Sugar Mill locomotive was named in honour of fallen workmate
Leslie Charles (Sandy) Plater was born in Maclean, NSW on 30th November 1918 and moved to the Nambour area with his family in 1921.
Like his father Charles and elder brother Edgar he worked at Nambour’s Moreton Sugar Mill. He worked horses on tramline work, fired on the steam locomotives and drove oil locomotives.
He enlisted in the 9/49th Militia Battalion at Nambour on the 11th January 1940 and was taken into the 2/15th Battalion AIF on the 3rd June 1940.
After training at Redbank and Darwin he sailed on the Queen Mary from Sydney on 28th December 1940 bound for the Middle East.
In 1941 Les served in Tobruk during the famous siege and was promoted sergeant on 8th July 1942.
On the 1st September 1942 the 2/15th Battalion participated in Operation Bulimba which was an operation designed to test tactics and strategies for the upcoming Battle of El Alamein.
During this three hour operation the battalion suffered 61 men killed in action [KIA] or fatally wounded including ‘Sandy’ Plater who died of wounds [DOW] on 2nd September.
These casualties were the worst suffered by the battalion during World War II with almost 30 percent of their total wartime losses occurring in this three hour battle.
Sergeant Les Plater has the unusual honour of having a locomotive named in his remembrance.
After the war the Moreton Mill purchased four small ex-Department of Defence petrol locomotives and one of these was named ‘SANDY’ by Les’ workmates with mill management approval.
The locomotive is preserved and on display at the Nambour Museum.
— Clive Plater (nephew), Nambour Museum