His father was William Pittendrigh who designed and built horsedrawn vehicles in his Bentinck Street coachworks. His mother was Emily Jane Pittendrigh, nee Blackman. Leo was educated at the Bathurst Public School though he wasn’t that keen on schooling.  

Leo was working as a commercial agent (he bought and sold land, livestock, houses, buildings, machinery on behalf of vendors or purchasers) when he enlisted on 14th April, 1915, less than two weeks before the Anzacs landed on Gallipoli. 

He was aged 33 and was a good horseman by then as well as being an accurate shot with a rifle. Private Pittendrigh was given the Regimental Number – 2190.

He left Bathurst on the steam train for Sydney and then on to the Liverpool Military Camp where he would receive his uniform and training commenced.  He had his first day at the range using a .303 rifle as well as a Vickers Machine gun though this was later replaced.  

Some two months later Leo embarked at Sydney on the troopship H.M.A.T. A63 ‘Karoola’ on 16th June, 1915, and ended up in Egypt prior to joining his battalion on Gallipoli on 7th August, 1915. 

Leo’s shooting capabilities saw him assigned to the Australian Machine Gun Corps. At the end of the Gallipoli Campaign, the Australian Infantry Force was reorganised and expanded in preparation for its removal to the Western Front.

The machine gun sections within each infantry battalion had been consolidated into companies assigned at brigade level. He would have been proud of his brass crossed guns badge of the Machine Gun Corps.

By now Leo knew all there was to know about his machine gun as he took part in fighting around Pozieres and Mouquet Farm in 1916, before taking part in the Battle of Bullecourt in early 1917 as the Germans withdrew to the Hindenburg Line. 

Being a machine gunner Leo and his mates supported the attacking Allied infantry forces. His unit used Lewis machine guns which could fire at targets as far as 3,000 yards away. Often these men had to mount their Lewis gun in exposed position from which these machine gunners fired. Due to this they suffered heavy casualties. 

Leo took part in the fighting around Messines and Ypres in the latter half of 1917 and lumping around his 28 lb machine gun was tedious. He could carry and fire the Lewis gun by himself but needed another man to carry and load the magazines. This weapon could fire 500 to 600 rounds a minute.

Later he was reassigned to one of four machine gun companies in the 4th Machine Gun Battalion A.I.F. which was formed in March 1918.

Leo was taking part in the final stages of the war, seeing action during the Allied defensive operations during the German Spring Offensive beginning on 21st March, 1918. He would have witness artillery barrages where at times 1,100,000 shells were fired in five hours.  

Then he was wounded in action on 16th June, 1918, and taken by stretcher-bearers where he was later transferred to a horse and cart before being conveyed by a motorised ambulance to the 5th Casualty Clearing Station. His wounds were sewn up and washed in carbolic lotion before being dresses daily. Unfortunately Leo died of his wounds here on 9th July, 1918, from infection, a serious complication for wounded soldiers.

He was buried at Crouy in the British Cemetery Crouy-sur-Somme in France. His family later received his few belongings and afterwards, his medals, the 1914 – 18 Star, the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.

Alan McRae is from the Bathurst District Historical Society