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From some of our 14th that
were in the advance on the left
I hear Capt Groom our Cy Cmdr
is killed. Also Chas Wells
& many of the originals
leaving only a few in
the old Batallion.
The saddest news of
all is Chapln Gillison
Our padre is killed.
Without any exception
he was the whisest &
finest man of the Aust
on the peninsula. He
was working with the
Red Cross after the charge
bandaging our wounded
& giving them cigarettes
from his own cigarette
case, all the time under
gun & rifle fire. He was
just that kind of man who
would go through anything
to save our chaps from
unnecessary suffering.
He should have never been
in the danger zone at all.
Yet he sacrificed his life
in this way with many
others just as willing perh-
aps, but not with opportun-
ities. He was always busy
up at our old position
Courtneys post his stalking
about (under the eye of the
ever ready Turkish sniper
to fire on the Red Cross).
holding burial
services on the slope of
the hill or supervising
the bringing down of
the wounded from the
trenches. This was no
easy task owing to the
great drop from the
firing line to the
dressing station.
In fact where-ever he
was needed he was
always there. The last sermon
I heard him preach was to
the whole brigade in Rest
Valley. His remarks
were on the language
used by the Aust troops.
A very impressive sermon
it was too. Not a single
man there closed his ears
to it. I watched the whole
thing from our
dug-out on the other side
of the gully to the troops
the same side as the
padre & you’d be
surprised to see how
every man was interested.
He also dwelt on “A mans
Conscience” ) A photo was
taken, probably by one of
the local papers.
Many a strong minded
man was drawn to tears
on hearing of the Death
of Chapln Gillison.
Things are going along
slowly. A lecture was
given on places about
Egypt, accompanied by
lantern slides.
The usual pictures were
run this evening
attracting everybody in Al Hayat
