Lance Corporal Horace Gibson

Horace Gibson was born in Sutton c1894. He was the son of wheelwright Roger Gibson and Mary Gibson. In 1901 the family was living at 8, St Margaret’s Road, Twickenham. He had a sister Elizabeth who was born in 1900.

By 1911 his parents were living at 33 Sydney Road, Raynes Park, Bushey Mead, Wimbledon S W with his sister Elizabeth (now 12) brother William (9) and sister Alice (4). Horace, aged 17, was at reform school in Essex where he was an inmate on the Reformatory School Ship Cornwall at Purfleet. The school was for boys who had been committed to detention.

Horace enlisted in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps in February 1914 at the age of 20 years and 40 days. He embarked for Le Havre in France later in 1914 and was in the Balkans from November 1915 until his death in 1918. He had a number of postings that are illegible on his service record and was promoted to the rank of unpaid Lance Corporal 8 March 1917. (damaged pages of combatants services can be found in the British Army WW1 Service Records pages 17210-17248)

Records show that the third battalion of the King's Royal Rifle Corps landed at Le Havre on 21 December 1914. In 1915 they saw action in the second Battle of Ypres. On 18 November that year they sailed from Marseilles to Salonika, arriving on the 5 December. They were engaged in a number of battles in the Balkans through 1916 and 1917. In mid 1918 a number of units returned to France and in September 1918 the remaining units were engaged in the final offensive in Salonica.

On 3rd August 1918 Horace, now Lance Corporal Gibson, died of wounds received in action in the Balkans. He was buried at Karasouli Military Cemetery in Greece. His Memorial reference is D.925 and his gravestone bears the inscription ‘When the roll is called up yonder he’ll be there’.

He is also remembered on the war memorial at St Saviour’s church in Raynes Park, Merton.