Vivien Ralph Worthington Lees
Stephen LearmonthVivien Ralph Worthington Lees was born on the 30th of August 1888 in Moree, New South Wales. He was the youngest of eleven children (although two died as infants) to Frederick James and Elizabeth (née Small). Vivien, or Ralph as he preferred to be called, and his family were brought up in a Presbyterian household. As a young boy he attended Lowesdale Public School, approximately 20 kilometres north of Corowa. Ralph was living with his sister Charlotte Worthington Edols at Buraja Station. Ralph was Charlotte’s youngest sibling and according to some letters held in his service records was more like his foster mother than sibling from the time he was six years old.
Ralph enlisted on the 3rd of December 1914 at Corryong, Victoria. He was allocated the Regimental Number 834 with the initial rank of Private or Trooper and was placed in the 4th Reinforcements for the 8th Light Horse Regiment.
Being short (1.53 m) did not diminish his courage. His chest measurement was 94 cm at its biggest point which meant he could take a big breath before the battle of Gallipoli. His complexion was fair, his eyes were hazel and his hair was oak brown. He had one distinctive mark of a mole on the back of his neck.
Ralph embarked on the 13th of April 1915, on the transport HMAT A18 Wiltshire at the Port of Melbourne. This trip took him away from his job as a horse dealer and it also took him away from his home and family.
Ralph had not long arrived on the Peninsula when he was wounded on his forehead by a bomb blast while the 8th was manning Walkers Ridge. He was transported to a minesweeper on the 27th of June 1915 and was initially admitted to the 24th Casualty Clearing Station, before being transferred to the 57th Lowland Casualty Clearing Station on the island of Mudros.
He was returned to duty on the 13th of July 1915. On 29 July, the 8th Light Horse relieved the 9th Light Horse and occupied No. 1 and No. 3 Post along Walker’s Ridge.
Early August saw Ralph and the 8th on Russell’s Top, occupying the trenches at the Nek. As part of the August Offensive, the 8th and 10th Light Horse were to attack the Turkish trenches at the Nek, hoping that the Turks' attention would be drawn away from the British landings in the north at Suvla. On the 7th of August, the now infamous attack took place. After the attack what was left of the 8th were withdrawn and went into bivouac at HQ Terraces. When the roll was called, Ralph did not answer and he was declared missing and eventually killed in action. The actual events and the reason for his death were unknown but assumed killed by wounds sustained during the attack on the Nek. The 8th Light Horse suffered 234 casualties, 154 fatal.
Even though Ralph was killed in August 1915, Charlotte Edols, his sister, would endure seven years of correspondence with the Army, trying to track down his belongings and medals. One letter, dated December 1915, although possibly not written by Charlotte due to the nature of the handwriting, outlines the anguish of a sibling for the loss of a loved one.
“Dear Sir, I am taking the liberty of writing asking you if there is any chance of me getting any of my brothers belongings who was killed at the Dardanelles on the 7th of August last he was in the A.L.H and his name was Vivien Ralph Lees age 27 year’s If you should be able to do any thing [sic] towards getting me what little or much for me I should be more than thankful to you, I would dearly love to have some thing [sic] in memory of him for he was a dear good brother to me poor boy he was killed in action and I am so broken hearted and then again proud to think he died for his Country Trusting Sir you will do what you can in the matter for me.
Yours Faithfully
Name illegible” [sic]
Ralph is remembered on the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, the Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing, the Lowesdale Public School Honour Roll, the Moree ANZAC Centenary Memorial, and the Corryong War Memorial. For his service during the war he was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal, and the Victory Medal. These medals were sent to his next of kin, Charlotte.
