Volume 1: Letters written on active service, A-L, 1914-1919 - Page 261

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[Page 261]

Chaplain Hugh P. Reid also wrote:–
"You have heard, of course, long before this letter can reach you of the death of your son in this hospital on the 7th June, and I write now to express my sincere sympathy with you in your bereavement. I indicated in my letter that there seemed to be an awkward complication in his trouble, and it became apparent soon after that he was very seriously ill. I attended him regularly every day; the day he died was an exceedingly warm one and he did not seem to have the strength to resist its fatigue. During one of our conversations I told him to put his trust in God and in Christ who died for sinners; his reply was: 'It is all I can do now.' We buried him in the soldiers' cemetery here at Wimereux; I officiated at the funeral, and a contingent from the hospital paid the last token of respect to a departed soldier, and 'The Last Post' was sounded over his grave. The number of the grave is 1692. Permit me again to offer you and yours my sincere condolence in your great loss; he gave his life for his country in the sacred cause of righteousness and truth; and he has entered into his reward. May the God of all grace comfort and sustain you all."

Private Ellis enlisted in December, 1915, and sailed in the following May with the "Kurrajongs," being then a little over 18 years of age. On the way across, he was left at Capetown suffering from acute pneumonia, but he later joined his battalion and left England for France in November, 1916. After serving in the trenches for six months he was admitted to hospital on May 20. Pte. Ellis, though a mere lad in years, was a manly type of young fellow, and was a general favourite with those to whom he was known.

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