Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Saturday 31 July 1915, page 17


Wilding Foresaw Death.

"A Sporting Chance."

Several officers, who were at Lavinque, in Northern France, on the day early in May, when Anthony Wilding, the famous New Zealand lawn tennis player, was killed, have arrived in London on furlough.

Speaking of his death, they say that Wilding was in charge of a three-pounder gun that day. He directed the firing from early in the morning until the middle of the afternoon, when he entered a dug-out for a rest. An hour later a ''Jack Johnson" (heavy howitzer) shell struck the dug-out, and Wilding was buried alive, under the debris.

More than ordinary interest attaches to Wilding's last letter, written on the day of his death. In the passage which fol-lows it is made quite clear that he fully realised the extreme danger of the task with which he had been entrusted. He wrote:

"For the first time in seven and a half months I have a job which is likely to end in my gun, myself, and the whole outfit being blown to hell at any moment. However, there is a sporting chance. If we succeed, it will help our infantry no

end." '

An official report spoke very highly of the work done by Wilding as a soldier. ""