[Editor: This article, regarding a memorial service for Lieutenant Malcolm Chisholm, during World War One (1914-1918), was published in The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW), 15 March 1915.]
“Like a soldier.”
Australian officer’s gallant death.
A tribute was paid to the memory of Lieutenant Malcolm W. Chisholm, of the East Lancashire Regiment, who fell in battle near Ligny on August 26, by Rev. John Ferguson, preaching to a large congregation in St. Stephen’s Presbyterian Church yesterday morning.
“The spirit of Malcolm William Chisholm,” said Mr. Ferguson, “was in lively sympathy with the spirit of his master. We all know and remember with tender respect the family to which he belongs, and how familiar the presence of all its members was in this church. When the boys left us for England, Malcolm went to pursue his studies with a view to a military career, and Colin — now a lieutenant in the 9th Lancers — to take his University course at Cambridge. Malcolm was eminently successful in his studies, and in due course secured a commission as lieutenant in the East Lancashire Regiment — the old 30th of the line. He carried with him into his army life all the advantages of the discipline of a loving Christian home and of a good school.
“He left for the front on Friday, August 21, and was in action at 4 a.m. on the following Wednesday.
“Lieutenant Chisholm was in the thick of the fray till 3 in the afternoon, when he fell, mortally wounded by a splinter of shrapnel. Malcolm’s close chum and fellow-officer told me,” said Mr. Ferguson, “that the enemy came sweeping upon them in overwhelming numbers, ‘like ants swarming over an ant-hill,’ was the figure he used. There were no trenches, no shelter. The regiment had to retire fighting every inch of the way.
“Major Green wrote:— ‘Lieutenant Chisholm’s untimely death was a great loss to me personally and to the “D” Company it was even worse. He was most popular with all ranks, and deservedly so, as he was so cheery and full of spirits, so keen on the men’s comfort and welfare, and, above all, such a thorough soldier. During all that Wednesday he was coolness personified, and directed his men in the way I knew he would — perfectly.’
“The chum, with whom I had some conversation, said Lieutenant Chisholm was very badly hit. He said to the men near him: ‘They’ve done for me all right. Don’t bother about me. Let my people know that I died fighting like a soldier.’ Colonel Burgh, writing to this same chum, said: ‘For your friend the old question comes, and there is the old answer, “Is it well with the child? — It is well.”’
“And so it was,” concluded the preacher, “for our — Australia’s — brave soldier son. He was, I am confident, the first Australian-born officer to fall. Let us be thankful to God for such a type of ideal soldiership, and pray that all the sons of our Commonwealth who go forth from us to toil, and fight, and die for our King and Empire, for honor and for spiritual and material freedom, may have the clean and brave, loyal Christian spirit within them.”
Source:
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW), 15 March 1915, p. 8 (Third Edition)
Also published in:
The Glen Innes Examiner (Glen Innes, NSW), 18 March 1915, p. 3
The Western Star and Roma Advertiser (Roma, Qld.), 27 March 1915, p. 7
Editor’s notes:
9th Lancers = a cavalry regiment of the British Army
See: “9th Queen’s Royal Lancers”, Wikipedia
chum = friend (especially a close friend), pal, buddy
East Lancashire Regiment = an infantry regiment of the British Army
See: “East Lancashire Regiment”, Wikipedia
Ligny = a village in Belgium
See: “Ligny”, Wikipedia
master = in a religious context, a reference to Jesus Christ or God (in a religious context, the word is usually capitalized: Master)
Rev. = an abbreviation of “Reverend” (a title given to a minister of a church, a priest, a member of the clergy)
[Editor: Changed “same chum, said :” to “same chum, said:” (moved the colon to directly after the word “said”).]
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