I<f Welcome Home Dinner to A.I.F. Members. [,.''"0- 



lie hoped to contribute to The Emu some notes on the birds 

 observed while on active service. 



Mr. Harrj- B. Slaney said : — " Having listened to the anecdotes 

 and remarks of the previous distinguished speakers, the necessity 

 for a speech on my part makes me plead conscientious objections." 



Major H. W. Wilson, O.B.E., M.C., who responded on behalf of 

 scientists at the war, said, like many other scientific men with no 

 previous military experience, he enhsted as a private in March, 

 1915, and sailed in July as a corporal. While crossing the Indian 

 Ocean he was made a sergeant ; but on joining up with his unit, 

 the 6th Battahon, at Lemnos, became a full private. A few days 

 later he became a lance-corporal. At Anzac he was a corporal. 

 After the evacuation his unit went into the desert on the Suez 

 Canal defence line. A few weeks later he was transferred to the 

 58th Battahon in the newly-formed 5th Australian Division as 

 platoon sergeant. The training and endurance of the men were 

 severely tested in the march from Tel-el-Kebir to Ferry Post, but 

 Sergeant Wilson and his men came through the ordeal well. His 

 unit again went into the desert to man the canal defences. Bird- 

 life was very scarce, but what plant-life endured was exceedingh- 

 interesting. Spiders, lizards, and insects (especially beetles) 

 were numerous, and wonderfullv adapted to their desert life. 

 In June, 1916, his unit was ordered to France. A few days after 

 arriving in France he was chosen, on account of his technical 

 knowledge, for the Second Arm}^ Gas School, to learn the prin- 

 ciples and practice of gas warfare. A few weeks later he received 

 his commission, and was made Gas Officer of the 5th Australian 

 Division. In 1916, when the onh" protection from gas was the 

 P.H. helmet, the work of a gas officer was light : but when the con- 

 centrations of gas sent over began to be too strong for the helmet 

 to give protection, and the small box-respirator was introduced, 

 the work of gas officers became much more arduous and important. 

 When Corps Chemical Advisers were established, at the beginning 

 of 1917, Lieut. Wilson was appointed Chemical Adviser of the 

 ist Anzac Corps (Australian Corps), and later in the year was 

 promoted Captain. In June, 1918, when General Sir W. R. 

 Birdwood took charge of the Fifth Army, Capt. \\'ilson was 

 appointed Chemical Adviser on Fifth Army Headquarters Staff, 

 and promoted to the rank of INIajor. After the armistice Major 

 ^^'ilson organized an agricultural chemistry school in the Institute 

 of Chemistry, Lille, and assisted in organizing another at Roubaix. 

 He acted as Commandant of the A.I.F. party at a teachers' con- 

 ference for oversea soldier teachers, held in London under the 

 auspices of the League of Empire in February, and shortly after 

 i-mbarked for Australia. He was mentioned in despatches for 

 work with the Fifth Division on the Somme in 1916-17 ; was 

 awarded the Military Cross, 3rd June, 1918, for work with the 

 Australian Corps on the Somme and at Passchendaele ; awarded 

 the O.B.E. (mihtary division), 3rd June, 1919, for work on the 

 Somme with Australian Corps and the Fifth Army. 



