Pte Arthur Thomas (Lilydale), 1^st Machine Gun Battalion: In the front line, France. In a letter to his father –‘I was on duty in our gun “possy” and the Germans were shelling a supposed position behind our lines when one of their shells fell short, and by the feel of the dugout I knew they had not missed us by much. One of my mates was working 20ft away from where I sat at my gun, so I put my head out and asked, “Where was that?”. Bob was still working and he said, ‘Oh, one of Fritz’s out on the duck boards’. I was only 15 yards from it and Bob was much nearer, so Fritz has to put one right amongst them before they get annoyed. We were cooking breakfast when one shell struck the parapet and scattered dirt all over us, and the chap who was cooking said to me, ‘Hurry up, I want to get this bacon cooked before Fritz knocks the fire out. The wood is too wet to start another fire’. And our chaps seem all the same’.

Pte Francis Hughes (Lilydale), 8^th Battalion: Accidentally shots himself in the finger while cleaning his rifle. He is later charged with having caused a self-inflicted wound but court of enquiry finds he did not do it intentionally.

William Oliver (Lilydale): Leaves his job as a machinist to enlist in the AIF, he is 25 years old.