80 Obituary Notices. . ' [.st^'juiy 



The late Gunner M. C. Thompson, R.A.O.U. 



General and sincere regret will be felt by all members of the 

 R.A.O.U. at the loss of a young and promising naturalist, Maurice 

 Charles Thompson, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Thompson, of 

 " Pambula," Moreland. Gunner Thompson fell in France on 

 29th April last, and, as heroes do, facing the foe on the Lys River, 

 where the British, fighting hard, thrust the horrible Huns back 

 apace. 



The late gallant gunner, who was formerly in the Auditor of 

 Receipts Office, Victorian Railways, was only 25 years of age, was 

 born at Ascot Vale (Vic), and was educated at the Moreland State 

 school. He enlisted July, 1915, and was in the thick of the fighting 

 for over two years in France. He will be remembered amongst 

 members for his well-nigh faultless and lovable disposition. As 

 a bird-lover and in the field he lived near to Nature's own great 

 heart, and consequently was a keen observer. On service he 

 was very fond of reading The Emu, and, when digested, he always 

 returned his copy home for safe keeping. The following extract 

 of stern duty and bird-observing is taken from a letter of Gunner 

 Thompson's, written to a fellow-member, Mr. A. C. Stone, under 

 date France, 24/4/17 : — 



" We had some interesting though strenuous times lately following 

 Fritz through and far beyond Bapaume. The most exciting time 

 (which has since been well described in the papers) was one morning, 

 when I had an unpleasant awakening. Just before dawn a chap 

 came running past our dug-outs with the pleasant news that Fritz 

 was advancing in force just over the rise. We were soon told to 

 retire to the next village, as our infantry was falling back. The 

 breech-blocks. &c., were removed from the guns, as the latter could 

 not be used under the circumstances. ^Machine gun and rifle bullets 

 were pretty thick, and the shells were falling in the fields, but not so 

 thickly. At first I thought I would soon be mending Fritz's roads. 

 It was something new for us. Finally, as you now know, Fritz got 

 a terrible mauling. 



" The weather to-day is glorious. What a wonderful ditference it 

 makes to us ! It is good to be alive. The Larks are singing beauti- 

 fully, and to-day I saw the first Swallow this season. The Magpies 

 {Pica pica) are building in a small wood not many miles from here. 

 I saw about one hundred of these birds one evening. The Partridges 

 are going about in pairs now. There are a fair number of what I take 

 to be Linnets, and a few tiny Hawks which somewhat resemble our 

 Kestrel in habits. The only other 'birds' that are at all common 

 hereabouts are aeroplanes, of many different species. It must be 

 the ' mating season ' for them too, as I often see them fighting 

 fiercely." 



