Andrew’s Early Years
Leslie Wilton Andrew was born in Ashhurst (Manawatu) on 23 March 1897. He began his ‘soldiering’ with the Avenue School Cadets in Whanganui and attended Whanganui Boys’ High School and Whanganui Collegiate. After he finished school, he worked in a solicitor’s office and as a clerk with the Railways, as well as being involved with the Territorial Force.
When war broke out, Andrew lied about his age, enlisting in 1915; he actually would not reach the official age of 20 until March 1917.
Following a period of training, in September 1916, he found himself on the Somme (Western Front). just eight days after joining the 2nd Battalion, Wellington Regiment, he was wounded in the neck.