1
2/R. I. Rifles B.E.F. France 24/6/1916 Dear Fr Provincial P.C. Many thanks
for your kind letter of
congratulation. I am glad
to hear such good accounts
of the other chaplains. What
Fr Browne says about
himself is still true about
me. Please renumber us
specially in your Mass
these days. I am much
better than when I was on
leave. The week helped me
2
to pick up. I do hope things
in Ireland will soon settle
down. I think everyone must
admit no matter what their
sympathies that 'England'
has asked for trouble. The
thing which annoys me is the
suggestion that we out here are
unpatriotic. I fear this is a
dull letter but there is nothing
to tell you, even if we were free
to do so again thanking you
for your kind letter. Believe me dear Fr Provincial
Your very sincerely yours in Xt H.V. Gill S.J.
Letter from Fr Henry Gill SJ (1872-1945), Irish Jesuit Chaplain, to Father Provincial
Thomas V Nolan SJ (1867-1941). Fr Gill writes a letter of appreciation to Fr Provincial
Nolan, thanking him for keeping him updated about the goings on of other Jesuits.
He hopes that things will calm down in Ireland soon, expressing distaste that some
consider Irish men in the British army to be unpatriotic. The son of H.J. Gill, head
of the publishing firm, M. H. Gill & Son, Henry was educated at Clongowes Wood
College and University College Dublin. He possessed an acumen for mathematics and
science and studied in Louvain and under Professor J.J. Thompson, Cavendish Laboratories,
Cambridge (1906 - 1908). Fr. Gill had a special interest in seismography: 'Experiments
with Spinning Tops to illustrate earthquake reactions' was the title of a lecture
given by Henry Gill at the Cavendish Laboratory, 16 June 1908. It is recorded that
the hardship of four years as a chaplain in WWI, had a lasting effect on Fr. Gill.
Fr. Henry Gill SJ was awarded the Military Cross and the Distinguished Service Order
with the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles.