GIBSON, John
| Service Number: | 1858 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 7 February 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 46th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Rutherglen, Victoria, Australia, 2 October 1896 |
| Home Town: | Rutherglen, Indigo, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Rutherglen State School, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Blacksmith |
| Died: | Killed in action, Dernancourt, France, 5 April 1918, aged 21 years |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" Villers-Bretonneux Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, Picardie, France |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Bathurst Citizens who Paid the Supreme Sacrifice Honour Roll, Bathurst War Memorial Carillon, Rutherglen St. Stephen's Anglican Church Great War Memorial Reredos, Rutherglen War Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux Memorial |
World War 1 Service
| 7 Feb 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1858, 46th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Apr 1916: | Involvement Private, 1858, 46th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '19' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 4 Apr 1916: | Embarked Private, 1858, 46th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Melbourne |
Help us honour John Gibson's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
John Gibson was only 19 years of age when he enlisted. He was known as ‘Jack’ to his family and friends. He was the son of John and Mary Elizabeth Gibson and had been born and raised in Rutherglen, Victoria. He had worked as a blacksmith in the town before enlisting.
He enlisted in Seymour and went into camp at Broadmeadows, then to England for training, and then on to France. During his active service he was wounded twice, once at Bullecourt in April 1917 and he suffered from shell shock during the heavy fighting at Passchendaele. He was 21 years of age when he was killed during the heavy shelling at Dernancourt, France, on 5 April 1918.
A letter from one of his mates was published in the Rutherglen newspaper during 1918.
“Mr. J. Gibson has received the following in reference to the death of his son, Pte. J. Gibson: —"It is with deepest regret and sympathy that I am writing these few lines to you. I was a particular friend of your son Jack, and I was with him at the time of his death. I do not know whether you have been notified of the nature of his death or not, so I thought I would mention it in case you did not know. His death was almost instantaneous, and I am quite sure that in his last moments he felt no pain. I felt his death a great loss, as he and I had been in close friendship with each other for several months, and I am sorry to have lost such a good and true friend.
I am, yours sincerely—Pte. Harold Gall.” (2902 Pte. H.C. Gall 46th Battalion AIF)