No.320551, Private, Elliott GILBEY
Aged 23
|
Elliott Gilbey was born in Soham on 27th May 1895 (Newmarket Q3-1895 3B:517), baptised in Soham on 21st June 1895, son of John and Alice GILBEY (née WATSON).
As with the other Gilbeys, the 'e' in the surname is not always used.
1901 census...Aged 6, he was at Burgess' Corner, Qua Fen, Soham with his father John GILBY [48] farm labourer; his mother Alice [43]; brothers Harry [14] farm labourer and Arthur [12]. All were born in Soham. He had another brother George, a soldier. 1911 census...Aged 16, a farm labourer, he was at Qua Fen Common, Soham with his parents and brother George [27] farm labourer. The pension card has his mother at Loft Cottage, Qua Fen Common. His elder brother George died of his wounds in France in 1914. see here |
|
Enlisted in Ely.
The 15th Battalion, Suffolk Regiment were originally the Suffolk Yeomanry, The Loyal Suffolk Hussars. Having served in Gallipoli, in 1917 they became the 15th Battalion and arrived in France on May 7th 1917. By the 16th October they had reached the Lille canal,but meeting strong opposition were forced to withdraw 1,000 yards to positions around Sante and Rosoir. They had 8 men killed that day. It is interesting to note that the concentration card regarding exhumation has 4 men marked with one cross and Elliott is not one of them but a Suffolk solider KIRK is. Then on the grave registration card for Rue-David Cemetery, the name Kirk is crossed out and Elliott's details written in. It is assumed that as the initial identification was purely by the single cross, in the process of moving the bodies, positive identification of Elliott was made.
Elliott's first grave photo: Rodney Gibson photo:Rodney Gibson click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details |
