Len was born on 13th December 1912 at Dawes Point, Sydney, NSW, to John Henry Salmon and Florence Alexandria Salmon (nee Aubin). He was the eldest of five children. They lived in the family home at Gowrie Avenue, Punchbowl, NSW. His younger siblings were Florence, Garnet, Dorothy and Joyce.
Len worked as a Process Engraver (Wet Plate Photographer) up until the date he enlisted with the AIF at Paddington, NSW on the 24th March 1941. He was assigned to the Australian Army Medical Corp, in the AIF 2/12th Field Ambulance Corp. His initial training and service saw him located at Holsworthy army camp, Liverpool, Cowra and Darwin before finally joining the AHS Centaur en route to New Guinea with the 2/12th.
The Salmon family suffered a great loss with the sacrifice of two of their beloved children to the protection of this country and its people. Len’s sister, Florence (Poppy) Aubin Salmon (b. 20 October 1915 – NFX70991), a nursing Sister with the 2/10th Australian General Field Hospital was killed in the massacre by the Japanese at Banka Island, Malaya on 16th February 1942 (aged 26), following her evacuation from Singapore aboard the vessel Vyner Brooke. His younger brother, Garnet (Garny) Cyril Noel Salmon (b. 30 April 1914) also served in World War II and was spared.
On the 24th April 1937 at Punchbowl NSW, Len married Mona Margaret Ryan. They had four beautiful children: Dorothy Ellen RYAN, b. 15 July 1933, d. 19 June 1935; Keith Francis SALMON, b. 26 October 1938; Ruth Margaret SALMON, b. 27 May 1941; and Raymond Arthur SALMON, b. 12 November 1943, d. 29 December 1975.
During his early life, Len was an active member of the St. John Ambulance Brigade and regularly attended local football matches in that capacity. Len and a mate of his also had a banana plantation at Murwillumbah NSW, which he used to visit by riding his (somewhat unreliable) motorbike all the way from Sydney. It was his ambition to build a family home there when the war was over. Sadly, his dream would never be realised.