Profile

GILBERT, Andrew
(Service number 2/1975)

Aliases
First Rank Gunner Last Rank Driver

Birth

Date 07/06/1894 Place of Birth Gapes Valley, Geraldine, New Zealand

Enlistment Information

Date 19 April 1915 Age 20
Address at Enlistment Little River, Canterbury, New Zealand
Occupation Farm Hand
Previous Military Experience K Company, Canterbury
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mr George Gilbert (Father), Little River, Canterbury, New Zealand
Religion Church of England
Medical Information Sallow complexion, chest 33 1/2-36 inches, brown eyes, black hair, artificial teeth, scar on right foot, cut on left breast, double nipple on left breast

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation 6th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship NZ Field Artillery, Divisional Ammunition Company
Date 14 August 1915
Transport HMNZT 27 Willochra
Embarked From Wellington, New Zealand Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With 4th Brigade Ammunition Company, NZ Field Artillery

Military Awards

Campaigns Egyptian and Western Europe
Service Medals 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

16 April 1916 - No2 Australian General Hospital Marseilles - enteric fever; 29 November 1916 - No1 NZGH Brockenhurst; Died 28 February 1917

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 28 February 1917 Age 22
Place of Death No1 NZGH, Brockenhurst, Hampshire, England
Cause Died of bronchial pneumonia
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Brockenhurst (St Nicholas) Churchyard, Hampshire, England
Memorial Reference Plot A, Row 3, Grave 6
New Zealand Memorials On Little River, Canterbury, War Memorial Gates

Biographical Notes

Andrew, the fourth son of George (1858-1933) and Edith Mortimer (1865-1926 nee Tatam) Gilbert, was born in Geraldine on 7 June 1894. The family moved to Little River (Bank Peninsula) from Gapes Valley shortly after his birth. Andrew attended the Little River Main School where he was fond of reading, but not of outdoor games. When he enlisted on 19 April 1915 Andrew, aged 20, was working on the family farm at Little River and nominated his father as his next of kin. He was described as being of a sallow complexion, chest measuring 33 ½ - 36 inches, brown eyes, black hair, Anglican, single, having artificial teeth, a scar on his right foot, a cut on his left breast and a double nipple on his left breast. No height was recorded on his file. Prior to enlisting he had been a Territorial member of K Company Canterbury. Posted to the NZ Field Artillery as a Gunner, he was soon re-classed as a Driver in the Divisional Ammunition Company, and left from Wellington aboard SS Willochra (HMNZT 27) on 14 August 1915, with the 6th Reinforcements, bound for Suez, Egypt. On 20 February 1916, while in Moascar, Egypt, he was posted to the 2nd Brigade Ammunition Company, then transferred on 1 March, to the 4th Brigade Ammunition Company and sailed for France on 8 April aboard the SS Haverford. On arrival in Marseilles Dvr Gilbert went immediately to No.2 Australian General Hospital and by the end of June he was seriously ill and suspected of having enteric fever. In November he was classified 'C' by the medical board, suffering from anaemia and debility following bronchial pneumonia and arthritis of the left hip and it was decided to transfer him to No 1 NZ General Hospital at Brockenhurst, England, where he was admitted on 29 November. Unfortunately his health did not improve and he was classified as unfit in February 1917, and placed on the nominal roll. Andrew died of bronchial pneumonia on 28 February and was buried in the Brockenhurst (St Nicholas) Churchyard, Hampshire, England in Plot A, Row 3, Grave 6. After the war his parents were sent his war medals, the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, along with a scroll and plaque. His name is commemorated on the Little River War Memorial Gates, along with another brother, 17067, Private Samuel William Gilbert, NZ Machine Gun Company, who died in France on 5 June 1917.

Sources

New Zealand ANZACs in the Great War 1914-1918 at http://nzef.adfa.edu.au/showPerson?pid=92104; Press 12 July 1915 p2 and 28 March 1917 p8, Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser 16 March 1917 p2, Sun 10 July 1915 p2, and Poverty Bay Herald 3 April 1917 p3, courtesy of Papers Past at http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz; Ancestry.co.au; NZ BDM Historical Records at ; Clare Church “New Zealand Graves Brockenhurst”, pages

External Links

Related Documents

Researched and Written by

Ted Hansen, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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