William
(Bill) Henry Irvine Gibson SERN 5103 was a young man with a keen interest in
the military.[1]
He was a member of the Senior Cadets and the local Militia in Kiama.[2] With the support of his
family, community and much of Australia he departed full of promise and
enthusiasm.[3]
If not for World War One, his affinity for the military may have led him to
have had a long successful career as a soldier. It was not to be. He was killed
Pozières.[4]
Bill
was born in Jamberoo, New South Wales on 15th August 1895.[5] He was the eldest son of
William and Vergetta Gibson with four sisters and a much younger brother.[6] In addition to the Senior
Cadets and Militia, he was a member of the church choir, the rifle club and the
Loyal Orange Lodge No. 140 at Jamberoo. He also assisted with the
women’s lodge No. 415 and was a member of the local Grand United Order
of Oddfellows (GUOOF) lodge.[7]
Local
newspapers reported and advertised recruitment and fundraising meetings in the Illawarra
starting soon after war was declared.[8] Meetings were often held
at mines where a large proportion of men on the South Coast were employed.[9] Jamberoo was a dairy
farming settlement though and Bill was a labourer, possibly assisting his
father on a local farm. Even without an avid interest in the military it would
be difficult not to be swept up in the clamour to join in the “fun”,
snowballing as it did; mate encouraging mate, brothers together on an
adventure.[10]
Bill
joined the Waratah March which left Nowra on 30th November 1915 led
by Captain Blow of Gerringong, when it passed through Jamberoo on the way to
Sydney.[11] The 37th
Illawarra Infantry had marched to meet the Waratahs on the road from Gerringong
and escorted them to Kiama.[12] Bill’s attestation papers
are dated 2nd December at Kiama, suggesting that he signed up while
in Kiama that day and joined the march the following day.[13] Some reports identify him
as the only recruit to join the march at Jamberoo, others suggest more but their
details are vague.[14]
The
march reached Jamberoo for lunch and entertainment; the ladies of the Red Cross
provided water, towels and soap for the men to wash before they departed for Albion
Park.[15] Waratah recruits wore
civilian clothes, white hats and a waratah badge. They arrived in Sydney on 17th
December more than tripled in number and made their way to camp at Liverpool.[16]
Despite
his rank with the Militia being Company Sergeant Major, Bill was a Private with
the Waratahs, and again with both ‘E’ Company, 1st Battalion and the
16th Reinforcements, 1st Battalion.[17] His record notes that he
was Acting Corporal on 1st March 1916 and he is listed as such on
the embarkation and nominal rolls in April.[18] The local newspaper
account of a farewell held on 22nd January refers to him as Corporal
Gibson, although this was earlier than his records indicate a promotion.[19]
Recruits
would usually undertake three months basic training at Liverpool, followed by a
short period of leave before departing Australia. However, the January farewell
held in Jamberoo suggests that Bill may have returned home after arriving in
Liverpool in December; returning in the new year for training.[20] A number of other
farewells were held for him and other Waratahs in Kiama and Jamberoo where they
were wished well and presented with gifts and mementos.[21] He left Sydney on 1st
April on HMAT SS Makarini bound for Suez.
Arriving there on 2nd May and a week later leaving from Alexandria
on the HMT Caledonia for Marseilles.[22] After arriving there on
17th May they then made their way by train to Étaples, in the north
of France.[23]
Étaples
was an old fishing town on the mouth of the River Canche. The Étaples Army Base
Camp was adjacent to the town with ready access to railways, canals and roads
as well as to the port. Étaples was also a supply depot with hospital
facilities and a detention centre for prisoners of war.[24] For the new
reinforcements it was a training camp where they would spend their first month.
Most likely it would have also been an opportunity to write letters home and
receive their first mail since leaving Sydney.
On 25th
June, Bill joined the newly formed 1st ANZAC Entrenching Battalion
leaving Étaples for Bailleul.[25] They spent the following
two weeks setting up camp near Dranouter. On 11th July, Bill was a
member of the group of eight officers and 141 ordinary ranks despatched as
reinforcements to join the 1st Battalion.[26] The 1st
Brigade of which the 1st Battalion was part, was on the move from near
Fleurbaix or Armentières to Allonville, where they would arrive on 13th
July after travelling mostly on foot.[27]
After three
days in Allonville the Brigade moved on to Albert and into position south of
the village of Pozières.[28] Once in position they
worked to strengthen and deepen the trenches in preparation for the attack
which commenced shortly after midnight 23rd July.[29] Bill was one of the 92
ordinary ranked soldiers of the 1st Battalion killed between 23rd-25th
July 1916.[30]
His death came just nine weeks after arriving in France and four weeks before
his 21st birthday.[31]
News
of his death reached Australia in August. Tributes and notices appeared in the
newspapers.[32]
In September a letter from Private Bedford appeared in the local newspaper. It
gave a little information about the battle, “the bombardment was awful, too
terrible to write about”, but mentions the fate of Bill and other Kiama boys.[33] Letters from other Kiama
soldiers also appeared soon after, with similar reports.[34] A relative, Private S E
Denniss, was one of his comrades who gave an account of his death to the Australian
Red Cross.[35]
Others spoke of how well liked he was. Bill was buried “in the vicinity of Pozières”
and is memorialised at Villers-Bretonneux.[36]
In Australia
at this time the conscription debate was gaining momentum. The Prime Minister
attended a meeting rallying support in Wollongong and there was plenty of
anti-conscription sentiment too. Women still knitted socks and raised money for
the War Chest and Red Cross, although the constant news of casualties and death
must surely have diminished the resolve for some of them.[37] When Armistice came in
1918 it was met with jubilation and celebration in Wollongong. While the
community continued to welcome back their returning soldiers, it must have been
bittersweet for Bill’s family to experience.[38]
There are
no copies of correspondence in Bill’s file from his family. There are copies of
official letters to his mother enquiring whether his father was still alive, as
if a mother was a second-rate citizen; her loss dismissed.[39] None of his personal
effects were returned through official channels. It is noted though, that the GUOOF
wrote requesting a copy of a death certificate and that his mother was in
receipt of his pension. Given that the medals have numbers allocated they must
have been issued and any related correspondence simply did not survive.[40]
An
Honour Board was installed inside the church at Jamberoo and his mother donated
brass vases to the church which were dedicated to his memory, to be filled with
flowers by his sisters each week.[41] Bill’s contribution to
the war, and the loss of his life, was acknowledged in newspaper notices in
1916 at, ANZAC Day 1917 and on the anniversary of his death in 1917.[42]
“A year has passed and still we miss him,
Friends may think the wound is healed,
But they little know the anguish,
That is within our hearts concealed.
There's a certain consolation,
Which cannot be denied,
He was a true born Australian son,
And earned his country's pride.
He died as he wished - a Soldier.”[43]
[1] ‘Pvte. W. Gibson', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
23 August 1916, p.2.
[2] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.1., B2455, National Archives of Australia.
[3]
'Farewell to Captain Gibson', Kiama
Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, 26 January 1916, p.2.; ‘Farewell to Waratahs', The Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven
Advertiser, 22 March 1916, p.2.
[4] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.9., B2455, National Archives of Australia.
[5]
Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.1.
[6] Death
Certificate of William Gibson, died 17 June 1949, Registrar of Births, Deaths
and Marriages New South Wales, 12155/1949.
[7] ‘New South Wales Lodge News. No 140, Pacific, Jamberoo. A Tribute to a
Hero.', Watchman, 7 September 1916, p.6.; ‘Memorial Service. ANZAC Day,
Jamberoo', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, 2 May 1917,
p.3.
[8] ‘Patriotic Wollongong’, South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus,
9 July 1915, p.9.; ‘Patriotic Wollongong’, South
Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 20 August 1915, p.9.; ‘The Appeal For Recruits. Meeting in
Martin-Place. Don't Cheer-Enlist. State Campaign', Sydney Morning Herald,
28 October 1915, p.8.; ‘The Route March’, Illawarra
Mercury, 29 October 1915, p.4.; ‘Recruiting Association’, Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
4 April 1916, p.2.; ‘Recruiting’, Illawarra
Mercury, 16 February 1917, p.7.
[9] ‘Corrimal. Recruiting.’, Illawarra Mercury, 10 December 1915,
p.2.
[10] ‘Coming of the Coo-ees’, The Sun, 12
November 1915, p.6.; ‘Patriotic Wollongong’, South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, p.9.; Bill Gammage, The Broken Years: Australian Soldiers in the
Great War, Canberra, Australian National University Press, 1974, p.7.
[11] ‘Route Marches. Fifty Strong. Waratahs Coming to Sydney', Sydney
Morning Herald, 1 December 1925, p.13.
[12] ‘Route Marches. The Waratahs. On the Way to Sydney. A Festive Time', Sydney
Morning Herald, 3 December 1915, p.7.
[13] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.1.
[14] ‘Route Marches. Recruits on the Road. North-West Contingent Sets Forth', Farmer
and Settler, 10 December 1915, p.3.; ‘The Waratahs. Gratifying Results at
Kiama', Sydney Morning Herald, 4 December 1915, p.17.; ‘The Waratah's.
Now 75 Strong', Shoalhaven News and South Coast Districts Advertiser, 4
December 1915, p.2.
[15]
‘Waratahs' Route March', Shoalhaven News
and South Coast Districts Advertiser, 27 November 1915, p2.; ‘The Waratahs. Gratifying Results at Kiama', Sydney Morning Herald,
p.17.; ‘Jamberoo Jottings', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
8 December 1915, p.3.
[16] Historic Helensburgh, 'Files, The Waratah March 1915',
www.historichelensburgh.org.au, Accessed 5 March 2018.; ‘Waratahs. Arrive in
Sydney Today', Sydney Morning Herald, 17 December 1915, p.9.; Kiama
Library, 'South Coast Waratahs',
www.library.kiama.nsw.gov.au/index.php/south-coast-waratahs, Accessed 6 March
2018.
[17] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.1.; Service Record of
William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.4., B2455,
National Archives of Australia.
[18] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.8., B2455,
National Archives of Australia.; Australian Imperial Force Nominal Rolls, 1 Infantry Battalion - 13 to 23
Reinforcements (December 1915 - November 1916), AWM8 23/18/4, p.116. (original
page), Australian War Memorial.
[19] 'Farewell to Captain Gibson', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
p.2.; ‘N.S Wales Lodge News, No.140, Pacific, Jamberoo, Send-off to Corporal
Gibson’, Watchman, 27 January 1916,
p.8.
[20] 'Farewell to Captain Gibson', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
p.2.; Service Record of
William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.3., B2455,
National Archives of Australia.
[21] ‘Local & General News’, Kiama
Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, 15 March 1916, p.2.; ‘Recruiting
Association’, Kiama Independent, and
Shoalhaven Advertiser, 16 February 1916, p.2.;’Send-off to Recruits’. Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
19 February 1916, p.2.
[22] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.9.; ‘Waratahs in France. Silly Rumors
Denied.' The Shoalhaven Telegraph, 9 August 1916, p.5.
[23] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.9.
[24] Through These Lines, 'Research, Etaples',
http://throughtheselines.com.au/research/etaples, Accessed 5 March 2018.
[25] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.9.; Australian Imperial Force
Unit War Diaries, 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 23/78/1,
June-July 1916, p.1, Australian War Memorial.
[26] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.9.; Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries, 1st Anzac Entrenching
Battalion Unit Diary, AWM4 23/78/1, June-July 1916, p.2, Australian War
Memorial.; Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries, 1st Infantry Brigade
Unit Diary, AWM4 23/1/9, July 1916, p.5, Australian War Memorial.
[27] 1/19 RNSWR Association Inc, 'First World War History', www.rnswr.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/THE-FIRST-WORLD-WAR.pdf,
Accessed 6 March 2018.; Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries, 1st
Infantry Brigade Unit Diary, AWM4 23/1/9, July 1916, pp.1-6., Australian War
Memorial.
[28] Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries, 1st Infantry Brigade Unit
Diary, AWM4 23/1/9, July 1916, pp.8-11., Australian War Memorial.
[29] Australian Imperial Force Unit War Diaries, 1st Infantry Brigade Unit
Diary, AWM4 23/1/9, July 1916, pp.12-15., Australian War Memorial.; Australian
Imperial Force Unit War Diaries, 1st Infantry Brigade Unit Diary, AWM4 23/1/9,
July 1916, pp.140-148., Australian War Memorial.
[30] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.9.; Australian Imperial
Force Unit War Diaries, 1st Infantry Brigade Unit Diary, AWM4 23/1/9, July
1916, p.15., Australian War Memorial.
[31] ‘War Casualties’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 25 August 1916, p.8.
[32] ‘Pvte. W. Gibson', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
p.2.; ‘New South Wales Lodge News. No 140,
Pacific, Jamberoo. A Tribute to a Hero.', Watchman, p.6.; ‘Roll of
Honour', South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 22 September 1916,
p.13., ‘Jamberoo Council, Vote of Sympathy’, Kiama Independent, and
Shoalhaven Advertiser, 23 August 1916, p.2.
[33] ‘Soldiers Letters. Pte W Bedford.', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven
Advertiser, 23 September 1916, p.2.
[34] ‘Soldiers Letters', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
27 September 1916, p.2.
[36] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.9.; Service Record of
William Henry Irvine Gibson, p 12., B2455,
National Archives of Australia.
[37]
‘Local & General News’, Kiama
Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, 24 June 1916, p.2.; ‘Liberty. Those Against Conscription. Rowdy Miners Meeting', Sunday
Times, 13 August 1916, p.2.; ‘Municipality of Wollongong. National Service
Referendum', Illawarra Mercury, 6 October 1916, p.7.; ‘South Coast
Organisation', Australian Worker, 6 December 1917, p.4.; ‘Recruiting’, Illawarra
Mercury, p.7.; ‘Jamberoo Red Cross’, Kiama
Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, 27 July 1918, p.2.; Joan Beaumont,
‘Australians and the Great War; Battles, the Home Front, and Memory’, Teaching History, Vol. 49, Issue 1,
March 2015, pp.22-25.
[38] ‘Peace Rejoicings at the Port ', Illawarra Mercury, 15 November
1918, p.2.; ‘The Good News. The Signing of the Armistice. How It Was Received
In Wollongong', Illawarra Mercury, 15 November 1918, p.4.; ‘Peace
Celebrations’, Illawarra Mercury, 11
April 1919, p.6.; ‘Jamberoo Welcome’, Kiama
Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, 12 January 1918, p.2.; ‘Jamberoo’, Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
21 August 1918, p.2.
[39] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, p.20., B2455, National Archives of Australia.
[40] Service Record of William Henry Irvine Gibson, pp.21-27., B2455, National Archives of Australia.
[41] ‘At Jamberoo', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, 18
April 1917, p.2.; ‘Memorial Service. ANZAC Day, Jamberoo',
Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, p.3.
[42] ‘Pvte. W. Gibson', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser,
p.2.; ‘Roll of Honour', South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 20 July
1917, p.13.; ‘Memorial Service. ANZAC Day, Jamberoo',
Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, p.3.; ‘ANZAC Day', Kiama
Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, 28 April 1917, p.2.; ‘In Memoriam',
Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, 28 July 1917, p.2.; ‘Roll
of Honour', South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, p.13.
[43] ‘In Memoriam', Kiama Independent, and Shoalhaven Advertiser, p.2.
