Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Son of John and Mary GIBBINGS, Wongon, Queensland

Alfred Gibbings was born at Chauleigh in England and emigrated to Australia with his parents when he was 15. His father was in receipt of a British War Pension. At the time of Alfred’s enlistment, his family address was given as Devondairy, Oxley. His mother stated that Alfred was engaged in farming and dairying but other documents give his occupation as bread carter.

Alfred presented himself for enlistment at the recruiting depot in Adelaide Street, Brisbane on 3rd November 1916, just five days after the defeat of the first conscription referendum. On his attestation papers, he stated that he had been refused enlistment previously with the reason “chest: under standard.” His medical details gave his height as just 5 foot 2 inches (157 cms) and his chest measurement as 31inches. He was 19 years and six months old. The fact that he was now fit for induction is testament to the perilous state in which the AIF now found itself, in meeting the need for more men in Belgium and France.

Alfred was sent to Sydney as part of the 8th reinforcements for the 47th Battalion. He left Sydney two days before Christmas, and arrived in Plymouth, England on 3rd March 1917. Alfred was posted to the 12th Training Battalion and a fortnight later was in hospital with mumps for 18 days.

By 20th June, Alfred was in France and on the 10th of July he joined his battalion. In October of 1917, the 47th Battalion were engaged in the battle for the ridge on which sat the village of Passchendaele to the west of Ypres in Belgium. This would be the bloodiest battle of the war.

Red Cross reports of several eye witness accounts indicate that Alfred Gibbings was shot in the head by a sniper on 11 October 1917 whilst recovering a Lewis gun from a shell hole. He died instantly. The witnesses then state that the survivors of the group had to withdraw, leaving Alfred’s body behind. During the next few days of the battle after Passchendaele was finally taken, Alfred’s body was recovered. An official document records he was buried “1000 yards south of Passchendaele and 1000 yards northeast of Zonnebeke.”

At the conclusion of the war, the remains of soldiers buried around the old battlefield were collected and reinterred in what would become the largest War Cemetery in the world; Tyne Cot. Alfred was buried there along with 12,000 other Commonwealth soldiers, 1,368 of whom are Australians. In addition, the memorial panels at Tyne Cot contain the names of almost 34,000 soldiers killed in Flanders and who have no known grave. This 34,000 is in addition to the 55,000 commonwealth servicemen with no known grave commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial at Ypres only a few kilometres away.

In 1922, Alfred’s parents received his medals, the Empire Medal and the Victory Medal, along with a commemorative plaque and scroll and a photograph of his grave at Tyne Cot.

Pte Alfred John Gibbings, 47th Battalion is commemorated on the Oxley War Memorial, Brisbane.

Courtesy of Ian Lang

Mango Hill