In short, we can reveal Leslie Vipont, born in Doreen and raised in Yan Yean was killed in action while serving as S/9868, Private, with the Seaforth Highlanders Regiment of the British Expeditionary Force in France on 10 July, 1916.
That seems a simple summary, but his background is undoubtedly right up there as one of the most intriguing entry in any of the Rolls of Honour compiled for the WikNorthia districts, appearing at times under three (or, given a spelling error), four, different names!
He was listed as Leslie Vipont and as having paid the supreme sacrifice at the Mayfield Presbyterian Church in Mernda after appearing earlier on a Mernda State School roll, but a check of Australian archives show no such serviceman as enlisting. A brother William was also shown on the school roll.
Fortunately the uniqueness of the name comes to our rescue and a search on embarkations show two brothers, Charles and William enlisted under the surname of Birkett-Vipont who both returned to Australia. Charles was shown as born at Yan Yean, identifying him as at least part of the missing family.
The brothers served together with the the 4th Light Horse Regiment. Shown as a 21-year-old farmer in September, 1917, 3822, Private Charles Herbert Birkett-Vipont returned to Australia, April, 1919; after enlisting as a 19-year-old horse breaker, born Newport, and 199, Private, William John Birkett-Vipont (Military Medal) returned to Australia in November, 1919 with the rank of Lieutenant on the 1914 Special Leave awarded to those men who had completed four years of consecutive service. Both brothers listed their mother, Annie, then in Apollo Bay as next of kin,
The scenario became clearer when the Evelyn Observer of 3 November 1916, carried a letter from the pair’s mother, Annie, still at Apollo Bay lamenting the loss of her son Leslie, whom she revealed served not as Vipont or Birkett-Vipont, but as Grierson!
Leslie Birkett-Vipont joined the Royal Australian Navy on 10 June, 1913 for a period of seven years and was transferred to HMAS Australia when it arrived in Melbourne after her maiden voyage following her construction in Britain and sailed with her as a Stoker Second Class back to England after the outbreak of war.
The rather rambling letter refers to Leslie breaking a leg and spending time in Chatham Naval Hospital in England before convalescing in Scotland and visiting the Seaforth Highland Regiment “that his great-grandfather Sgt, Grierson belonged to”.
The letter concludes by suggesting that rather than re-joining his ship, Leslie signed on with the Seaforth Regiment, taking the family name of his great-grandfather, Grierson, perhaps in part to avoid detection following his failure to rejoin the HMAS Melbourne.
All of that must have been news to the Defence Department as there is no trace of a Leslie Grierson, Vipont or Birkett-Vipont on either the Honour Roll or the Commemorative Roll of Australians who died in the service of Allied countries.
The date of his death and exactly what name he served under proved a mystery – a two-page entry in National Archives relating to him joining the Navy confirms he was Killed In Action while serving with the Seaforth Highlanders on 10 July, 1916, but while the Commonwealth War Graves Commission has four men named Grierson killed with that Regiment, none are even close to that date.
Aha! The trick is to misspell the name, and then we have L Greirson, S/9868 killed 10 July, 1916 and buried in the Vermelles British Cemetery. Just where in France the Regiment was operating is not known, but there are 15 casualties from the unit listed on that day alone.
Counting Leslie, there are five deaths listed for the Seaforth Highlanders under Grierson, confirming the family remained closely connected to the Regiment.
The report also revealed Annie Birkett-Vipont was related to a number of prominent families in Mernda; amongst others she was a sister of Mrs George Cockerill, Mrs Thomas Hicks, whose stepson, 1003 Private Colin Hicks died of wounds at Gallipoli, and Mrs Smith . She was also a cousin of well-known local identity Walter Thomas, whose family are believed to have given Thomastown its name.
Annie’s husband William died in 1906, there were six children in the family, four registered simply as Vipont (but none of the servicemen), the last two in 1901 and 1903 as Birkett-Vipont. Two had Grierson as their second given name and all were in the Yan Yean – Mernda area.
She was in turn a daughter of John and Catherine (nee Grierson) Cockerill and born in Yan Yean, circa 1873; she died at Beech Forest in 1951, aged 84.
