Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 15 Service: Captain Rev. Michael Gillis Captain Rev. Michael Gillis enlisted as chaplain on April 1, 1916 being first stationed with the 185th Battalion, Canadian Infantry, at Broughton Camp, C.B., and Aldershot Camp, NS. He sailed for overseas with the same battalion and arrived in England on October 13, 1916, where he was appointed chaplain to the Nova Scotia Highland Brigade at Witley Camp. He crossed to France on April 9, 1917, where for three months he was stationed with the Lahore Artillery (Imperial), at that time supporting the 4th Canadian Division in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. When the 4th Canadian Division Artillery was formed, he transferred to that unit and remained there until his return to England in June 1918. In England, he was stationed at Seaford Camp, until his return to Canada in the spring of 1919. Diary Account: Captain Rev. Michael Gillis The next Antigonish Chaplain to reach the Canadian Corps was Father Michael Gillis. He came overseas with a Highland Brigade in October 1916. It was the fate of this Brigade, as of most other units which came from Canada at that time, to be broken up for reinforcements. Father Gillis got to the Canadian Corps as the chaplain of the Fourth Division Artillery. He gave fourteen months faithful service to the Corps and went through all the heavy fighting of 1917 – Vimy, Hill 70 (Loos), and Passchendaele. A Catholic Senior Chaplain being required at Seaford Camp, Father Gillis was called there in June 1918. He organized a splendid Catholic Army Hut in Seaford. As Father Tompkins was the spiritual supervisor of the C.A.H. at Cooden, in the winter of 1918 to 1919, and Father MacGillivary of the C.A.H. Hut in Witley, in 1919, Antigonish priests were not behind in the drudgery of hut work. Indeed all five worked at rigging up and running huts, big or small, when circumstances permitted. Service: Captain Rev. Ronald MacDonald Captain Rev. Ronald MacDonald enlisted in October 1915. He was first stationed as chaplain at Aldershot Camp, Nova Scotia, where he built a large combination recreation hut and chapel – prior to the C.A.H. movement. He sailed with Nova Scotia Highland Brigade, arriving in England October 13, 1916. From then until early in 1919, Father MacDonald labored as chaplain to various units of Canadian soldiers. Among others were the 85th Battalion, the 7th Reserve Battalion, the 13th Infantry Brigade, the 15th Infantry Brigade, the 185th Battalion, the 3rd Canadian General Hospital, the 1st Canadian General Hospital and the 16th Canadian General Hospital. He was with No. 9 Stationary Hospital at Etaples, when it was severely bombed by German planes. In the spring of 1919, he arrived home via Panama and Vancouver. continued....
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