Leslie Cecil Lloyd Averill

Leslie Cecil Lloyd Averill (25 March 1897 – 4 June 1981) was a New Zealand soldier who served during the First World War on the Western Front. After the war, he became a doctor and established a private practice in his hometown of Christchurch. He also served as a medical administrator and community leader.

Early life Leslie Averill was born on 25 March 1897 at Christchurch in New Zealand to a local vicar and his wife. His father, Alfred Averill, would later serve as Archbishop of New Zealand from 1925 to 1940. Educated at Christ's College, he was an excellent student and was head prefect in 1915. The following year, he began studying medicine at Auckland University. However, in 1916 when a good friend, Paul Clark volunteered to fight in World War I with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF), he decided to join as well.

Military career Averill was commissioned as a second lieutenant after training at Trentham Military Camp. Arriving in France in May 1918, he was posted to the 4th Battalion of the New Zealand Rifle Brigade. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh the following year. He returned to New Zealand in 1925 and married Isabella Mary Wilkie Roberton in Auckland. His new wife had also qualified as a medical practitioner, but did not work after their marriage. The couple would go on to have five children. His contributions were not limited to medicine; he was on the board of governors of Christchurch College for nearly 20 years, served as a president of the Old Boy's Associate of his former high school, and was a member of Christchurch's Rotary Club.

Averill retired from general practice in 1967. Even in retirement, he continued a long association with the ChristChurch Cathedral, having served as a lay canon since 1943. He died on 4 June 1981, survived by his wife and four children.

Legacy Throughout his postwar life, Averill maintained strong links with Le Quesnoy. He returned to the town in 1923 to unveil the New Zealand War Memorial there with Marshal Joseph Joffre and Sir James Allen, New Zealand's High commissioner to London. The township appointed Averill a citoyen d'honneur (honorary citizen) on the 50th anniversary of the relief of Le Quesnoy in 1968, and five years later in 1973 he was appointed a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by the French President. In a later visit, a new school and street were named in his honour.