He played in the famous services match in London, but was killed whilst serving in
Belgium during
World War I.
Family
The son of Isabella Turner Barnes (1862-1948), later Mrs. Arthur James Roberts,[2][3] Edward Leslie Barnes Cooper, known as Leslie Edward Lee, was born at
Parkside, South Australia on 21 November 1894.[4][5][6]
Football
The Third Australian Divisional Team.[7] Les Lee is the fourth player from the left in the back row.
Richmond (VFL)
At 18 years of age, he played for Richmond in the last two games of the 1913 season: against Melbourne on 23 August 1913, and against University on 30 August 1913.
Balmain (RDJFA)
In 1914 he played with the Balmain Football Club, one of the association's foundation clubs (in 1913), in the Richmond District Junior Football Association.[8]
Williamstown (VFA)
Although he was training with Richmond in early May 1915,[9] he was cleared from Richmond to
Williamstown Football Club in the
Victorian Football Association (VFA) on 12 May 1915,[10] and played the first of his 12 matches with Williamstown, against Hawthorn on 15 May 1915.[11][12] His last match was in the Second Semi-Final, against North Melbourne, on 31 July 1915.
"Pioneer Exhibition Game" (London, 28 October 1916)
On Saturday 28 October 1916, Lee participated in an Australian Rules football match – the "Pioneer Exhibition Game of Australian Football in London"[13] – between two teams of Australian servicemen, the Australian Training Units and The Third Australian Divisional Team, conducted in aid of the British and French
Red Cross, at
Queen's Club,
West Kensington.[14][15][16] Lee played for the Third Australian Divisional Team, kicking one of the team's six goals.[17][18]
Twenty years later, the team's vice-captain, the former Collingwood footballer,
Dan Minogue, who would go on to play for, and captain, Richmond after the war, noting that Lee "marked magnificently", recalled that the comparatively unknown (having only played two VFL games, and only 21 years of age) Lee's performance in that game was outstanding:
"The star of that unforgettable match in London 21 years ago was young [Les] Lee. the unknown Richmond lad. He was only a boy, but he was of the
Jack Dyer build and spirit. And could he play! He was a champion in the ruck that day of days. Unfortunately, he was killed in action later."[19]
Military service
Having undergone several operations to correct and straighten (otherwise excluding conditions) several toes and remove varicose veins,[20] Lee enlisted in the First AIF and served overseas in the 10th Australian Machine Gun Company.
Death
Originally reported wounded and missing in action,[21][22] he was killed in action on 8 June 1917.[23]
^His father was Edward Cooper. Edward Cooper and Isabella Barnes never married; and,
according to Richardson (2016), as a child growing up in Richmond, Les Lee thought that his mother, Isabella, was his aunt.
^His service record has a hand-written (undated, but posthumous) note recording (i) that Lee's War Gratuity was paid to "Isabella Turner Roberts (Mother) 16 Hope St Sth Yarra", and (ii) that, in relation to the issue of whether his biological father was living, according to Lee's War Gratuity file, "Mother states deserted by father in 1894. [Current] whereabouts unknown."
^According to the detailed correspondence conducted by his mother, Isabella Turner Roberts, after his death (contained in his World War One service record), the "George Lee" given as his father on his enlistment was not his father. "George Lee" was the husband of his mother's sister (Mrs. Eliza Lee) — his mother had "boarded [him] out" with the Lee family "for 4 years when a little child". From the Lee household he then went to live with another of his mother's sisters (Mrs. Anne Simcock), "from whose house he left to go into camp [on] May 27th 1916". His mother was quite clear that, on the basis that he had lived with the Lee family for a time, she had "allowed him to take the name of Lee", and that "he always kept it". His mother had always supported him financially when he was living with her sisters and continued to do so "until he was able to keep himself". His mother also notes that he was not comfortable with his stepfather and preferred to live with the Simcock family.
Hogan P: The Tigers of Old, Richmond FC, (Melbourne), 1996.
ISBN0-646-18748-1
Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing.
Main, J. & Allen, D., "Lee, Leslie", pp. 101–105 in Main, J. & Allen, D., Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War, Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002.
ISBN1-74095-010-0
Richardson, Nick, The Game of Their Lives, Pan Macmillan, (Sydney), 2016.
ISBN978-1-7435-3666-7