The AIF Project

Leon GELLERT

Date of birth1892
Other details

War service: Egypt, Gallipoli

Suffered from severe bouts of typhoid, dysentery and shell-shock. Invalided to Australia in 1916. While at Gallipoli he began writing poems on scraps of cigarette paper which he sent to his sisters in Adelaide. Later, 56 of these were published as 'Songs of a Campaign'. M.H. Green, the premier literary critic of the time, later hailed these as the work of 'the only Australian poet whose work can be compared with that of the leading English soldier poets of the first World War.'

Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal

Date of death1977
Age at death79
SourcesGavin Souter, 'A Torrent of Words: Leon Gellert - A Writer's Life' (Canberra: Brindabella Press, 1996)

Print format    


© The AIF Project 2024, UNSW Canberra. Not to be reproduced without permission.