Here is Sid with "Frankie", Frances Harriet Killam

This man, born in 1901, was my grandfather.  He was born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, and received his medical training in Canada and Portugal.  He was a Member of the Order of the British Empire and recipient of many honorary degrees and awards in addition to his professional designations.  He served at a county health unit in Alabama and with the Canadian Medical Corps in Europe during World War II, but his main life-long vocational devotion was his career as medical missionary in Angola, mainly in Camundongo, Bailundo, Dondi and Chissamba.  He is renowned for his groundbreaking work there in public health, preventive medicine and the training of African medical workers.

Visit modern day Angola by clicking on this link 

Sid was Dalhousie University's Medical Alumnus of the year for 1970, the year he died.  The excellent biography they provided until recently on their alumni website has been rescued by the Electric Scotland website in its section on Significant Scots: http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/gilchrist_william.htm

Three books and a collection of letters provide further detail to his life for anyone who is interested in knowing more about him.  I have placed two of these books online.  If you wish to read them, simply click on the book images of Angola Awake and/or Salute to Sid, below.  The letters are linked on this page:  Additional Materials.  I had originally placed these books and materials on a CD for my nieces and nephews, before realizing that there are also many of his other descendants, old friends and colleagues, as well as historical researchers (one of whom asked me for a spare copy of his book recently, which I did not have), who might enjoy reading them online.
 

Sid wrote Angola Awake in 1968.  It is a call to arms against the Portuguese colonial administrators who were becoming progressively brutish and repressive of the African population in Angola; and it is an attempt to inform and awaken the conscience of influential members of society and institutions in western nations so that they might apply pressure to Portugal to change their policy on the administration of colonialism in Angola.

This is a rich post-humous biography of Sid's life, full of praise and humour, written by a life-long friend, the Reverend Dr. Frank Archibald of Sackville, New Brunswick.

This is Sid's first published work, a slender paperback, with photos, written in 1938 shortly before he returned to Canada to obey the patriotic call to serve in the Canadian Medical Corps in Europe during WWII

 
 

My aunt Betty ran an orphanage in Angola for her entire lifetime.  She died in the same automobile accident with Sid and Frankie.  In conjunction with the orphanage, she ran a school in "domestic science" for young women.

Each student was assigned one of the orphans for the duration of the course, and was taught to provide expert child-care.