91 Facts About Raymond Leane

Raymond Leane rose to temporarily command his battalion, and was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, awarded the Military Cross, twice mentioned in despatches and wounded three times during the Gallipoli campaign.

Raymond Leane was mentioned in despatches a further two times after the conclusion of the war, and in early 1919 was awarded the French Croix de guerre, and made a Companion of the Order of the Bath for his "gallant and able" leadership while commanding the 12th Brigade.

Raymond Leane's appointment was initially controversial within the force, as there had been an established practice of selecting the commissioner from within its ranks.

Raymond Leane returned to part-time soldiering, commanding at the brigade level until 1926, not without controversy.

Raymond Leane was a foundation member and inaugural president of the Legacy Club of Adelaide, established to assist the dependents of deceased ex-servicemen.

In 1928, during a major dispute over the industrial award applying to waterfront labourers, Raymond Leane provided police protection to non-union workers, and on one occasion personally led a force of 150 police that successfully confronted a crowd of 2,000 waterside labourers who wanted to remove non-union workers from Adelaide ports.

Raymond Lionel Leane was born on 12 July 1878 in Prospect, South Australia, the son of a shoemaker, Thomas John Leane, and his wife Alice Short, who were of Cornish descent.

In June 1902, Raymond Leane married Edith Louise Laybourne, a sister of the architect Louis Laybourne Smith.

Raymond Leane was promoted to captain on 21 November 1910.

On 25 August 1914, Raymond Leane joined the newly formed Australian Imperial Force as a company commander in the Western Australia-raised 11th Infantry Battalion of the 3rd Brigade, with the rank of captain.

Four days later, Raymond Leane was chosen to lead an amphibious assault on Gaba Tepe, a prominent headland south of the Anzac perimeter on which an Ottoman-held fort was situated.

Raymond Leane signalled the Royal Navy to remove his wounded from the beach, which they did with a steamboat towing a rowboat.

Many men were hit, including Raymond Leane, who was wounded in the hand.

The forward company position was completely untenable, the lead elements of Raymond Leane's company were raked by shrapnel and machine gun fire, and Raymond Leane was wounded in the face.

Raymond Leane's force consisted of four parties of 50 men, who were to assault the Ottoman trench after the firing of four mines that had been dug up to the enemy trench.

The observer was decapitated and Raymond Leane was wounded in the head, but remained at his post.

Raymond Leane rejoined his unit four days later and was recommended to be made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order, the second highest award for acts of gallantry by officers, for his "great gallantry, coolness and dash".

Raymond Leane was admitted to hospital with pneumonia in late November, and was evacuated to Egypt, finally being discharged in early February 1916.

On discharge from hospital, Raymond Leane initially returned to the 11th Battalion, but on 21 February 1916 was transferred to be the commanding officer of the planned 48th Infantry Battalion.

On receiving his orders, Raymond Leane immediately reconnoitred the position with his company commanders, during which they were pinned down by a German barrage and two of them were wounded.

Raymond Leane's plan was to garrison his two trenches with one company each and hold his two reserve companies well to the rear of the village and he confronted Glasfurd and demanded written orders.

Glasfurd then gave Raymond Leane a written order that his two reserve companies were to be sent forward, but Raymond Leane remained defiant, stationing only one company north of Pozieres.

Raymond Leane was not alone in his approach, as the commanding officer of the flanking 14th Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Charles Dare, adopted the same disposition and disobeyed his own brigade commander in doing so.

Raymond Leane later described the relief of the previous garrison as the worst he experienced in the whole war, conducted as it was under a tremendous German bombardment.

Raymond Leane committed half of his remaining company, and this helped to resolve the situation.

The relationship between Glasfurd and Raymond Leane did not recover from this clash.

Raymond Leane was again mentioned in despatches, this time for "consistent, thorough and good work in raising and training his battalion" and his command of his unit at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm.

Characteristically, Raymond Leane insisted that if the order must be carried out, it would involve the destruction of one of his companies, and he would have to choose that commanded by his nephew Allan.

Raymond Leane found Ben's body among the dead, and carried him to a spot where he dug a grave before erecting a cross above it.

The Australian commanders were scathing of the tanks, blaming them almost entirely for the failure, with Raymond Leane even accusing the tank crews of "cowardice and incompetence".

Raymond Leane proved to be right, and the German positions were captured without a fight, along with two field guns and a large quantity of ammunition.

Raymond Leane was recommended for a bar to his DSO after Messines for "clever handling" of his battalion, but he did not receive that award.

Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Leane is an officer of great courage and the success that has always attended the efforts of his battalion are due to his strong personality and example.

Raymond Leane was again recommended for a bar to his DSO, this time successfully.

Raymond Leane continued to handle his battalion under a massive barrage and remained at his post though badly wounded until the enemy were checked and the defence assured.

On 26 January 1918, Raymond Leane rejoined his battalion, having recuperated from his wounds.

Raymond Leane's orders were to guide the battalion into support positions on high ground behind the remnants of the 9th Division.

Raymond Leane went to find Gellibrand himself, found that the orders were correct, and the staff officer was released.

Raymond Leane took the view that Gellibrand did not know the full situation on the ground, and that he had the discretion to follow a course of action that would achieve the objective without unnecessary casualties.

Raymond Leane decided not to move his troops forward until dark.

Bean remarks on Raymond Leane again disobeying orders, but notes that the dangers of such action are mitigated when such subordinates, like Raymond Leane, have "outstanding qualities of courage and judgement".

Raymond Leane concludes, "[b]ut Leane was Leane, and Gellibrand had the sense to know it".

That night and the next two days passed relatively quietly, with Raymond Leane rotating his companies through the front line posts, with characteristic care not to create congestion in the forward areas.

On this occasion, despite his usual reticence to congest his forward positions with troops, Raymond Leane asked for permission to use two companies forward on the railway embankment, and another forward in a series of posts on the extreme left of the battalion sector.

Raymond Leane held his fourth company in a trench called Pioneer Trench, that had been dug on the high ground overlooking the embankment.

Raymond Leane was given a company of the 46th Battalion which he held in reserve near his headquarters.

Raymond Leane himself, observing German trench-mortar fire, and suspecting that they were registering targets for a bombardment, ensured his battalion was ready for the impending battle, and sent out night patrols that detected large concentrations of German troops on a road only 140 metres beyond the embankment.

Raymond Leane brought the 45th Battalion up to dig in on the high ground near Leane's headquarters.

Raymond Leane later observed that the barrage was "the heaviest since Pozieres".

About 10:30, some of Raymond Leane's scouts reported that the 13th Brigade, on the right of the 12th Brigade and opposite Dernancourt, was falling back.

Later events proved that, being the most experienced commander on the ground, Raymond Leane actually had the most accurate conception of the real danger to the 12th Brigade's position.

When he heard of the withdrawal, Raymond Leane sent forward his second-in-command to establish the line that the battalion would now attempt to hold.

Deayton surmises that this rejection of the tanks was at the urging of Raymond Leane, who had taken such a negative view of them at Bullecourt.

The 49th had fought its way to a position almost identical to that which Raymond Leane had wanted the 45th to deploy earlier in the day, when his orders had conflicted with those of Gellibrand.

About 15:00, the attack of the 46th was held up by German resistance, so once he received this report, Raymond Leane went forward and urged its commanding officer to renew the attack as soon as artillery support could be arranged.

Raymond Leane accepted this, and it was decided that the attack would be renewed at 23:00.

Raymond Leane placed the two companies of the 48th under the command of the 46th to assist in consolidation of the position.

The British on the right flank repeatedly reported that they had captured the third objective, but Raymond Leane, sending a patrol to make contact, quickly ascertained this report was incorrect.

Raymond Leane disembarked in Adelaide on 18 October 1919, and his appointment in the AIF was terminated, in accordance with normal repatriation procedures, on 3 January 1920.

On 13 May 1920, it was announced that Raymond Leane would be the next Commissioner of the South Australia Police from 1 July, replacing Thomas Edwards.

Raymond Leane's appointment was something of a surprise to senior police officers, who, based on long-standing arrangements, expected that the commissioner would be appointed from within the force.

At the time, Raymond Leane was described as a "splendid fellow" by soldiers who had served under his command, and it was observed that "tact and firm decision" were outstanding features of his character.

The meeting decided to ask Raymond Leane to meet with representatives of each branch of the service as soon as possible, to discuss various grievances and suggest reforms.

In July 1920, Raymond Leane was appointed to command the part-time 19th Infantry Brigade, which encompassed the metropolitan area of Adelaide and the south-east districts of South Australia, and was part of the peacetime military structure.

In June 1923, Raymond Leane brought a case of defamation against Harry Kneebone, the editor of the Australian Labor Party newspaper, The Daily Herald.

In February 1925, Raymond Leane hosted a conference of commissioners of police from around Australia held in Adelaide.

Raymond Leane actively supported commemorative activities such as Anzac Day and Remembrance Day, and attended unveilings of memorials.

In early 1928, Raymond Leane became a foundation member and the inaugural president of the Legacy Club of Adelaide, established to assist the dependents of deceased ex-servicemen.

In September 1928, Raymond Leane provided police protection to non-union strikebreakers brought in to work on the Port Adelaide wharves to circumvent a dispute over the industrial award that covered the waterfront.

Raymond Leane went to the extent of personally supervising police operations, despite a lack of unrest at the beginning of the dispute.

Raymond Leane, accompanied by just one inspector, met the leaders and attempted to dissuade them from entering the wharf area.

Raymond Leane specified that if all other things were equal, preference for the cadetships would be given to the sons of deceased returned servicemen.

In 1934, Raymond Leane built on this scheme by introducing probationary police training for youths aged 17 to 20.

Raymond Leane was an advocate for the role of female police officers, and was the first to place a woman in control of the female members of the force.

Also in 1935, Raymond Leane proposed a nationwide scheme to analyse traffic accidents to determine the risk factors contributing to them, and tailor police traffic enforcement operations, and in the interim, implemented such a program in South Australia.

In 1936, a biographical sketch of Raymond Leane mentioned that he was a justice of the peace, had been president of the Commonwealth Club in Adelaide, was the chairman of the South Australian branch of the Institute of Public Administration, and had been awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal the previous year.

In 1937, Raymond Leane was made an Officer of the Order of Saint John, and received the King George VI Coronation Medal.

In 1938, Raymond Leane was placed on the retired list of military officers, having reached 60 years of age.

Raymond Leane's continuing concern about traffic accidents and their consequences was highlighted by a map maintained in his office, on which all accidents were marked.

On 18 June 1940, Raymond Leane was appointed as the commander of the Returned and Services League-organised Volunteer Defence Corps in South Australia, an organisation similar to the Home Guard in the United Kingdom.

On 30 June 1944, Raymond Leane retired as police commissioner, and was replaced by William Francis Johns, a serving superintendent.

Raymond Leane was knighted in the 1945 King's birthday honours for his services as police commissioner over a 24-year period.

Raymond Leane continued to lead the Adelaide Anzac Day March each year, and on 7 September 1946 was invested with his knighthood by the Governor-General of Australia, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.

Raymond Leane remained a strong advocate of part-time soldiering, as well as a system of universal military training.

Raymond Leane lived in Adelaide until his death at the Repatriation General Hospital, Daw Park, on 25 June 1962, with him and his wife celebrating their diamond wedding anniversary two weeks before his death.

Raymond Leane was buried in Centennial Park Cemetery, and was survived by his wife, Edith, and six children: five sons and a daughter.

Raymond Leane's son Geoffrey was originally a mounted policeman then a detective, was a lieutenant colonel and twice mentioned in despatches during World War II, later became a police inspector, and was deputy commissioner from 1959 to 1972.

On receiving the news of his death, McKinna said that Raymond Leane was "a grand man and an excellent soldier", who "was really the father of the present-day police force, as during his term as police commissioner he reorganised the whole force".

Raymond Leane said that, "The force was now receiving the benefits of his reorganisation and the many new systems and improvements he introduced".

Raymond Leane observed that Leane "was always a strict disciplinarian but was scrupulously fair in all his dealings".

The Premier of South Australia, Sir Thomas Playford, said that Raymond Leane "had been one of the great generals of World War I, and had served with conspicuous ability as police commissioner for many years".