Congratulations to the Addy for its special Armistice Day feature articles on Gallipoli and Lemnos Island (Saturday, November 10).
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It reminded me of my Uncle “Lock” Hamilton’s effort at Gallipoli beach, where as a member of a “bridging train”, he and his mates were responsible for installing a crude wharf to enable ammo and stores to be taken ashore.
To protect them on the beach from rifle fire from above, they built a corral of Berseem Clover bales, where the stores were stacked ready for the donkeys to carry them up the gullies to the troops.
Unfortunately my uncle was afflicted with enteric fever and was evacuated to Lemnos and later to England, where he convalesced at Goodrich Court, near Wales. Soon he was sent to France, where he served as Aide de Camp to GOC 5th Division AIF.
He left Australia as a Private and safely returned as Captain L Hamilton OBE, M in D (x3); and later becoming managing director of Royal Sovereign Pencil Co in Sydney.
His brother Arthur was not so lucky – he died on a Flanders Field in October 1917 and was buried at Lijssenthoek Cemetery, Belgium.
David Elvery,
Flora Hill