Blackheath's Sheelagh Gillis never expected to end up on film, but her family story is nothing short of astonishing.
The 87-year-old, Irish-born midwife was captured on film last year by students from Mt Victoria and Blackheath Public Schools, as well as Lithgow High School students, who re-enacted the moving story of her grandfather James B Holmes's life.
Bullets to Buttons tells the story of that 16-year-old boy. The youngest of seven brothers, he lies about his age to join them at war and enlists to fight under the North Irish Horse cavalry and ended up in one of the most bloody conflicts in history.
Anyone who remembers the film Joyeux Noël [Merry Christmas] knows the story of the Christmas truce on the Western Front between fighting forces in World War 1 in 1914. Her grandfather James was part of that.
"During the ceasefire my grandfather was befriended by a German soldier. The soldier noticed grandfather was missing a number of buttons on his battle dress. He saw that his trousers were falling down - the buttons had been blown off. The German soldier fashioned buttons by melting lead bullets and trench shrapnel.
"He made grandfather four buttons for his trousers and two for his jacket. He used to say to me that the average German soldier didn't want the war anymore than the British Tommies."
Mrs Gillis still treasures those buttons.
"They've been in this little purse ever since I was a little girl," she said.
"I know once I thought I had lost them. I felt as if everything had gone wrong and then suddenly they turned up."
Executive producer, Sean O'Keeffe, a teacher at Lithgow High, said it was a rare and amazing moment of humanity, amidst the unyielding horror of war that James Holmes had experienced.
Blackheath Area Neighbourhood Centre's Jo Davies co-ordinated the meeting with cameraman producer Sean O'Keefe, Sheelagh Gillis and the schools, ensuring the story came to life.
"I knew this fantastic story and Sean wanted a story," Ms Davies said. "It's been this wonderful collaboration."
The film features re-enactments from Mt Victoria and Blackheath Public School which were dramatised by students under the mentorship of Lithgow High students, with help from Ian Rufus and the Lithgow Living History group, and the generous support of the 18th AIF Reenactment Group.
The film Bullets to Buttons recently won a prestigious ATOM (Australian Teachers of Media) Award beating contenders in Darwin, Melbourne and Christchurch in New Zealand. It will screen tonight [November 18] at Mt Vic Flicks in Blue Shorts, the Blue Mountains Inaugural Short Film Festival.
