[su_quote cite=”North West Echo, 8th January 1916″]Letter from H. Hilliard: Private Harry Hilliard, who was admitted to the First Australian General Hospital on Dec, 15, suffering from defective vision, recently wrote to his mother in Broome : — ‘ I am not having the best of times — living on tinned dog and hard biscuits, and it is snowing in the trenches, where I am alongside John, who is well, as is also Arthur. When the Howe company landed there were about half of them shot down. It is a terrible sight — dead men all over the place. It is a wonderful place, and I have had all the experience that I wanted and won’t go looking for any more. [His excuse to his mother for enlisting was that he wanted experience !] It is ‘ lovely?’ in the trenches with bombs and shells flying about. . . The night we landed we all slept in holes in the hills, just like a lot of lizards. The lice and flies nearly eat us. This is the place to come for experience.'[/su_quote]

[su_quote cite=”North West Echo, 11th March 1916″]Harry Hilliard wrote to his sister on Dec. 28.— lam back in Egypt, in No. 1 general hospital. I have been wounded in the foot, and a piece of a bomb hit me in the eye; I have lost the sight of my right eye. I have been back from the front two weeks today, and am just about right again. . Charlie Banfield and Bruce McDonald are here with me. I haven’t had enough yet. The doctor wanted to send me home, but I told him, I didn’t want to go as I hadn’t been here long enough to be sent back. I haven’t had a letter since I left W.A. I went down to the beach and carried the mail about a mile thinking there might be some for me but there, wasn’t a bloomin thing. Poor Loton Annear was shot about three days before we left ; he had been recommended for the V.C. for some brave act.[/su_quote]