Silas, Ellis (Signaller, b.1885 - d.1972)

Collection relating to the service of 634 Signaller Ellis Silas, 16 Battalion, AIF, Western Australia, At sea, Egypt, Gallipoli, 1914-1915.

Wallet 1 of 1 - consists of two folders.

Folder 1 contains a photostat copy of a typescript revision of a diary kept by Signaller Silas from August 1914 to June 1915. The diary is notable for its first-hand account of the 16th Battalion's actions in the Pope's Hill area from the evening of 25 April through to 13 May, 1915. (The 16th Battalion dug the original trenches at Pope's Hill on the evening of the Landing at Anzac, 25 April. Pope's Hill is in the Quinn's Post Area, Gallipoli.)

Folder 2 contains seven documents relating to Silas and his book of drawings.
1 x letter signed by Ian Hamilton, dated 28 April 1916 [unaddressed]
1 x introduction to book of drawings by Signaller Ellis Silas signed by General William Birdwood, dated 1 May 1916
1 x letter to Captain Collins from Buckingham Palace regarding Signaller Ellis Silas' visit signed by the Master of the Household, dated 19 May 1916
1 x five page handwritten account of Ellis Silas' visit to Buckingham Palace, dated 20 May 1916
1 x letter addressed to Madame Silas from E Margolin, Commanding Officer 4th Infantry Brigade, daed 6 June 1916
1 x letter to Silas from General William Birdwood regarding good reviews of book
1 x certificate of discharge from Australian Imperil Expeditionary Force, dated 14 October 1916

The diary of Ellis Silas reveals him to have been a well-educated, cultured man - a self-confessed "snob", in fact - who was well aware that he was temperamentally unsuited to military life. Having failed in his bid to enlist in the Australian Army Medical Corps, Silas persisted in his ambition to join the AIF, writing that "I do not feel that I can ask other men to do more than I would do myself." Silas landed on Gallipoli in the evening of 25 April with the 16th Battalion and for the next month, while performing his duties as a signaller, he witnessed the terrible carnage at Pope's Hill and Quinn's Post. (In the first weeks on Gallipoli, the 16th Battalion was reduced to two companies). By 17 May, Silas had become seriously ill and was taken by hospital ship back to Egypt, where he was treated at 1 Australian General Hospital. From Egypt, he was transferred to England and in August 1916, was discharged from the AIF as being permanently unfit for active service.

Signaller Ellis Silas was the only artist to paint and sketch actual battle scenes showing Australian soldiers in action at Gallipoli. He was commissioned in 1919 by the Australian War Records Section to paint images of Gallipoli at the initiative of C. E. W. Bean who wanted ex-servicemen to paint from their experiences.