Branch of Service

Army

Conflict

World War I (1914-1918)

Date of Enlistment

03/11/1914

Date of Discharge

02/06/1919

Place of Enlistment

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Gender

Male

Date of Birth

20/01/1896

Place of Birth

Glen Innes NSW

Address (at enlistment)

Royal Military College, Duntroon ACT

Occupation

Soldier

Next of Kin

Minna Legge (mother), Arden Street, Coogee NSW

Final Rank

Major

Final Unit

14 Brigade, 5 Division AIF

Distinguished Service Order (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 7 November 1918, page 2110, position 50)
Military Cross (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 11 September 1915, page 1746, position 15)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 28 October 1915, page 2737, position 31)
Mentioned in Despatches (Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: 24 October 1918, page 2055, position 49)

Legge was the nephew of General James Legge and entered the Royal Military College, Duntroon on 7 March 1912. He was a member of the guard of honour formed by the cadets at the naming ceremony for Canberra on 12 March 1913. Along with the rest of his class, Legge was graduated early on 2 November 1914 and enlisted as a Lieutenant with the Machine Gun Section of the 13th Battalion. They landed on Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 and soon afterwards (on 2 May) Legge earned the Military Cross for his "ability and courage in the successful handling of his machine gun section. On several occasions he inflicted severe losses on the enemy and was severely wounded in the neck". In August 1915 he was wounded a second time by a bullet in the neck and was evacuated to hospital in London where it was removed.

He rejoined the 4th Brigade (of which the 13th Battalion was a part) in Egypt in January 1916 and promoted to Captain. In March 1916 Legge was appointed as Staff Captain in the 15th Brigade under the command of Brigadier General Harold 'Pompey' Elliott. He travelled to France with the 15th Brigade and was involved in the Battle of Fromelles during 19/20 July 1916. Later that year the brigade moved to the Flers sector.

After training as a Brigade Major at 5th Division Headquarters in early 1917, Legge was appointed to that role with the 14th Brigade in September 1917. A week later the 14th Battalion fought at the Battle of Polygon Wood in Belgium and then along Broodseinde Ridge. For his work in preparing the Brigade for Polygon Wood, Legge was awarded the Distinguished Service Order.

He continued in his Staff role during 1918 during which time the 14th Brigade fought at Villers-Bretonneux, Morlancourt, Peronne and Bellicourt. He returned to Australia in March 1919 and in August 1921 he married. Legge remained in the army after the war and in 1938 returned to Canberra as the Officer Commanding Corps of Staff Cadets at RMC. He was appointed Director of Military Art at RMC in November 1939 and then as Commanding Officer of the Small Arms School at Randwick in early 1940. He died in Sydney on 9 April 1940.

Charles Bean, 'Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18' (Vol. II, p.623n)
Colonel J.E. Lee, 'Duntroon: The Royal Military College of Australia 1911-1946', 1952
Ross McMullin, 'Pompey Elliott', 2002
Charles Bean, 'Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18' (Vol. III, p.604n)
AWM Honours & Awards
NAA RecordSearch - Series B2455 (First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
Stories from the ACT Memorial, 'The Honour Guard at the Canberra Commencement Ceremony', ACT Heritage Library www.library.act.gov.au/find/history/stories_from_the_act_memorial
The Canberra Times - 12 April 1940, 16 April 1940
Sydney Mail - 14 July 1915