Granddaughter’s win sees a return to Gallipoli
Cambridge accountant Marie Beech is another local who never thought she would win a spot to go to the Gallipoli Peninsula where her grandfather fought.
Marie’s grandfather, Thomas La Trobe Hill, enlisted in August 1914 aged 22 and left from Cambridge for a training camp at Epsom before setting sail for Egypt in October 1914.
‘‘He had passed his first papers to be a chemist; he was a dispenser,’’ Marie said.
‘‘He was attached to the Auckland Regiment as the dispenser, under Surgeon Major Craig. According to his diary, he landed at Gallipoli at 10am on April 25, 1915.’’
Thomas – or Tom – kept a diary throughout and appears to have remained in reasonable health until July when he was wounded. His diary said he was hit on the back of the neck by an unexploding bomb. Several other injuries followed and he was taken off the peninsula to recover then returned to the battlefields. The last time he was sent back to Gallipoli was the end of August, after which he was invalided out and almost died of pneumonia. He returned to New Zealand in March 1916.
Marie said her grandfather never completed his pharmacy studies but took up farming instead after being awarded a balloted farm at Hora Hora.
The existence of his diaries remained unknown until she delved into some family genealogy and unearthed them.
‘‘We were always told never to talk to grandpa about his experiences in the war,’’ she said.
He lived to a ripe old age and is buried at Hautapu Cemetery.
Marie first went to Gallipoli in 2003, and said she feels fortunate to be able to return in such an auspicious year.