7 - Grieving Mothers

Summary

‘Tis hard not to fret for our dear ones and we wonder why we are picked out for such sorrow. I often go to see Mrs Cole…He was her only child. We have made friends with one another, through our maternal sorrow and try to help one another …

Lieutenant George Gill was killed while serving in the 2/48th Battalion in 1942. Gill's mother was shattered when she received the telegram which announced his death. Her initial outcry was a response of shock and raw emotion. She wrote to her daughter describing her anguish:

I was alone at the time and almost dressed to go into town. The cable came and as usual I hunted for my glasses, asking myself ‘is it joy or sorrow’, decided it was joy … Can you imagine the shock? We regret and inform you etc … I've had just one line of callers and so far about 50 letters and many telegrams … Everybody tells me how brave I am – Ede Mitchell expected to find me prostrated. I told her a brave son must have a brave mother; but darling more than half my waking hours I can't believe it … I'm heart broken and the dreadful ‘never again’ is more than I can bear. I feel that half my world has gone. I shouldn't say it I know, but no son could have been loved more. No need to tell you my feelings. I fear you are broken hearted too, and we are so helpless, can do nothing … Everybody [has been] most kind, but nothing can bring him back. […]