Theebibe

THEEBINE

Copyright © 2026 TERRAAUSTRALIA

Please note: The story of the Gillard family is the product of my imagination. Their story is woven around historical events in Queensland, Australia and overseas. Any mistakes here are mine alone.

CHAPTER 1

Alex and Robert Gillard were born at Childers, Queensland, sons of James and Hilda Gillard.

Prior to their enlistment at Maryborough Queensland on 22nd August 1914, they both had spent four years in Wide Bay Infantry Regiment and were working as building labourers in Maryborough, helping their parents with the cost of having their sisters, Flora, Elsie, Dorothy, Vera and Ivy, as boarding students in the Maryborough School.

September 1914 saw them at the Enoggera barracks, Brisbane... the main reception camp for Queensland recruits and a staging post before deployment.

Both were posted as Privates with 9th Battalion A.I.F. and embarked at Pinkenba Wharf, Brisbane aboard the H.M.A.T. A5 Omrah.

The ship sailed on 24th September 1914. By 26th September it was anchored off in Williamstown in Port Phillip, where it remained until 19th October, where the troops underwent both on-ship and land training.

They sailed to Albany WA, and then subsequently arrived at Port Said, Egypt, on the Mediterranean Sea, on 2nd December 1914. Troops disembarked and headed for Mena Camp at Cairo, where Alex and Robert Gillard were two of some sixty thousand Australian soldiers undertaking desert training.

Between February and March 1915, the 9th Battalion, under orders, moved from Mena Camp through Alexandria to the Island of Lemnos where they encamped until an order for Gallipoli was received on 8th April 1915.

Both brothers, 6 ft. 2 inches tall, 155 lbs., curly brown hair, brown eyes, were assigned to the 3rd Brigade, which embarked aboard the SS Malda for their next deployment.

Under the cover of darkness, the 3rd Brigade troops disembarked into lifeboats and were towed ashore at Kabatepe [Gaba Tepe].

From this point on fighting was heavy and losses were many as the Brigade fought to establish their position on the ground. During these attacks, the commanding officer recorded in the war diary that the Australians displayed great bravery and held on tenaciously.

Robert Gillard paid the ultimate sacrifice on that day, 25 April 1915. He was cut down by enemy fire. Alex was beside him. "No-ooooooo!"

He tried his best to save his brother, to no avail.

Alex Gillard was shot in the right shoulder and right knee during the process of at first dragging and subsequently carrying his brother away from the front lines.

He was admitted to the No. 1 Australian General Hospital at Heliopolis and subsequently transferred to the 2nd General Hospital at Mena... and by July 1915 he was able to rejoin his unit at Kabetepe.

During October 1915 Alex Gillard was transferred to 1st Auxiliary Hospital at Cairo for the treatment of bullet fragments in his left shoulder.

Soon after hospital discharge and rejoining his unit, in December 1915 Alex was transferred to 3rd Infantry Brigade Headquarters for officer training. Tel-el-Kebir was a training centre for Australian Troops as well as a large POW camp.

His stay in Egypt lasted until 28 March 1916, when he embarked aboard the Cunard Line's converted troopship HMT Saxonia for the voyage to Marseilles, to join the forces in France.

On 5 April 1916, Alex Gillard was promoted to Lance Corporal and by 29 May 1916 he was elevated to Corporal status.

In early June 1916, the 9th Battalion was in the Rue Pétillon sector, in the firing line, and being heavily bombarded by the enemy. This is where Alex Gillard earned his Military Medal for exemplary leadership above and beyond all expectations.

Recognition for this bravery was mentioned in the London Gazette on 27th October 1916 and in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 19th April 1917.

From April 1916 to May 1917, Alex remained in the battle lines, with only brief rest periods at Halifax Camp. During this time he was attached to the 1st Anzacs as an escort and promoted to Sergeant.

During May he was detached from the 9th Battalion and sent to Durrington Army Camp at Lark Hill in England and into the 3rd Infantry Training Battalion for intensive officer training.

Between October 1916 and February 1918, Sergeant Alex Gillard saw active service in France with the 9th Battalion.

He returned to England, where he boarded the troop carrier SS Kenilworth Castle on 12th March 1918 for the first leg of his return to his homeland. On 23 April 1918 in Durban, the returning soldiers transferred to the SS Field Marshall for the voyage to Fremantle, where they arrived on 22nd May 1918.

The Brisbane Courier on 17th May 1918 and The Queenslander 25th May 1918 noted Sergeant Alex Gillard as being among the soldiers returning home.

CHAPTER 2

Alex was formally discharged on 9th August 1918 and was on the railway station in Brisbane awaiting his train to Gympie when he heard the 11 November 1918 news of three German government representatives having accepted the Armistice terms presented to them by an allied commander of the French Army.

The children's playground rhyme was running through Alex's mind:

"I had a little bird

its name was Enza

I opened the window,

and in-flu-enza."

He'd experienced what the medics called a "three-day fever" while in northern France. He had suffered alternating chills and fever. He was listless and lacked energy. Also, his wounded right knee had never fully healed, and there was constant dull pain behind the kneecap that caused him angst when going up and down stairs.

He was unaware that the virus originally known as a "three-day fever" became the Spanish Flu pandemic.

But thoughts of illness were long gone when he was embraced by his Mum and five sisters on the Gympie railway station platform.

"Oh, it's such a blessing that you are home with us again. It's been too long. Let's get you home, son."

Home was a mixed grain and dairy farm at Glenwood, supplemented with leased acreage on Mount Kanigan.

Alex couldn't believe how his sisters had grown in 4 years. But his eyes caught their work-hardened hands and weather-beaten skin. They worked as farm labourers in the fields and repaired fences and mustered the hill country and milked the herd of dairy cows, fed the pigs, making repairs to both harness and saddles, maintained the fruit orchard and vegetable garden during the Great War.

His Mum had also changed. What had once been laughter lines were now deep wrinkles. Hilda Gillard appeared much older than her 50 years. She stood 5ft 6 inches tall, weighed approximately 155 lbs., with short brown hair and brown eyes.

"Your Dad's at home. He's so proud of you, Son. And your brother, David, is away at boarding school in Maryborough."

There was no mention of the absence of Robert Gillard. But he was never far from his older brother's mind.

Four years had taken their toll on James Gillard, 62 yrs., 6 ft. 3 inches, 168 lbs., with curly red hair and hazel eyes. He broke down and cried when he opened his arms to Alex.

He was never one to show his emotions. Hilda and the girls were also wiping unaccustomed tears and suddenly finding a reason to look away and see tasks that needed tending.

Alex Gillard, now aged 29, 6 ft. 2 inches tall, but now a gaunt at 135 lbs. and with a severe short brown hair-cut, quickly assimilated to life in Glenwood, shouldering more than his fair share of the workload, and making two trips with his sisters, Flora (25 yrs.) and Elsie (23 yrs.), to inspect the cattle grazing and fences on Mount Kanigan.

March 1919 was difficult when Alex suffered a relapse of the "three-day fever". He was suffering alternating chills and fever and severe fatigue. Hilda had come in with their mail and the Gympie newspapers and was shocked speechless when she saw the headline of a Spanish Flu pandemic in Australia.

She and her daughters crowded around the kitchen table to read:

"Starting in the crowded camps of the First World War, the Spanish Flu has killed thousands of people in the northern hemisphere before entering Sydney in January 1919. The Queensland Government has closed its borders and established quarantine camps along its southern boundary at Wallangarra and Coolangatta. In the southern states, the virus has defied all attempts to control it, including isolation, closure of public places, and inoculation."

"Whatever can we do?" wailed Hilda to her husband. "We lost our Robert, and I'm not going to lose our Alex. Not after all that he's been through for his country. We've got to fight this."

James Gillard assumed that he must harness up the sulky at first light in the morning and seek urgent medical attention for his son in Gympie.

"No Dear, No. There is a medical emergency. Hospitals are becoming quarantine stations. It's a one-way journey. The sick people are all dying. That newspaper said the numbers who are dead already. We might as well already have said goodbye to him forever if you take him to Gympie."

Hilda Gillard sat up all night, stoking the fire and drinking tea. By 4:00 am she nudged the two older sisters, Flora and Elsie, awake.

"Girls, here's food for your saddlebags. Get your horses in quickly and take a rifle and saw and axe and ride to the Kanigan cottage. Check it for snakes. Clean the place up, check the stove chimney for blockages, and get in a load of firewood and kindling. Check the water tank and clean the gutters. Leave the rifle and the tools there for me."

Bewildered but never questioning their mother's instructions, the girls were soon mobile. "Dears, your brother brought home that dreadful virus from France."

"It could kill him... and it might kill us too, if we catch it. I've made up face masks for everybody from socks. We've all got to get serious about protecting ourselves... we only have one life and one family and I'm going to take your brother up in the buggy and put him in isolation there for as long as it takes to make him better."

"Your father is going to thoroughly disinfect the house as soon as I leave, starting with Alex's room, and when you get back here, I want you to help him and your sisters to stay safe while I'm away helping your brother to get through this illness."

"But Mum..."

"No buts, girls. I am putting all my faith in the Lord above, and all that I've learned about healing from your Granny. Trust me. This is the only way."

"And girls... not a word about this to anyone. Understand? Nobody! This stays within our family. Please understand how serious this could be if anybody in Glenwood or Gympie heard a whisper that Alex has the deadly Spanish Flu. When anybody asks, you must say that your brother and I are visiting Granny at Point Vernon."

Hilda and James wore improvised face masks as they bundled a delirious Alex into the buggy. James had followed his wife's instructions to pack it with blankets, clothing, stores and medicines from the kitchen pantry and first-aid kit.

After a solemn "goodbye", Hilda clicked the horse up into a steady trot and prayed to the Lord above that she could make the journey up the mountain track safely and without encountering any neighbours.

Hilda heard her son muttering..."I had a little bird. Its name was Enza. I opened the window, and in-flu-enza."

James organized for a kerosene tin to be wired to a fence post for the gate into the mountain shack's horse paddock, through which the family communicated with their mother. Every second day the girls took turns in taking the short-cut up the jump-up to the mountain to look for smoke drifting up from the stove chimney, being a sure sign that Mum and Alex were both alright.

Hilda left instructions in the Kero tin for the girls to deliver fresh vegetables and bread and a bushel of horse feed and a writing tablet and pencils and binoculars and more kerosene and the latest newspaper, and mail from Granny.

Hilda used the binoculars daily to check for signs of her daughters visiting the mailbox, and for evidence of anybody else walking or riding towards her, being curious about the tell-tale sign of smoke rising from the chimney stack day after day. But she was blessed to be spared the problem of curious neighbours from Glenwood asking awkward questions.

Each of her daughters responded by writing short notes to their Mum and putting them into the improvised kerosene tin mailbox, updating her on news from home, and letting her know how much they were missing her and that they were all praying for Alex to recover.

Never had Hilda spent so much time on her knees in prayer for the life of her son to be spared.

Her prayers were answered... eventually.

In due course, as her son regained his strength, Hilda and Alex shared their innermost thoughts.

Alex recounted the events of Gallipoli. He gave her an edited version of his life on the frontline.

In return, his Mum shared about the struggles of maintaining the farm, the constant worry about having no news from her sons overseas... and the effect upon both her and James when they received the telegram about the death of Robert.

Alex pressed Hilda for news about David who still had eight more months away at boarding school and what had happened within the local community while he was away.

Miracles do happen. Alex Gillard responded to his Mum's herbal treatments and gruels. Almost four weeks later, Hilda and Alex had an emotional family reunion in their Glenwood farmhouse yard.

--00--

--00--

It was Friday, 25 April 1919, the fourth anniversary of the passing from his life on earth of Robert Gillard, 22 April 1892 - 25 April 1915 (23 years).

Hilda nodded to her husband and children: "Join hands, please, and let's bow our heads in prayer to thank our Lord above for his mercy upon this family. Let us also remember the life of our son and brother, Robert, who paid the ultimate sacrifice for his country."

"Robert shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary him, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning

we will remember him."

Hilda led her family to recite the Lord's Prayer. Amen.

Alex Gillard avoided any further illness issues.

And fortunately, in the coming weeks and months, nobody in the local community questioned his absence in Point Vernon.

Throughout 1919, the arrival of the Gympie and Mary River Mining Gazette at the Glenwood mailbox made the Gillard family even more aware of the pandemic sweeping the world, with an estimated 20 million deaths worldwide during 1919, and an accumulative estimate of 50 million for the duration of the pandemic.

Approximately 15,000 Australians died from the influenza pandemic in 1919, and with about 228,000 deaths in the UK and 675,000 occurring in the United States.

Schools were closed throughout Australia for much of 1919, and hospitals were overwhelmed, and emergency facilities were being commissioned to cope with demands.

Hardly did a day pass without Alex offering up a prayer of thanks for his being spared through the early intervention of his mother, Hilda.

Drought conditions prevailed throughout southeast Queensland during 1919, and Alex became aware of the impact of the Great War was compounded by a catastrophic drought which resulted in the failure of the 1914 wheat crop.

May through to October of 1914 remained the driest period on record throughout various areas of Australia. During that year, the wheat harvest was a mere quarter of what had been achieved in the previous year.

He was shocked to read in the Gympie newspaper that from a population of fewer than 5 million, of the 416,809 men who enlisted, 62,000 soldiers had died and 156,000 were deemed 'unfit for service'... either wounded, gassed or taken prisoner.

Alex knew from his first-hand experience there could be no happy-ever-after for those returning from the Great War. Many of these 156,000 inhabited a world of pain and suffering beyond comprehension: a world of quadriplegics, paraplegics, multiple amputations, wrecked lungs, mutilations, emasculation and blindness.

CHAPTER 3

James Gillard was just 18 when he arrived in Australia with his older brother Thomas on the migrant ship 'Ophelia' which docked in Brisbane on 29 April 1875.

Thomas Gillard, with a recently acquired science degree majoring in geology from the University College of London, aged 28 and single, boarded a coastal steamer with his brother James for Maryborough, from where they traveled 38 miles north by coach to Childers.

There, Thomas made multiple surveys of the region in search of alluvial precious metals, while James accepted work as a builder's laborour.

After three months, Thomas and James established a permanent campsite at what was to become the township of Cordalba. Upon finding alluvial gold after six weeks of searching, a site was pegged and Thomas took the coach to Maryborough to obtain a miner's right license and to register his claim.

Casual passers-by in Maryborough showed interest in the lanky red-haired young man stepping out from the government offices and then hurrying to the nearest providore merchant to purchase sieves and cradles/rockers and miners picks with hammerheads, and more.

Word-of-mouth traveled fast, and curious onlookers noted Thomas Gillard supervising the loading of his precious supplies on the coach for his return journey to Childers.

Four months later Thomas and James had extracted a sizeable quantity of alluvial gold from that claim before selling it for a handsome sum to a new chum prospector seeking to make his fortune.

History repeated itself for the Gillard brothers, who filed claims on three additional pegged and registered mine sites over the next two years, and then on-selling each claim.

Meanwhile, Thomas, then aged 41, courted and married Marguerite Jennings, 23, and they lived happily in wedded bliss for fifteen months until Marguerite fell pregnant from a dalliance with the state government's district mining warden.

At about this same time James, then aged 31, courted and married Hilda Stafford, 19, eldest of six children, for whom a sizeable dowry was welcomed by a recently widowed Mavis Stafford, whose husband had lost his life while clearing timber on their 40-acre farm.

Thomas filed for divorce in the Maryborough court and wanted nothing more than to leave the district and put his failed marriage behind him.

Soon enough he was scouting the Gympie hinterland and settled on two adjoining blocks of developed farmland, each of 960 acres with a house and multiple outbuildings, being offered for sale by a widow whose husband had died of snakebite.

Thomas Gillard returned to Cordalba and convinced James and Hilda to sell up and join him at the Glenwood property, over which he had staked and registered a mining claim and taken out a new miner's right for this local government jurisdiction.

Sadly, a second marriage for Thomas ended in divorce, the proceedings for which brought to light that he was infertile. The man who only wanted what his younger brother had, with a loving wife and at that stage three healthy children, was to remain single and childless thereinafter.

Thomas Gillard became a recluse. He did not shave. He let his hair grow. It was agreed that James could farm and enjoy the revenue from the entire 1,920 acres and that his interest from here on in was fossicking for alluvial gold throughout the hinterland region.

Twice a year, he would borrow his brother's sulky and pony and travel alone to Gympie.

Thomas would carry his heavy suitcase of alluvial gold bound by sturdy leather straps first to the barbershop for a shave and haircut before going to the bank to have his precious minerals weighed and the cash value deposited into his bank account. From there he'd order a meal at his favourite café in Mary Street, before doing some shopping for replacement clothing and mining tools.