Evelyn Gill
Memorial: Thornbury - St Mary's Church
Regiment: Gloucestershire Regiment
Medals: British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private 25548
Parents: Alfred and Sarah Ann Gill
Home address: Jubilee House, Gillingstool, Thornbury, Bristol
Pre-war occupation: Carpenter
Date of birth: 1895
Place of birth: Thornbury, Bristol
Date of death: 09/08/1917
Buried/Commemorated at: Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 22 and 34); Thornbury United Reformed Church Memorial Tablet
Age: 22
Further information:
Bronze Tablet and Wooden Memorial Board
Evelyn Gill was born 15th January 1895, the sixth of eleven children and youngest son of Alfred Gill, who was employed by the Midland Railway Company as an engine driver based at Thornbury Station. Evelyn worked as a carpenter
Evelyn enlisted in Gosport and fought with the 1st/4th (City of Bristol) Battalion in France and Flanders. In 1916 his Battalion saw action at the Battles of the Somme, Bazentin Ridge, Pozieres Ridge, and Ancre. In 1917 it was in action in the Third Battle of Ypres. This offensive by Commonwealth forces intended to divert German attention from the weakened French front further south. In June the initial attempts to dislodge the Germans from the Messines Ridge were successful, but the main assault, which began at the end of July, became a long, difficult struggle against a determined enemy, compounded by awful weather. The campaign finally came to a close in November with the capture of Passchendaele
Evelyn was Killed in Action, taking a message to Company Headquarters, when the Battalion was in support waiting to go to the front line. He was said to have been killed ‘instantaneously’ by a shell. Several letters were written to his parents. The chaplain said that the officers spoke very highly of Evelyn and that his friends would miss him ‘as a cheery companion’. An officer said he was ‘an exceedingly popular member of his section and platoon’ and that he was ‘efficient and brave’. Captain R Wookey wrote, ‘I was proud to say he was one of my gallant section of bombers; he was the best man I had, also the most reliable in action... I managed to bury him myself and two more just behind Kitchener’s Wood, left of St Julie’s and if possible I will get the Royal Engineers to make a nice cross for him.’ Despite Captain Wookey’s best efforts, Evelyn Gill has no known grave
The Menin Gate is one of four memorials to the missing in Belgian Flanders which cover the area known as the Ypres Salient. The site of the gate was chosen because of the hundreds of thousands of men who passed through it on their way to the battlefields. The memorial bears the names of more than 54,000 officers and men whose graves are not known. Since 1927 (apart from WW2) the last post has been sounded there every evening
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
Thornbury Roots Website. Thornbury and District Museum Research Group. Forces War Records and the CWGC