Gilbert Stafford Palmer

Memorial: Kingswood - Holy Trinity Church

Regiment: Machine Gun Corps

Medals: 1914–15 Star, British War Medal, Next of Kin Memorial Plaque 1914 - 1921, Silver War Badge, Victory Medal

Rank and number: Private 32864 then 97549

Parents: Joseph and Maria Palmer

Marital status: Married

Home address: Victoria Villa, 1 Cross Street, Kingswood, Bristol

Pre-war occupation: Bootmaker

Date of birth: 1888

Place of birth: Kingswood, Bristol

Date of death: 04/11/1918

Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at St. Sever Cemetery Extension, Rouen, Seine-Maritime, France and commemorated at Kingswood Holy Trinity Memorial

Age: 30

Further information:

Gilbert was born in Kingswood, the son of a bootmaker and the youngest of nine children with one sister and seven brothers. Gilbert married Lily Phipps in August 1915 and the following year they had a daughter Irenie Florence, who would have been just 12 months old when Gilbert died.

Gilbert enlisted in 1915 in the 3rd Glosters, transferring in April 1917 to the 4th Battalion Machine Gun Company. The 38th battalion was then formed on 2nd March 1918 from all of the Machine Gun Companies of the 38th Division. Gilbert would have fought with the 38th battalion on the Somme and in the Battles of the Hindenburg Line. Gilbert died from gas poisoning and pneumonia, just seven days before the Armistice, as a result of fighting in the Final Advance in Picardy (17 October – 11 November 1918). The action was part of the Hundred Days Offensive that had begun on the 8th August and finally ended the war. Gilbert was one of over a million casualties sustained by the allies during this final offensive.

By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):

This information has been provided by Sarah Hands, Volunteer Researcher for the South Gloucestershire War Memorials Web Site.
By kind permission, this information is based on the following source(s):
https://www.cwgc.org/
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/
https://www.findmypast.co.uk/
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/
https://www.wartimememoriesproject.com/greatwar/allied/mgcompany.php?pid=10564