Leonard was born in Ashburton 5th November 1894. His full name on his birth certificate is Leonard Robert Yow Luk Lee Goon. His father was Chinese and came to New Zealand for the goldfields in the 1870's, his mother was from the East end of London and arrived in Lyttelton in 1879. He was the youngest of nine children.
The family moved to Auckland when he was an infant.
At the time of his enlistment he was employed as a saddle maker, in later years as this trade was no longer required, he worked on the Auckland wharves.
During his time in the armed forces Len was with the army band, and this was an interest he carried on after
the war playing in brass bands. One of the bands he played in were a regular feature the Auckland Zoo band rotunda.
He married Lilian Charlotte Lee nee Robertson in 1920 and they had six children. Len passed away in 1951 at the age of 57 (Source:Family Source) AWMM