Freddie was son of Frederick J. Gillman, private secretary to Quaker MP Arnold Rowntree, who helped set up the Friends Ambulance Unit and worked in Parliament to protect the interests of COs. Freddie was accepted as a CO in 1917 and served with the FAU. He kept a diary of his experiences in a motor ambulance convoy attached to the French Army (Section Sanitaire Anglaise 19). He was awarded the Croix de Guerre for bravery. After the war he worked in journalism. He was a press officer with the RAFVR in WW2 and then Chief Press and Information Officer with BOAC.