Name
Gilbert Thorold Harris
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
17/08/1915
20
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
11503
Lincolnshire Regiment
6th Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
ALEXANDRIA (CHATBY) MILITARY AND WAR MEMORIAL CEMETERY
K. 102.
Egypt
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Sawbridgeworth Town Memorial, Great St Mary’s Church Memorial, Sawbridgeworth
Pre War
Gilbert was born in Nottingham in 1895. He, and his brother George, were living as a boarders in Sawbridgeworth, when the 1901 census was collated.
They were living with a local schoolmistress, Emilie Jones. Gilbert went on to live with his uncle in Lincolnshire and the 1911 census shows that he was working as a Porter on the railways.
Wartime Service
Enlisted on the 4th September 1914 and served in the UK with the 6th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, which was under command of 33rd Brigade, 11th (Northern) Division.
After training in England, this Battalion was sent to fight against the Ottoman Turks in the Gallipoli campaign. The Battalion sailed for Gallipoli in July 1915 and upon arrival, was almost immediately thrown into action at the 'B' Beach, Suvla Bay landings on 6th August 1915.
Gilbert survived the initial landings, but on 13 August Gilbert suffered a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Despite being evacuated to a hospital in Egypt, Gilbert died of his wounds on 17 August 1915 at Number 15 General Hospital, Alexandria. He was aged 20.
Additional Information
Gilbert’s brother, George, enlisted in the Hertfordshire Regiment in 1915 and was transferred to the 1st /4th Battalion, York and Lancaster Regiment. Lance Corporal George Thorold Harris was reported missing on the 13th April 1918 and his name is recorded
Acknowledgments
Paul Johnson, Douglas Coe
