GILBERT, Walter Clarence
| Service Number: | 3499 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 27th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Rose Park, South Australia, Australia, December 1886 |
| Home Town: | Rose Park, South Australia |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Shop Assistance |
| Memorials: | Wirrabara District WW1 Roll of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 12 Jan 1916: | Involvement Private, 3499, 27th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Borda embarkation_ship_number: A30 public_note: '' | |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jan 1916: | Embarked Private, 3499, 27th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Borda, Adelaide |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Pattison Hamish William
Biography of Walter Clarence Gilbert
Walter Clarence Gilbert was born in December 1896 in Adelaide, South Australia. He enlisted on the 9th of August, 1915, to fight for the ANZAC Forces. At the time of his enrolment he was aged 19 years and 9 months, lived at 19 Harris Street, Norwood, was single, had no children, and was working as a shop assistant. He had previously military experience, having spent 2 years in the Senior Cadets 79A, and two years in the Citizen Forces. He enrolled at the same time as his older brother, William Leslie Gilbert, who was aged 21. His parents were Ann Elizabeth and William Taylor Gilbert.
His reasons for enlisting are not known. Since Australia did not introduce conscription during World War 1, he presumably either volunteered, as seems likely from his prior military experience, or was shamed into enlisting. He joined the 27th Battalion, which embarked on the HMAT Borda A30 on 12th January 1916 in Adelaide bound for Egypt. On February 27, 1916, he was reassigned to the 10th Battalion. His original battalion later fought at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire and suffered 1,169 casualties.
Walter Gilbert underwent training at Zeitoun Camp near Cairo alongside many of the other Australian battalions. He trained intensively for 8 hours a day, six days a week, for several months, marching, squatting, drilling, manoeuvring and wearing heavy packs. The heat made training unpleasant, especially in his long-sleeved uniform.
In April 1916, Walter Gilbert arrived in Marseilles, France, and later fought in France in the battles of Jean Court, Somme, Amiens and Pozières. He also fought in Belgium the third battle of Ypres. The battle of the Somme inflicted heavy casualties but was neither won nor lost by either side. The battles of Pozières & Jean Court were won by the allies. He fought against Germany and Austria-Hungary who were allies under the Triple Alliance. Private Arthur Blackburn who was in 10th battalion earned a Victoria Cross medal for his bravery in Pozières. Corporal Phillip Davey earned a Victoria Cross medal for his bravery in Merris, France.
In August 1916, Walter Gilbert was shot in the hand and was therefore shipped to a hospital in Cambridge in England. He suffered multiple gun wounds throughout the war and one being so severe that he was sent back to Australia early. He was admitted to a hospital in France and then a few months later (early 1917) re-joined the new battalion he was assigned to, which was the 10th battalion. His wounds were healing but still not fully healed. For his family, there were no family deaths in World War 1, Walter Clarence and his Brother William Leslie Gilbert survived World War 1.
An intriguing fact on 18th September 1918 about Walter Gilbert was that he witnessed the death of Captain Robert Percy Young in Jean Court France. He was awarded a 1914/15 Star medal, British War Medal and a Victory Medal for participation in WW1. The Anzac spirit means that Australian and New Zealand soldiers shared common traits such as bravery, resilience toughness, courage, endurance, ingenuity, and good humour during World War 1.
His ANZAC Spirit was reflected by being able to endure the toughness of war and be able to come home. He also reflected the ANZAC Spirit by being able to survive all the injuries that he got from World War 1. By the end of World War 1, the 10th Battalion had lost 1,010 men killed in action.
Bibliography:
- 10th Infantry Battalion (SA) "The Adelaide Rifles" 3rd Brigade, 1st Division, AIF 2017, RSL Virtual War Memorial, Unknown, accessed 20 March 2017, <https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/units/1>.
- 10th Australian Infantry Battalion 2017, Australian War Memorial, Unknown, accessed 20 March 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51450/>.
- Record Search 2017, National Archives of Australia, Unknown, accessed 20 March 2017, <https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=5033852&isAv=N>.
- Walter Clarence Gilbert 2017, RSL Virtual War Memorial, Unknown, accessed 20 March 2017, <https://rslvirtualwarmemorial.org.au/explore/people/103037>.
- 27th Australian Infantry Battalion 2017, Australian War Memorial, Unknown, accessed 20 March 2017, <https://www.awm.gov.au/unit/U51467/>.
- 1914-1918-online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War n.d., International Encyclopedia of the First World War, Unknown, accessed 20 March 2017, <http://www.1914-1918-online.net>.