GOSSIP, James
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 22 August 1916 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 1st Pioneer Battalion |
| Born: | Telegherry via Stroud, New South Wales, Australia, 26 July 1886 |
| Home Town: | Chatswood, Willoughby, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Licensed Surveyor |
| Died: | Died of wounds, France, 25 August 1918, aged 32 years |
| Cemetery: |
Heath Cemetery, Picardie Plot I, Row C, Grave No. 14. IN LOVING MEMORY OF MY DEAR HUSBAND |
| Memorials: | Baulkham Hills William Thompson Masonic School War Memorial, Stroud Cenotaph, Sydney United Grand Lodge Honour Roll |
World War 1 Service
| 22 Aug 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, 1st Pioneer Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 31 Oct 1917: | Involvement 1st Pioneer Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '4' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Euripides embarkation_ship_number: A14 public_note: '' | |
| 31 Oct 1917: | Embarked 1st Pioneer Battalion, HMAT Euripides, Sydney | |
| 25 Aug 1918: | Involvement Lieutenant, 1st Pioneer Battalion, --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: 1st Australian Pioneer Battalion awm_rank: Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1918-08-25 |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Stephen Brooks
James was born at Stroud, New South Wales, the son of John and Emily Gossip, both of whom had passed away by 1910. He was the husband of Clara Gossip, of Avondale, Victoria Avenue, Chatswood, NSW. He was the father of two children, Joyce and Reginald.
He was an engineer by trade and spent some months in engineering training after he enlisted, only leaving Australia in late 1917.
According to his Red Cross files he was a very highly regarded and respected officer. He was leading his platoon home out of the lines in the early morning hours of the day he died, struck in the head by shrapnel from an exploding shell. His men carried him to a dressing station but he passed away not long after.
In a newspaper article in the home town of his birth the following was reported, “Private James Gossip, son of the late Mr. and Mrs. John Gossip, was killed in France. Regret was expressed on all sides as Jim's bright face can be well remembered here. He was born
in Stroud and spent his boyhood here. He leaves a widow and two children, the youngest eleven months old. They reside in Sydney. The deceased soldier has two brothers still fighting, Harold and Arthur.”
Jim Gossip’s older brother, 3708 Pte. Arthur John Gossip, 25th Battalion AIF, lost his life a few months later, during one of the last battles of the AIF in WW1, when he died of wounds 5 October 1918, aged 35.
Another younger brother, 3517 Sergeant Harold Edwin Gossip, was three times wounded, at Pozieres 1916, Bullecourt 1917, and gassed during May 1918. He had also married a Millicent Bennett in England during September 1916. He did not return to Australia until February 1920. Harold’s son was killed flying a Lancaster bomber during WW2.