CAPTAIN LESLIE de JERSEY GRUT
2nd Tunnelling Company
Leslie de Jersey Grut was born on 12 August 1891 near Brisbane, Queensland the son of Percival and Isabella Ramosde de Jersey Grut. Isabella was the daughter of Ramos and May (nee Robertson) Castilla.
He was educated at Melbourne Grammar School, the Ballarat School of Mines, and had completed two years of a Science Course at Melbourne University.
Leslie completed the ‘Attestation Paper of Persons Enlisted for Service Abroad’ on 15 March 1915, stating he was a Mining Engineer by trade. He signed the Oath to ‘well and truly serve othe same day at Casula, NSW.
He named as his Next-of-Kin his father Mr. Percival de Jersey Grut of “Petit Segour”, Mathoura Road, Toorak, Victoria.
A medical examination at Casula recorded that he was 23 Years and 7 months of age; that he stood 5ft 6½ins tall and that he weighed 182 pounds. He had a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair, He was of the Church of England faith.
Holding the rank of Sergeant, he attended the Officers’ Training School No.2 1915-1916 at Broadmeadows, Victoria and on 6 September 1915 obtained a ‘Good’ Certificate in Infantry Training, Musketry & Elementary Tactics.
He applied for a Commission in the A.I.F. on 29 September 1915 stating his Educational Qualifications as: ‘5 years Melbourne Grammar School; Graduate in Mining Engineering, Ballarat School of Mines; Undergraduate of Melbourne University; completed 2 years of the Science course.’
He stated his Military Qualifications as: ‘seven months in A.I.F.including two officers schools of instruction No. 7 and 8; Sergeant A.I.F.’
Leslie de Jersey Grut was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant on 8 October 1915 and appointed to No.2 Company, Australian Mining Corps at their training camp at Casula, NSW on 1 November 1915.
He was promoted to Lieutenant on 1 January 1916, around the time the photo below would have been taken.
He embarked for the Western Front at Sydney with the Mining Corps on 20 February 1916.
At a civic parade in the Domain, Sydney on Saturday February 19, 1916, a large crowd of relations and friends of the departing Miners lined the four sides of the parade ground. Sixty police and 100 Garrison Military Police were on hand to keep the crowds within bounds. The scene was an inspiriting one. On the extreme right flank, facing the saluting base, were companies of the Rifle Club School; next came a detachment of the 4th King’s Shropshire Light Infantry, then the bands of the Light Horse, Liverpool Depot, and the Miners’ on the left, rank upon rank, the Miners’ Battalion.
Following the farewell parade in the Domain, Sydney, the Australian Mining Corps embarked from Sydney, New South Wales on 20 February 1916 on board HMAT A38 Ulysses.
The Mining Corps comprised 1303 members at the time they embarked with a Headquarters of 40; No.1 Company – 390; No.2 Company – 380; No.3 Company – 392, and 101 members of the 1st Reinforcements.
Ulysses arrived in Melbourne, Victoria on 22 February and the Miners were camped at Broadmeadows while additional stores and equipment were loaded onto Ulysses. Another parade was held at the Broadmeadows camp on March 1, the Miners’ Corps being inspected by the Governor-General, as Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth military forces.
Departing Melbourne on 1 March, Ulysses sailed to Fremantle, Western Australia where a further 53 members of the Corps were embarked. The ship hit a reef when leaving Fremantle harbour, stripping the plates for 40 feet and, although there was a gap in the outside plate, the inner bilge plates were not punctured. The men on board nicknamed her ‘Useless’. The Miners were off-loaded and sent to the Blackboy Hill Camp where further training was conducted. After a delay of about a month for repairs, The Mining Corps sailed for the European Theatre on 1 April 1916.
The ship arrived at Suez, Egypt on 22 April, departing for Port Said the next day; then on to Alexandria. The Captain of the shipwas reluctantto take Ulysses out of the Suez Canal because he felt the weight of the ship made it impossible to manoeuvre in the situation of a submarine attack. The Mining Corps was transhipped to B1 Ansonia for the final legs to Marseilles, France via Valetta, Malta. Arriving at Marseilles on 5 May, most of the men entrained for Hazebrouck where they arrived to set up their first camp on 8 May 1916.
A ‘Mining Corps’ did not fit in the British Expeditionary Force, and the Corps was disbanded and three Australian Tunnelling Companies were formed. The Technical Staff of the Corps Headquarters, plus some technically qualified men from the individual companies, was formed into the entirely new Australian Electrical and Mechanical Mining and Boring Company (AEMMBC), better known as the ‘Alphabetical Company’.
No.2 Company became the 2nd Australian Tunnelling Company (2ATC).
2ATC relieved the 172nd Tunnelling Company, R.E. in May 1916 in the Neuville St Vaast/Vimyarea. In July they supported the Australian 5th Division at Fromelles.
On 25 August 1916, Leslie was promoted to Temporary Captain whilst commanding a section of the Tunnelling Company.
Leslie was due his Blue Chevrons around September 1916. Each blue Service Chevron denoted one year’s service from 1 January 1915. A red Chevron denoted service before 31 December 1914.
He was promoted to Captain on 24 December 1916 and 2ATC relieved the Canadians at the Bluff in January 1917.
The Company moved to Nieuportin June 1917, to construct subways for Operation Hush. Unit Headquarters was stationed at Coxyde Bains on South Coast of Belgium and the Company camped on the outside of town. 2ATC were involved in the enemy attack - Operation Strandfest - in this coastal sector in July 1917, recorded in the official histories as ‘The Affair at Nieuport Bains’.
Leslie proceeded on leave from 2 to 17 March 1918. In April 1918, troops of the Company fought a large fire in Peronne.
On the 29th and 30th of September, 1918, elements of the 1st and 2nd Australian Tunnelling Companys, supporting the Infantry attack on the Hindenberg Line at Bellicourt and Bony, charged with the usual Engineer tasks of clearing enemy mines and booby traps from roads and dugouts following the attacking Infantry, clearing and maintaining the tactical roads, clearing wells and setting up water points. When the attack stalled and became disorganized, the Sappers continued with their assigned tasks, assisted to re-organise the line, captured prisoners, carried messages for their own and other units, organized a party of American Infantry, helped feed an artillery battery with ammunition, assisted and carried wounded, all being achieved under heavy shell and machine gun fire and while their own sections suffered 50 and 75% casualties
During the action on the Hindenberg Line on 29/30 September 1918, the 5th Pioneers lost 3 officers and 61 other ranks; 105th Regt lost 2 officers and 46 other ranks; 1st Aust. Tunnelling Coy lost 1 Officer and 2 other ranks and the 2nd Aust. Tunnelling Coy lost 1 other rank. The Australian Tunnelling Companies were awarded 10 Military Crosses, 2 Distinguished Conduct Medals and 12 Military Medals for their support of the Infantry attack that day.
Leslie was awarded the Military Cross for his actions on the Hindenberg Line.
He again proceeded on leave from 24 October to 8 November 1918.
Leslie was mentioned in the Despatches of Sir Douglas Haig of 8 November 1918 as ‘deserving of special mention’.
Following the Armistice, members of the company were involved in the clearance of mines and delayed-action booby-traps and in the re-construction of civilian infrastructure.
On14 March 1919 he proceeded to England on duty to report to Headquarters London.
He was granted Non-military Employment (NME) leave with pay and subsistance from 21 March until 21 June 1919 to study electrics at the Frodingham Iron and Steel Works Company, Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire.
Marched in to No.2 Group, Sutton Veny on 9 July and left London on 22 August 1919 on board Anchises for return to Australia, disembarking on 14 October 1919.
His appointment as an Officer in the A.I.F was terminated on 30 November 1919.
Captain Leslie de Jersey Grut was entitled to wear the Military Cross, the British War Medal, the Victory Medal, and the Oakleaf depicting his Mentioned-in-Despatches award.
He was married on 12 August 1922 to Gertrude Gordon Hewins at Mexico City, Mexico - Heuermann Family Tree
On 31 March 1924 a son, Dauvergne de Jersey Grut was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
On 30 April 1927 Leslie, Gertrude and Dauvergne sailed from Sydney on board S.S. Ventura. Leslie travelled as a ‘Tourist for business’ while Gertrude is a US citizen, born in Omaha, Nebraska and travelling as ‘Tourist for pleasure’.
The Electoral Roll of 1931 records Leslie De Jersey Grut, executive, and Gertrude De Jersey Grut, home duties, living at 407 Glenferrie Road, Kooyong, Victoria.
In January 1935 Leslie won the cup at the Davey’s Bay Yacht Club annual regatta on his boat Spindrift. In July that year Gertrude was elected Vice President of the Hawthorn District Girl Guides Association.
By September 1935, Leslie and Gertrude had settled into their new home at Oliver’s Hill, Frankston.
Leslie de Jersey Grut died on 9 November 1935.
Gertrude de Jersey Grut died on 7 November 1942 in Los Angeles, California and is buried at Glendale, L.A. County. She was born 20 June 1900 at Omaha, Nebraska, the daughter of Frank A. Masters, his 1922 address when Gertrude applied for a passport was Forest Hills, Long Island, New York.
© Donna Baldey 2014
Research Notes:
Dauvergne de Jersey Grut arrived at San Pedro on 25 November 1946 on board the Dutch M3 ship Mapia, having sailed from Manilla, Phillipines, on 24 October. His occupation recorded as Ship-master.
He married Dorothea L. Marion at Alameda, California on 18 April 1955. In 1960 he was living at 901 California Street, San Francisco, California, USA, and took out U.S. citizenship on 5 January 1960. His address was 94011 Burlingame, San Mateo, California, when he died on 17 August 1992, aged 68.
Percival de Jersey Grut – died 1926 age 81, son of Thomas Charles Grut and Adele Petite