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Lieutenant Harry Olivier Sumner GIBSON
A Company, 1/11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles) Date of birth: 13th May 1885 Date of death: 19th April 1917 Killed in action aged 31 Buried at Gaza War Cemetery Plot XIV Row F Grave 8
Harry Olivier Sumner Gibson was born at “The Rookery” at Headington in Oxfordshire on the 13th of May 1885 the eldest son of Walter Sumner Gibson, of the University Press Oxford, and Julia Elizabeth (nee Olivier) Gibson of 9 Lathbury Road in Oxford. He was educated at Hartford House at Winchfield and at Winchester College where he was in College House from 1897 to 1904 and where he was a scholar, a member of the Rugby XV and was appointed as a School Prefect. He was also a winner of the Natural Science Prize. He became a member of the Alpine Club in 1904 at the instigation of Winchester schoolmaster Robert Irving who formed a group known as the "Winchester Ice Club" made up of boys who would be his companions on his climbing trips to the Alps. Another early member recruited by Irving at Winchester, and close friend of Harry Gibson's, was the climber George Mallory. The group made their first climbing trip together in August 1904. In 1904 he won an Exhibition to New College Oxford which he entered on the 1st of May 1905 as a medical student and where he achieved a BA (2nd Class) in natural science in 1908. In 1909 he joined the teaching staff at Lancing College where he was a science master. On the 29th of October 1909 he was appointed as a 2nd Lieutenant for service with the Lancing College Officer Training Corps. In the spring of 1913 he left Lancing and on the 13th of June 1913 he accepted a post with the Board of Fisheries as an Assistant Inspector (Non Established). He was married on the 4th of June 1914 to Hester Worth (nee Townsend) and they lived at 34 Station Road, Petersfield in Hampshire. They had two children, John Sumner Townsend born on the 1st of August 1915 and Helen Olivia Costeker born on the 5th of April 1917. He applied for a commission on the 29th of August 1914 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles) on the 31st of August 1914 and saw service at Gallipoli from the 7th of September 1915 as well as in Egypt and Palestine between 1915 and 1917. At 1am on the morning of the 18th of April 1917 the 1/11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles) moved out of billets to deploy for an attack on the Sheikh Abbas Ridge. At 7.45am they moved forward and took their objectives against slight opposition, sustaining casualties of one other rank killed with two wounded and one missing. The following day they were ordered to continue their advance at 7am after a supporting bombardment by the British artillery. The first 40 shells fired were gas, followed by high explosive and shrapnel shells, during which time the battalion advanced in support of the 1/4th Battalion Northamptonshire Regiment and the 1/10th (County of London) Battalion (Hackney). They were met by a hail of machine gun cross fire as well as Turkish artillery fire as they advanced. The 10th Londons were held up but the other two battalions pushed on. The 11th Londons and the Northants advanced as far as they could before managing to dig in overlooking the Beersheba Road some 500 feet from the Turkish trenches which were semi circular in shape. By the end of the day the battalion had suffered casualties of nineteen officers and three hundred and sixty six other ranks. Harry Gibson was reported as wounded and missing. A letter from one of his cousins stated that he was wounded, was bandaged and was then seen leading his men on again before being seen to fall. Only six men from his platoon survived the attack. A series of statements were taken from eyewitnesses in order to ascertain his fate: - Letter to his wife from the Earl of Lucan, British Red Cross and Order of St John dated the 14th of September 1917:- “Dear Madam, It is with true sympathy we send on the only information we have yet been able to obtain as a result of our enquiries about Lieutenant Gibson. Though these reports do not really throw any light on his fate, we think you would wish to see them as both the witnesses speak of your husband with such affection." Statement of Private 451584 P.J. Gear A Company, 1/11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles): - “Mr. Gibson was hit in the left foot about 1,500 yards from our starting point and on going to him I was wounded myself and was compelled to retire. Please convey my deepest sympathy to his people; may they be comforted in such grief at such a terrible loss.” Sergeant E.A. Panrelle 16 Platoon, D Company, 1/11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles) of 28 King’s Road, Tottenham, who describes Lt. Gibson as a great Alpine climber, and said he had done very daring patrol work in Gallipoli accompanied by Panrelle, and was nicknamed “Old Charlie Chaplain” in the Regiment – a term of endearment. Panrelle then states: - “I heard from about 6 or 8 men of A Company, Mr. Gibson’s own Company, that he was killed at Wady Gaza in April. The boys all liked him; we called him old Charlie Chaplain so of course when they came into No. 27 at Cairo I started asking about him. We had been together a lot in Gallipoli. They were quite certain he was killed.” We fear from what they say that these men both think there is little doubt that Lieutenant Gibson lost his life on April 19th and may we assure you of our most true sympathy in this time of terrible anxiety and suspense.” Letter from Captain Kenneth Bertram Howard OL (Olds House 1910 to 1914), 1/5th Battalion Norfolk Regiment dated the 26th of August 1917: - “My dear Mr. Lucas, I have had a letter from my brother asking about Gibson, I am very sorry to say there is no hope for him as he was almost certainly hit by a shell and killed instantaneously. I have spoken to several officers in his regiment and they all say the same thing. I saw him just before the battle and we had a long talk about Lancing and he was very cheerful. There are several Lancing men out here.” Undated letter from F.S. Hammond to Hester Gibson: - “Dear Mrs. Gibson, I have been meaning to write to you as soon as I knew that definite news of your husband had reached you. I dared not write till I knew and the Colonel thought it better to let what little (very little unfortunately) we knew reached you through his cousin, Capt. Durst of the Engineers. Your letter to me direct brings me to the point of definitely writing and I wish with all my heart I could give you some hope, or even some definite news. Unfortunately I can tell you scarcely anything and I dare not hold out any hope that your husband is a prisoner for we all know out here have no hope whatever. The battalion had a fairly tough time on March 27, the first battle here tho’ we had extraordinarily few casualties and no officers hit. On the 19th April, however, an advance was made in the early morning and the Battalion had to go thro’ a terrible barrage of shrapnel and high explosive shells after which they had to attack a position just in front of which they came under cross machine gun fire and at a particular ridge the attack stopped and no one, I think who actually reached the top of that ridge came back again. It has never been possible to get up to that ridge again and some considerable number of bodies of various battalions still lie out there in spite of every effort to bring them in. The Turks some time ago sent in a list of all prisoners, and only one of our men’s names was on the list. We have long ago quite made up our minds that all other missing men were killed. Every effort has been made right from the start to get in wounded and later on the bodies of the dead, but one part of the battlefield could never be reached day or night. The Battalion suffered very heavily indeed and A Company also had a very heavy casualty list. Your husband’s Platoon was almost wiped out, the Platoon Sergt. (Sgt. Roberts) being killed, almost all N.C.O.s casualties and most of the men. One Section was almost entirely killed by one big shell. It has been extraordinarily difficult to get any news of any of the casualties and Colonel Windsor has I know followed up every clue and written to anyone in hospital whom he had the least hope of getting information from. There seems to be a general knowledge that he was wounded in the foot, but continued to advance with his men. The Colonel thinks one of the big shells may have blown him to pieces, but no definite news can be got from any source. His servant for a long time was Bishop but he had to go to the Stokes Gun Battery recently and a man named Gear was then servant at the time. He apparently saw your husband wounded in the foot, but he was himself severely wounded in the neck just after and fell and is now in hospital, knowing nothing further. Letter from M.S. Moxon from the field dated the 1st of October 1917: - “Dear Moreton, I have received your letter of Aug. 31st and am very glad to have your news and to hear that you are fit, though I am afraid from what you tell me that you have not had too easy a time of it since you left us. However, I sincerely hope all goes well now with you. I will willingly tell you all I can about the 19th April show and about poor Gibson, though I must explain first of all that I did not actually “go over the top” with the battalion being detailed as a nucleus officer. I witnessed the battle and joined up again a few hours later. Gibson was hit in the foot by a machine gun bullet when the companies had advanced several hundred yards across the open. His batman bound it up for him and whilst doing so he was hit himself (the batman I mean) through the neck. I had these particulars from the man himself at the Dressing Station. There is no doubt that G. went on after being bandaged, but nobody can say anything further concerning him. He just disappeared. His body has not been found, nor has his identity disc been recovered. I would not, however, from these details wish to raise any hope of his being a prisoner, for those who were taken in by the Turks have since communicated with their people. 2/Lt. Du Cane is an instance of this. He was reported “Missing believed killed” and as he was known to have been very seriously wounded we had given up all hope concerning him. He has however written to his mother saying that he is a prisoner and doing well. The same thing has occurred in the case of several other ranks who were believed killed. Gibson would most assuredly have sent some communication through to his wife if he were living for it is obvious that all prisoners have been given the opportunity of doing so. The generally accepted opinion in the battalion now is that he was hit by a shell. The Turks were outing up a barrage of H.E. at the time.” Statement of Rifleman 451311 A. Slade 1/11th (County of London) Battalion (Finsbury Rifles) taken on the 27th of October 1917: - “I have spoken to a fellow in this company who saw Lt. Gibson killed on the morning of the 19th April. He was shot through the forehead as was advancing with the men of his Company about 300 yards from the Turk’s trenches. It was impossible for anybody to be brought in during the day as the Turks kept up a murderous fire all day long with rifles and machine guns. Lt. Gibson was seen again at night when the line retired in exactly the same place as he was previously seen and I am sorry to say I cannot find out whether his body was brought in.” His Major wrote:- "Everyone says how brave and splendid he was. I have seen him here, and, of course at ANZAC, under strenuous conditions and had the greatest respect for him." His servant, Private Gear, wrote to Hester Gibson:- "During the advance (on April 19th) Mr. Gibson proved to us his coolness and daring such as I have never seen before." Hester Gibson later received a letter dated the 15th of February 1918 stating that her husband's body had been recovered and that he had been buried at Grave 22, Northampton Wadi Military Graves; his body was later moved to its present location. He is commemorated on the war memorials at St Andrew’s Church in Old Headington, at St Margaret’s Church in North Oxford, at St Barnabus' Church, Oxford and on the memorials at Winchester College and at New College Oxford.

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