Private Leslie Clapham BATTEN Serial no.41469 Leslie Clapham BATTEN was born on the third February 1880. The 9th and youngest child of James William and Emma Rebecca BATTEN who immigrated to New Zealand from Bow, London. He was their only child to be born in New Zealand He was a farmer on the Batten Farm at Tokaora South Taranaki. Tributes in the local paper after his death speak of him as one of the finest young men in the district, a hard worker, bright and pleasant, a favourite with everyone, and in work as a farmer none was more neighbourly and helpful. “I have known him for many years, and to know him was to like and esteem him. Never once have I heard him speak an ill word about anyone. His near neighbours especially will miss him,for he was always ready and willing to lend a helping hand” In April 1916 he married Alice Exley daughter of Mr & Mrs T.R.Exley Hawera. A home was built for him and his wife on the farm at Tokaora. When he left to fight his wife was pregnant with their first child and he never returned to see his son James Leslie Batten born 13th May 1917 Body on Embarkation N.Z. Embarkation unit-- F Company == Embarkation date 14th March 1917. Place of embarkation –Wellington N.Z. Trans HMNZI 79 Vessel Ruapehu – Destination-- Devonport England Nominal Roll No57 Page on Nominal roll 20. Last unit served Canterbury Infantry Regiment,3rd Battalion. On the 6th October1917 age 37 he died of wounds from the battle for Passchendaele in Belgium and he is buried in the Nine Elms British Cemetery Popeninge  West Viaanderen BELGIUM Grave reference 11 E 13 The Hawera branch of Toc H earned the privilege of dedicating a lamp to perpetuate the service rendered to others by some local person. The Hawera branch dedicated it's lamp to Leslie Batten. The lamp is looked upon as the lamp of good example, which shines from the lives of fine men and women of all ages. A local newspaper cutting recorded “The lamp will be lit at the great gathering which is to be held in the Albert Hall, London, by a representative of the King, who is the patron of the organisation, and will be sent to Hawera under the care of some member of Toc H travelling to the Dominion or another responsible person. The receipt of the lamp will be marked by the branch with an appropriate ceremony” Toc H is an international movement instigated by the Reverend Philip Thomas Byard (Tubby) Clayton as a way to perpetuate the Fellowship developed in Talbot House, a soldiers’ club run by him in Poperinge, Belgium from 1915-1918. It is from the contemporary phonetic alphabet for TH (Talbot House) that Toc H takes its unique name. Toc H members seek to ease the burdens of others through acts of service. They also promote reconciliation and work to bring disparate sections of society together. Many members belong to branches which may organise such localised activities as hospital visits or entertainment for the residents of care homes. Other members may act individually to carry out some form of service which could be as simple as getting a neighbour’s shopping or visiting someone who is housebound. A few more formally organised projects such as residential holidays for special groups still take place. Historically the Toc H movement has been responsible for starting or collaborating in some of the most innovative forms of social service. Light is the symbol of Toc H