Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Educated at Marist Brothers' College Norwood, Joseph joined the First AIF in the Great War at the age of 16 years and fought in France, returning to Australia in 1919 after being wounded in action in France.

He was married to Gladys with five children residing at 6 Marchant Street, Kensington by the time of World War 2, and worked at Woodroofe's Aerated Waters Factory for several years when he enlisted in June 1940.  Leaving Australia in October 1940 for the Middle East, he returned to Australia 'sick' in June 1941.  Two of his sons served with the Forces.

Joseph Bernard Giblin was an Australian soldier who served during WW1 and then later in WW2. It can be estimated that Giblin was born in December of 1897 as he was 18 years of age when he enlisted for the war on December 30th, 1915. However, other sources suggest that he was born in August of 1898, indicating that he could have lied about his age to enlist. Giblin was born in St Leonards, Tasmania as the son of Michael and Maggie Giblin. However, he later moved to Kensington, Adelaide. Joseph had at least one sibling, a younger brother named Leonard Patrick Giblin who passed away in infancy.

Before the war, Giblin was a horse trainer, which was quite a common occupation at the start of the 20th century. A horse trainer is a professional who works with horses and riders to improve their skills, behaviour, and performance. Some of the primary responsibilities of a horse trainer included teaching them various skills, teaching them to act in a certain way, and training them for events such as shows.

Giblin enlisted to join the army on the 30th of December 1915 in the city of Adelaide, South Australia with his attestation papers signed by the attesting officer at the time, H.R Corps. He was described as being 5’5 in height with blue eyes, light brown hair, and a fair complexion. He weighed 118 lbs at the age of 18 and only had a chest measurement of 31 and a half inches. At the time of his enlistment, Giblin was unmarried.

Giblin embarked from Australia on the 11th of April 1916 on a ship named the H.M.T.S Franconia on a journey to Alexandria, Egypt to join a training battalion, which was a military unit established to provide basic training skills and instructions to new soldiers so that they could get some training in before joining the battalion in which they were going to fight. He was then later transported to the Rollestone training camp in England on the 17th of July 1916 for more training until he was finally sent to France to join and fight in the 50th Infantry Battalion on the 26th of July 1916.

Joseph Giblin was taken on strength by the 50th Infantry Battalion on the 5th of September 1916. With the 50th battalion, he fought some battles from September of 1916 to February of 1917, with one of the major battles being an advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line. From there, Giblin was then taken on strength at the First Australian Auxiliary Hospital (A.A.H) on the 1st of January 1918 after being sick there for 4 months. The A.A.H was a hospital that started running from December of 1914 until the end of the war. It received soldiers of all ranks to recover from their sickness or injury and also acted like a depot for collecting individuals to return to Australia.

During the war, there were five occasions in which Giblin fell sick. The first of which was on the 4th of February 1917 when Joseph went to hospital in France because of bronchitis, a condition that develops when the airways in the lungs, called bronchial tubes, become inflamed. This causes coughing, alongside mucus production. Bronchitis was a disease that was commonly seen during WW1 as conditions in the trenches and the quarters in which the soldiers lived and fought made them vulnerable to a range of respiratory infections. Giblin fell sick on the 26th of October 1917 once again with bronchitis. However, this time he was in the A.A.H in England. Giblin then fell sick with the flu on the 18th of June 1918 while working at the A.A.H. The flu was also a common infection seen many times throughout WW1. One of the main reasons for this was that many soldiers already had weakened immune systems from other infections, so it was quite easy for them to get infected by the flu. The final dates for when Giblin fell sick were on the 22nd of September 1918 and the 12th of January 1919. The reason for his sickness is unknown. However, it can be assumed that he was likely treated at the A.A.H. as he was still working here during this time.

At the end of the war, Giblin was awarded two medals. The British War Medal and the WW1 Victory Medal. After the war, Giblin moved to live in Norwood in Adelaide. There, he was married on the 18th of December 1920 at the St. Ignatius church to Lenora Gladys Sims. With Lenora, Giblin had five children. Bernard Joseph Giblin (Bernie), Fredrick Alfred Giblin (Alf), Leslie Neal Giblin (Les), Ron, and Ian – two of whom, Bernard and Alfred later served in WW2 with Bernie, unfortunately, passing away on Christmas day in 1942 aged 21 while fighting. Giblin himself also served in WW2 this time in the 27th Infantry Battalion as a private. Once at home, Giblin worked at a very well-known company known as Sands and McDougall. The company did bookselling, printing, and account book manufacturing. Giblin passed away from natural causes on the 29th of September 1968, aged 67. Giblin is buried in the Enfield Memorial Park, South Australia.