Gilbert Douglas PERRY

PERRY, Gilbert Douglas

Service Number: 1010
Enlisted: 9 March 1915
Last Rank: Second Lieutenant
Last Unit: Australian Flying Corps (AFC)
Born: Petersham, New South Wales, Australia, September 1894
Home Town: Marrickville, Marrickville, New South Wales
Schooling: Sydney Technical High School, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation: Civil engineer and surveyor
Died: Accidental (Injuries) , Tetbury Cottage Hospital, Gloucestershire, England, 29 June 1918
Cemetery: Tetbury (St. Saviour) Churchyard
Memorials: Sydney Technical High School WW1 Roll Of Honour
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World War 1 Service

9 Mar 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Sapper, 1010, 4th Light Horse Brigade Signal Troop
31 May 1915: Involvement Sapper, 1010, 4th Light Horse Brigade Signal Troop, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '6' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ajana embarkation_ship_number: A31 public_note: ''
31 May 1915: Embarked Sapper, 1010, 4th Light Horse Brigade Signal Troop, HMAT Ajana, Sydney
2 Nov 1917: Transferred AIF WW1, Sapper, Australian Flying Corps (AFC)
25 May 1918: Promoted AIF WW1, Second Lieutenant, Australian Flying Corps (AFC)
29 Jun 1918: Involvement Second Lieutenant, Australian Flying Corps (AFC), --- :awm_ww1_roll_of_honour_import: awm_service_number: awm_unit: Australian Flying Corps awm_rank: Second Lieutenant awm_died_date: 1918-06-29

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Biography contributed by Evan Evans

The summary below was completed by Cathy Sedgwick – Facebook “WW1 Australian War Graves in England/UK

Died on this date - 29th June......Gilbert Douglas Perry was born in 1894 at Petersham, Sydney, NSW. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (A.I.F.) as a 20 year old Civil Engineer & Surveyor from Marrickville, Sydney, NSW.

Sapper Perry was posted to 4th Signal Troop & disembarked at Egypt on 17th July, 1915. He embarked again on 19th September, 1915 for "overseas".

Sapper Perry was admitted to 5th Field Ambulance at Anzac on 28th October, 1915 with Influenza (Tonsilitis). He was transferred to 15th General Hospital at Alexandria on 7th November, 1915 with Diptheria & finally rejoined his Unit on 27th January, 1916.
Sapper Perry was transferred to 13th Field Company, Australian Engineers on 13th May, 1916 at Serapeum. He arrived in France on 13th June, 1916.

Sapper Perry was admitted to Hospital in September, 1916 with Myalgia & rejoined his Unit on 18th October, 1916.
Sapper Gilbert Douglas Perry was transferred to Royal Flying Corps from 13th Flying Corps Engineers on 26th October, 1917. He was on command at No. 1 Royal Flying Corps School of Military Aeronautics at Reading, Berkshire, England on 2nd November, 1917 & appointed Flying Officer (Pilot) & to be Second Lieutenant in A.I.F. on 25th May, 1918.

Second Lieutenant Gilbert Douglas Perry was flying solo, a Sopwith Camel C.103 on 21st June, 1918 to set up for “practising diving preparatory to firing on Aerodrome Target.” The plane crashed at 11.15 am. at Minchinhampton Aerodrome. He was admitted to Tetbury Cottage Hospital, Gloucestershire.

A Court of Enquiry was held on 21st June, 1918 & it was found that “the cause of the accident was in our opinion bad piloting in that /Lieut. Perry G.D. pulled machine out of a steep drive too roughly thereby causing undue strain and so breaking right hand planes.” The Officer Commanding reported “I concur in the above finding. This officer was on duty at the time and to blame for the accident as he put too greater strain on the machine by pulling it suddenly out of a steep drive.”

Second Lieutenant Gilbert Douglas Perry died on evening of 29th June, 1918 at Tetbury Cottage Hospital, Gloucestershire, England as a result of an aeroplane accident & Pneumonia. He was buried in St. Saviour’s Church Cemetery, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, England.

(The above is a summary of my research. The full research can be found by following the link below)
https://ww1austburialsuk.weebly.com/tetbury.html

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Biography contributed by Sydney Technical High School

Gilbert Douglas Perry was born in Petersham, Sydney, in September 1894. He spent his childhood in Marrickville with his parents, Gilbert Henry Perry and Mary Ann Eliza Perry, and his siblings John Raves Stuart Perry, Dorothy Garland Perry, and Marjorie Donald Perry. His brother John also served in the AIF during the First World War.

Perry attended Sydney Technical High School in 1907 and graduated in 1912. He went on to work as a civil engineer and surveyor, while living with his family, who ran the City Pharmacy in Marrickville. Before the war he also served in the 16th Signal Troop of the Australian Engineers, which gave him skills that would shape his military service. He enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force on 9 March 1915 and was assigned the service number 1010.

On 31 May 1915 Perry embarked for Egypt aboard HMAT Ajana. Later that year he was deployed to Gallipoli, serving as a sapper in the 4th Light Horse Signal Troop Brigade. Like many soldiers, he faced harsh conditions and illness, and in November 1915 he was evacuated to hospital in Alexandria. After the Gallipoli campaign ended, Perry transferred to the 13th Field Company Engineers for service on the Western Front. He sailed from Alexandria on 6 June 1916 and landed in Marseille, France, a week later. During the Somme campaign he was hospitalised at Étaples with myalgia, before rejoining his unit in October 1916.

In November 1917 Perry transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and trained at the School of Military Aeronautics in Reading, England. By May 1918 he had qualified as a pilot and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 5th Training Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps.

On 21 June 1918, while flying a Sopwith Camel on a training exercise near Tetbury, Gloucestershire, Perry’s aircraft crashed. He was taken to Tetbury Cottage Hospital, where he died of his injuries on 29 June 1918. He was 23 years old. Perry is buried in St Saviour’s Churchyard, Tetbury, Gloucestershire, in a grave maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

 

 

Lest we forget.

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