Charles Leo Gillen

Rank:

Corporal

Regimental number:

276

Unit at enlistment:

Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry

Force:

C.E.F.

Volunteered or conscripted:

Volunteered

Survived the war:

Wounded:

Yes

Date of death:

July 16th, 1916

Cemetery:

Railway Dugouts Burial Ground - Ypres, Belgium - VI.B.12.

Birth country:

Canada

Birth county:

Brant

Birth city:

Brantford, Ontario

Address at enlistment:

Toronto, Ontario

Next of kin address:

Echo Place P.O., Brantford, Ontario

Trade or calling:

Constable

Employer:

Toronto Police Department

Religious denominations:

Roman Catholic

Marital status:

Single

Age at enlistment:

Image gallery:

Letters and documents

Circumstances of Casualty: Killed in Action.
Location of Unit at Time of Casualty: Trenches at Mount Sorrel.

BX July 26, 1916

Corporal Charles Gillen, Echo Place Killed in Action on July 16 – Was One of Few Remaining of Princess Pat’s – Born in Brantford; He Was a Member of Toronto Police Force

Corporal Charles Leo Gillen, of Echo Place, is the latest Brantford man to give up his life on the blood-soaked fields of Northern France. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Gillen, Echo Place, received the official news from Ottawa yesterday that their son had been killed in action on July 16. No details were given as to how he had met his death.

Corporal Gillen was 23 years of age. He was born in this city, and spent most of his life here. At the time that the war broke out he was a member of the Toronto police force from which he resigned to enlist in the Princess Pats, and was one of the few original members of that regiment yet left. He had been through almost all the heavy fighting in which this crack Canadian regiment had been and although he had had many narrow escapes, he had been very fortunate, not receiving a wound up to July 16, when he met his death.

Two brothers, Reginald, Norman and Wilfred, the latter of the 125th, and William with the devoted parents mourn the loss of one who in the prime of his life, gave it up for his country.

BX July 1, 1915

Win Without Using Gas – Brantford Soldier With Princess Pats

Mr. and Mrs. William Gillen, Echo Place have received a letter from their son, Charles, who went to the front with the Princess Pats. As a member of Canada’s crack regiment, Charlie was one of the first Brantford men to enter the firing line against the Germans. When the war broke out he was a member of the Toronto police force, and when the Patricia’s were organized at Ottawa he offered his services, and they were accepted. He has been very lucky so far, although he was nearly buried alive in one of the trenches last February, while under heavy shell fire. He was in hospital for a time, but he soon recovered and returned to the front. The letter follows:

June 3, 1915
France

Dear Parents,

Just a few lines to let you know I am well and feeling fine. I received a letter from you last night that was written on April 13. We are not with the Canadian contingent. We are attached to the 27th Division of the British regulars, so we don’t see anything of the Canadians at all. Things are much better here now than they were in the winter time. The ground has all dried up.

There is lots of hard fighting to do, but we don’t mind that as long as the weather is fine and the ground is hard. The Germans are using poison gas on us and it is pretty hard to stand. We have to keep a wet cloth over our mouths and noses when we are in the trenches, but it gets into our eyes and nearly blinds us. We could use that stuff, too, if we wanted to, but I think we can lick them without resorting to such methods. The Germans do not seem to have as good a class of men here as they did on the start, although some of them are very brave. There are others who, when we get anywhere near them with the bayonet will run and squeal like good fellows. We were back to the rear today for a rest, but we expect to go into action again tonight, so I thought I would scribble you a few lines before I went. There is a big fight on up at the firing line. We can hardly hear ourselves speak for the thunder of the guns. We have been giving it to the Germans hard these last few days and they seem to be getting weak along this front. One would think the war would not last much longer from the looks of things here, but of course, we don’t know what is going on at other parts of the line, but it can’t last forever the way it is going now. The Patricia’s have lost a lot of men in killed and wounded since we came over here last December, but we keep getting more all the time, and the boys are still able to give a good account of themselves at every opportunity. Well dear parents, I must close now, remember me to all and write soon.

Hope this will find you well,

Charlie

My address at present is:

No. 276 – Pte. Charles Gillen,
Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry,
Machine Gun Detachment,
British Forces in France

BX January 26, 1915

Injured with Princess Pats – Former Constable Gillen of This City is Now Reported to be Among Wounded

Word has been received from London, England that Constable Charles Leo Gillen, of 192 Harvie Avenue, Toronto a member of the Toronto Police Force sustained an internal injury while engaged in close range fighting in France.

Constable Gillen is a former Brantfordite, having at one time been a member of Capt. Hicks’ company in the Dufferin Rifles. He left this city some three years ago to join the Toronto Police Force, with which he was identified until the outbreak of the war, when he joined the Princess Patricia’s Regiment, going with them to the front. Before he left Toronto, however, he came to Brantford to visit Capt. Hicks.