EULOGY 26 - 1892-1918 - A Salute to Bert & Frank Collis
"JUST 1 of 5,301 THAT TIME" The Battle of Menin Road Ridge [1] took 5 days from 20 th to 25 th September 1917. Private Albert Edward (Bert) Collis [2] was shot in his legs the first day. They got him out and up to the 3 rd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station where he died the next day. Bert was 0ne month shy of his 22 nd birthday. Bert was now a notable number – 1 of 5,301 Allied “ casualties ” in that battle. Bert had been born in the black hills, up near Brighton, Tasmania. All four of his great grandparents had been Convicts. The two generations between had worked hard to make the “Blackbrush Farm” a goer. But Bert was the 6 th of 9 children – too many for the Farm to support. He was also just 19 years when THEY declared World War I – perfect timing to snap up farm labourers in their late teens. Bert followed his 2-years older brother, Frank [3] , into the Infantry. ...