the war started.
He was one of eight Australian Army officers sent to observe the Allies' D-day landing at Normandy in northern France in June 1944.
Within days of landing with a British unit, Mr Coleman was wounded in the right shoulder but recovered to take part in the advance across France and Belgium and into Germany.
With experience from the campaign in Europe, he returned home and later participated in Australian Army landings at Balikpapan in what was then Dutch Borneo.
Mr Coleman also served in the occupation force in Japan, finishing his army career in 1958. He owned a newsagency in Fairfield for 15 years before retiring.
His son, Damien Coleman, described his father as a stoic man who "did his duty as required" and rarely talked about his war experiences.
"We're very proud of him. He's been looking forward to this occasion for weeks," he said.
Mr Henault praised the efforts of Mr Coleman and other Australians who risked or gave their lives to liberate France from the Nazis.
"Nobody in France has forgotten the contribution of Australians to the freedom of our nation. Our debt to them is immense," he said.
Five other Australian serviceman who fought in France were awarded the Legion of Honour in a ceremony in Canberra on February 22.
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