Leslie Joseph James (29 June 1890 – 22 October 1917), also known as "Jack James", was an Australian rules footballer who played with Geelong in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

. He was killed in action in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. He died on the Passchendaele salient in 1917.

Family

Fifth of the eighth children of Joseph James (1856-1902), and Martha James (1857-1930), née Smith, Leslie Joseph James was born at Geelong on 29 June 1890. He married Alice May Ward (1888-1963) in 1913. They had two children: Leslie Thomas James (1913-1979), and Iris May James (1915-1993). Two of his brothers, Frederick William "Fred" James (1884-1948) and Sydney Harold "Syd" James (1898-1969), also played with Geelong: Fred, played two games in 1908, and Syd played four games in 1919.

Football

He played 72 senior games with Geelong.

Death

He was killed in action on 22 October 1917.Private Leslie James, ''The Ballarat Courier'', (Monday, 10 December 1917), p.4.
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Footnotes

References

First World War Nominal Roll, Private Leslie Joseph James (7117), 14th Australian Infantry Battalion, ''Australian War Memorial''.

World War I Service Record: Leslie Joseph James (7117).

Roll of Honour: Private Leslie Joseph James (7117), ''Australian War Memorial''.

374th Casualty List: Victorian Details Shown: Killed in Action, ''The (Melbourne) Herald'', (Saturday, 22 December 1917), p.12.
* Holmesby, Russell & Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. 7th ed. Melbourne: Bas Publishing. * Main, J. & Allen, D., "James, Les", pp.88-90 in Main, J. & Allen, D., ''Fallen – The Ultimate Heroes: Footballers Who Never Returned From War'', Crown Content, (Melbourne), 2002.

External links