Soldier Record

Leslie was killed on the first day of the battle. His body was never found.

Sergeant Leslie Robert Gladman joined the 18th Battalion of The King's Royal Rifle Corp, which was formed in Gidea Park, Essex, on 4 June 1915. The Battalion was attached to the 122nd Brigade, 41st Division in October 1915. This Battalion was actively involved in fighting on the western front, including the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Leslie was wounded on three occasions, and had become a sergeant by the age of 20. British morale was high in June 1917 after the Battle of Messines Ridge. This was the prelude to the Third Battle of Ypres, commonly known as Passchendaele. The battle started in heavy rain on 31 July 1917, following an Allied ten-day, 3,000 gun barrage of 4,250,000 shells. It was to continue until 6 November 1917, having cost 300,000 Allied and 260,000 German casualties. Leslie was killed on the first day of the battle. His body was never found, so his name is recorded on the Ypres Menin Gate Memorial, panel 53.