11th Royal West Kent where circa 7/10/16?

[Chris_B]

I'm interested to know about this man's fate:

Pery James GIBBONS

Name: GIBBONS

Initials: P J

Nationality: United Kingdom

Rank: Second Lieutenant

Regiment: East Surrey Regiment

Unit Text: 3rd Bn.

Secondary Regiment: Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment)

Secondary Unit Text: attd. 11th Bn.

Date of Death: 07/10/1916

Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead

Grave/Memorial Reference: Pier and Face 6 B and 6 C.

Cemetery: THIEPVAL MEMORIAL

Thanks,

Chris.

[Bob Coulson]

Chris,

11th battalion involved in attack on Gird Lines on 7/10/16.

Advanced at 1-45pm but checked by machine gun fire from both flanks.

Out of 16 officers and 465 men who went into action this day only 4 officers and less than 100 men survived.

Info from British Battalions on the Somme.

Bob.

[Chris_B]

Chris,

11th battalion involved in attack on Gird Lines on 7/10/16.

Advanced at 1-45pm but checked by machine gun fire from both flanks.

Out of 16 officers and 465 men who went into action this day only 4 officers and less than 100 men survived.

Info from British Battalions on the Somme.

Bob.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Bod,

Thanks for that, the stats speak for themselves.

Chris.

[westkent78]

In the History of the 11th he is listed as R.J. Gibbons.

He joined the battalion after the attacks of 15th-16th September along with 2nd Lt. S.A. Wheeler, both from the 12th East Surreys.

The attack began at 1:35pm on a two company front with zero hour at 1:45pm. On breasting the brow of a rise they came under heavy machine gun fire from both flanks and the new trench in front. 3/4 of the battalion were hit and all the company officers except one.

Total Casualties: 13 Officers, 323 O.R.

It appears that Gibbons was wounded initially. Unfortunately I don't have SDGW to confirm but I'd assume that he might have died of wounds that day.

Hope this helps.

Matthew

[Chris_B]

In the History of the 11th he is listed as R.J. Gibbons.

He joined the battalion after the attacks of 15th-16th September along with 2nd Lt. S.A. Wheeler, both from the 12th East Surreys.

The attack began at 1:35pm on a two company front with zero hour at 1:45pm. On breasting the brow of a rise they came under heavy machine gun fire from both flanks and the new trench in front. 3/4 of the battalion were hit and all the company officers except one.

Total Casualties: 13 Officers, 323 O.R.

It appears that Gibbons was wounded initially. Unfortunately I don't have SDGW to confirm but I'd assume that he might have died of wounds that day.

Hope this helps.

Matthew

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Matthew,

Many thanks for this extra information. SDGW has him "Killed in action", S.A.Wheeler appears to have survived the War.

Regards,

Chris.

[Chris_B]

Chris,

11th battalion involved in attack on Gird Lines on 7/10/16.

Advanced at 1-45pm but checked by machine gun fire from both flanks.

Out of 16 officers and 465 men who went into action this day only 4 officers and less than 100 men survived.

Info from British Battalions on the Somme.

Bob.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That's "Gird Lines" as in "Gird Trench" system close to the Butte de Warlencourt?

Chris.

[Bob Coulson]

Chris,

I believe that's the location, if not pretty sure someone will correct.

Bob.

[westkent78]

Chris,

Bob is correct.

It seems that they were overlooked by the "Butte de Warlencourt" and the 47th Division was designated to capture this feature on the 7th.

On the 2nd Oct the New Zealanders had attacked Eaucourt l'Abbaye and captured the village and a length of Gird Trench and Gird Support together with the strongpoint "The Circus" between the village and Gird Trench.

The 11th moved up from Mametz Wood and their objectives included part of the Gird Trench running diagonally across the front in a north-westerly direction, supported on the left part of the objective by Gird Support. The sunken road from Eaucourt l'Abbaye to La Barque crossed in front and was a stumbling block to the advance. Apparently the Germans had dug a new trench line in front of Gird Line but this hadn't been noticed because of the slight rise (mentioned in my other post). The Germans also occupied part of Gird Trench to the right of the planned attack.

Bn HQ at was at "The Circus"

Incidentally, Gibbons joined at Dernancourt.

Regards,

Matthew

[Chris_B]

Matthew,

Thankyou for taking the time to post all this additional detail. It's a sorry tale.

Regrads,

Chris.