Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

"...3189 Private Gilbert Vernon Kimber, 50th Battalion. An engineer's assistant from North Adelaide prior to enlistment, Pte Kimber embarked from Adelaide with the 8th Reinforcements aboard HMAT Berrima (A35) on 16 Decmber 1916. He returned to Australia on 15 June 1919 aboard H T Swakopmund, and was disappointed that there were no family members to greet him in Adelaide. He was not aware that they had moved to Sydney while he was serving overseas..." - SOURCE (www.awm.gov.au)

Gilbert Vernon Kimber was born on the 25th of January 1899, in Solomontown, South Australia. His service number was 3189. His parents were Richard Kimber and Emma Kimber. He had 7 siblings and was the second youngest of 8. At the end of 1914, he completed 2 years of schooling at the Adelaide School of Mines – Junior Technical Division. He was Dux of the 1914 school year.

Once he completed schooling, he endured a 5-year apprenticeship with Thos. G. Bromleys’ Engineering works. During this time compulsory military training was in force for teenagers. In August 1916, he decided to visit the recruiting Bureau without telling his parents. He was told he looked too young and was sent home, but he did not give up. On the 4th of September 1916 he joined up at the age of only 17 years and 7 months. His official documents show that he was Enlisted on the 11th of September 1916 in Adelaide, South Australia.

On December 16th, 1916, he embarked on the Transport S.S Berrima at the Outer Harbour, as a member of the 8th reinforcement of the 50th battalion. His ship arrived in Plymouth on the 17th of February 1917. His unit when into the town of Codford and went straight into a military training camp. He had to remain in England and do extended training as he was too young to do active service in France. He remained with his unit at Codford training until April 1917. His main activity was then at Salisbury plains, attending a British army school for Signallers. After several weeks at signal school, he came top in the final exam, he was offered three stripes if he were to carry on as an instructor, but he declined. In his manuscript he wrote, “if I could have taken a peep into my future, my decision would have been quite different.” On the 24th of October, he re-joined his original battalion, the 50th battalion. His battalion was out of the front line when he joined back but was then sent to embark on the battle of Cambrai on the 20th of November 1917. He fought through the coldest winter for 81 years and spent his 19th birthday in unbearable conditions of snow, ice, and mud.

After over 2 years at War, on the 15th of June 1919, Gilbert Vernon Kimber embarked at Plymouth on H. T. Swakopmund home to Australia. This was an old German vessel that stood in the mud of River Elbe all throughout the war. It was a quiet journey via Cape town and finally arrived in Adelaide on the 30th of July. Gilbert Vernon was full of excitement to see his family again but felt deeply hurt and bitter when he stood alone on the Adelaide Railway station with not a friend or relative in sight. Gilbert Vernon Kimber wrote in his Manuscript “people all around me were singing, cheering, and hugging others who had returned with me. I was alone. What I had done to deserve such treatment. It was an insult.” He later found out that his parents had moved to Sydney and other members of the family had just forgotten. As he wondered where he could go for a bed, he saw is brother-in-law bounding down the railway steps. The final sentences of Gilbert Vernon Kimber’s manuscript express how he felt returning to Adelaide, these states “A Day that embittered me for many years to come. A day that made the difficult job of settling back into civilian life much more traumatic than it should have been. I will never forget the hurt of that dreamed of day, 30th of July – 1919”

After returning to Adelaide, he joined the School of Mines in Adelaide and graduated as an engineer. Gilbert then was hired by Texaco and worked in sales throughout Australia moving from Sydney to Melbourne and then back to Adelaide with his family. He married Mary Skinner on 17th of December 1927. He had 4 children, 3 daughters and 1 son. He died on the 14th of August, in Parkside, south Australia and was buried in Centennial Park Cemetery.

ancestors.familysearch.org. (n.d.). FamilySearch.org. [online] Available at: https://ancestors.familysearch.org/en/KFT8-6ZZ/gilbert-vernon-kimber-1899-1986 [Accessed 31 Mar. 2022].