GUNNER FRANCIS JOSEPH GELL
AUSTRALIAN HEAVY ARTILLERY
4TH OCTOBER 1917 AGE 23
BURIED: YPRES RESERVOIR CEMETERY, BELGIUM
Who else 'gave' their son? It was God:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Without any intended blasphemy, many parents believed that their sons had made a similar sacrifice to God's son - their sons too had died to save the world. It was an idea confirmed in that wonderful old Remembrance Day hymn, 'O Valiant hearts':
These were His servants, in His steps they trod,
Following through death the martyred Son of God:
Victor, He Rose; victorious too shall rise
They who have drunk His cup of sacrifice.
And this is why although Mr and Mrs Gell's hearts were aching they could feel proud; they too had 'given' their son in a noble cause.
Francis Gell was a sign writer and printer from Geelong in Victoria. He enlisted in December 1915 and left Australia for Europe in April 1916. He served with the 55th Battery of the Australian 36th Heavy Artillery Brigade, which had just taken delivery of its brand-new 9.2-inch howitzers. These were the seriously big guns. They had a working crew of fourteen and could fire their 132 kilogram shells almost 10 kilometres. Normally well behind the lines, the guns were occasionally moved forward, when they became very vulnerable should the German guns get their range. This is what happened the day Gell was killed, the opening day of the Battle of Broodseinde.
Gell's mother appealed to the Australian Red Cross Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau for information. All the witnesses were agreed that the gun had received a direct hit, some were specific about the casualties - fourteen killed and seventeen wounded. The witnesses were again united about Gell's fate, but less so about the details: "I saw him afterwards; he was just recognisable"; "There were several bodies unrecognisable, and Gell was amongst them".