Leslie was born on the 8 December 1904 in Birmingham to Myer who was born in Spitalfields, London and Polish born Annie Goldstein. Leslie was the middle child of their five sons. In 1911 the family were living at 5 Lea Terrace, Great Colman St in Birmingham where Myer worked as a tailors machinist and Annie was a coat maker. In 1939, Leslie was working as an upholsterer and he enlisted at Blackpool in 1940.

The Yorkshire Evening Post of 17 December 1941 carried the following announcement:

ON ACTIVE SERVICE
GOULD – In December, suddenly, at a military hospital, aged 37 years, L.A.C. Leslie (Brummy) Gould of 78, St. Martin’s Gardens, Leeds 7.