[Editor: This article, regarding a memorial service for Lieutenant Malcolm Chisholm, during World War One (1914-1918), was published in The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, NSW), 15 March 1915.]
Late Lieutenant Chisholm.
Memorial service.
A memorial service was held at St. Stephen’s Church, Phillip-street, city, on Sunday morning, in memory of the late Lieutenant Malcolm William Chisholm, son of Dr. William Chisholm, formerly of Macquarie-street, who died of his wounds at Ligny on August 26 last.
The service was conducted by the Rev. John Ferguson, and among those present were Sir Anderson Stuart, Professor Watt, Dr. Bell, Mr. James Mitchell (Inspector-General of Police), Messrs. Hector Kidd, H. Adamson, and J. M. Pringle. Major Murray represented the District Commandant, and was accompanied by Colonel Jobson, 34th Infantry, and many other officers of deceased’s old regiment, the 25th Infantry (Scottish Rifles), and 3rd Battalion Senior Cadets. A company of the former regiment, with the band, also attended.
The Rev. J. Ferguson said that deceased, whose family when in Sydney had been members of St. Stephen’s Church for many years past, was a lieutenant in the East Lancashire Regiment (the old 30th of the Line). When the recent catastrophic war broke out, the regiment was ordered to the front. He left home on Friday, August 21, on which day his regiment moved to Southampton. On Saturday it reached Havre, on Tuesday morning it was entrained for Le Cateau, the battle front, where it arrived at 6 in the evening, and bivouacked in a farmyard. On Wednesday they rose early, and were in action by 4 a.m. Lieutenant Chisholm was in the thick of the fray till 3 o’clock in the afternoon, when he fell mortally wounded by a splinter of shrapnel.
One of Lieutenant Chisholm’s closest chums told him, continued Mr. Ferguson, that during the engagement the enemy came sweeping upon the East Lancashires in an overwhelming flood. There were no trenches or cover, and the regiment had to retire fighting every inch of the way.
Another officer, writing to Dr. Chisholm, stated that he came along with the rearguard, and on his way passed Lieutenant Chisholm lying in a cornfield. Though the lieutenant begged to be left where he fell, a stretcher was made of rifles and a great coat, and the wounded officer was carried to a hospital at Ligny. This the Germans promptly captured, so that it was not until two months later that the anxious-minded parents obtained any news of their son.
Lieutenant Chisholm was the first Australian officer to fall in the war, and was buried by the Roman Catholic priest in the parish church at Ligny.
Mr. Ferguson said that Lieutenant Chisholm’s last words on the field to his N.C.O. and men were:— “They’ve done for me all right, but don’t bother about me. Let my people know that I died fighting like a soldier.”
Source:
The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, NSW), 15 March 1915, p. 9 (Late Edition)
Editor’s notes:
bivouac = to set up a temporary casual encampment for the night, with little or no shelter (usually without setting up tents)
bivouacked = past tense of bivouac [see: bivouac]
commune = (in France) a local administrative division or municipality with an elected council
See: “Communes of France”, Wikipedia
Dr. = an abbreviation of “Doctor” (plural: Drs.)
great coat = a long thick overcoat, especially worn by military personnel (also spelt: great-coat, greatcoat)
Havre = [see: Le Havre]
last = (in a context where a month has already been given) last year
Le Cateau = Le Cateau-Cambrésis, a commune (a local administrative division or municipality) in northern France
See: “Le Cateau-Cambrésis”, Wikipedia
Le Havre = a port city on the northern coast of France
See: “Le Havre”, Wikipedia
Ligny = a village in Belgium
See: “Ligny”, Wikipedia
Messrs. = an abbreviation of “messieurs” (French), being the plural of “monsieur”; used in English as the plural of “Mister” (which is abbreviated as “Mr.”); the title is used in English prior to the names of two or more men (often used regarding a company, e.g. “the firm of Messrs. Bagot, Shakes, & Lewis”, “the firm of Messrs. Hogue, Davidson, & Co.”)
N.C.O. = Non-Commissioned Officer (e.g. Sergeant, Corporal, Lance Corporal)
Rev. = an abbreviation of “Reverend” (a title given to a minister of a church, a priest, a member of the clergy)
Southampton = a port city in Hampshire (England)
See: “Southampton”, Wikipedia
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
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