Gilbert William Wiltshire
Memorial: South Gloucestershire war dead not on a local memorial
Regiment: Army Service Corps
Medals: British War Medal, Victory Medal
Rank and number: Private M/319593
Parents: Joel and Rosina Wiltshire
Home address: Home Address: 2 Lodge Hill, Kingswood, Bristol. Lived: 17 Prospect Avenue, Charlton Road, Kingswood, Bristol.
Pre-war occupation: Bootmaker
Date of birth: 1883
Date of death: 28/10/1918
Buried/Commemorated at: Buried at Cairo War Memorial Cemetery, Egypt. Not commemorated on a local memorial.
Age: 35
Further information:
Gilbert was born in Stapleton Bristol, the son of a bootmaker and the eldest of thirteen children with four sisters and eight brothers. Gilbert married Florence Samson on Christmas Day 1899 and together they had five children, a daughter and four sons. The youngest children were twins who were 2 years old when Gilbert died.
One of Gilbert's younger brothers, Arthur Sidney, died on active service in France, five months before Gilbert.
Gilbert enlisted in December 1915 when he was recorded as being 5'3"" tall and weighing 8st 2lb. For the first two years he served on the Home Front before being posted to Egypt in October 1917. In March 1918, Gilbert was riding on the footboard of a lorry when it collided with a second lorry. The force of the impact threw him in between the two vehicles where he sustained serious injuries. He was admitted first to 44th stationary hospital then transferred to Nasrieh School Hospital Cairo where he was recorded as being dangerously ill. He never recovered and died of his injuries seven months after the accident and two weeks before the armistice.
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/