Erroll Pilkington Gillespie
Erroll Pilkington Gillespie was from a well-to-do Victoria family and eventually became the son-in-law of William Oliver, a prominent Victoria lawyer. Before he married he spent a year and a half in the Army, trying to get to France to “do his bit”.
He was accepted for training as a machine gunner at the Canadian Machine Gun Depot in Seaford, Sussex, in the spring of 1918, but was not sent to France until September of 1918. The files also include a few letters from his brothers Ronald and Sholto, who were also soldiers.
The letters paint a good picture of a Canadian soldier's life in training camp and on active service in Europe. Erroll came home safely in 1919, and went on to a career in finance with the provincial government. He died in 1988 at the age of 94.
Find these records in the BC Archives
MS-2685 William Edgar Oliver fonds, Box 17, Files 2, 3 and 4, 1915-1917.
Letters from from Erroll Pilkington Gillespie to his family.