Henry Herbert Gill
Born 16 Jun 1885 - Died 2 Oct 1918
- Service number
- WWI 62300 AWMM
- Also known as
- Bert Gill AWMM
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Last rank
- WW1 Private AWMM Canterbury Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion AWMM
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
About
- Title
- —
- Forenames
- Henry Herbert AWMM
- Surname
- Gill AWMM
- Ingoa
- —
- Also known as
- Bert Gill AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 62300 AWMM
- Gender
- Male AWMM
- Iwi / Hapū / Waka / Rohe
- —
- Religion
- —
Images
Documents
About birth
- Birth
- 16 Jun 1885 Public Source
- Date of birth
- 16-06-1885Public - Theresa - Other Relative - 17 March 2015 - Military Personnel file
- Place of birth
- BlenheimPublic - Theresa - Other Relative - 17 March 2015 - Military Personnel file
- Birth notes
- —
- Address before enlistment
- WW1 Pre 1917 AWMM 109 Eden Terrace, Auckland, New Zealand AWMM
- Selkirk Street,
Hamilton,
New ZealandPublic - Theresa - Other Relative - 17 March 2015 - Military Personnel File
- Post war occupation
- —
- Next of kin
- WW1 Mrs F.S. Gill (wife), 27 George Street, Palmerston North, New Zealand AWMM
Wars and conflicts
- War
- World War I, 1914-1918 AWMM
- Campaign
- —
- Armed force / branch
- Army AWMM
- Service number
- WWI 62300 AWMM
- Military service
- —
- Promotions/ Postings/ Transfers
- —
Military decorations
- Medals and Awards
- —
Training and Enlistment
- Military training
- —
- Branch Trade Proficiency
- —
- Enlistment
- WW1 1917 AWMM Carpenter/Civilian AWMM
- Age on enlistment
- 32Public - Theresa - Other Relative - 17 March 2015 - Military Personnel File
- Occupation before enlistment
- —
Embarkations
- Embarkation details
- WW1 13 Oct 1917-08 Dec 1917 AWMM
HMNZT 93 AWMM Vessel was Corinthic AWMM Private AWMM 30th Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company AWMM New Zealand Expeditionary Force AWMM
Prisoner of war
- Capture details
- —
- Days interned
- —
- Liberation date
- —
- POW liberation details
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- Liberation Repatriation
- —
- POW serial number
- —
Medical history
- Medical notes
- Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Was seriously wounded in France and then admitted to a military hospital in Rouen. 2 October 1918. AWMM - Died of wounds, Cause of Death AWMM
- Hospital Diseases , Wounds, WWI AWMM
Last known rank
- Last rank
- WW1 Private AWMM
Canterbury Infantry Regiment, 2nd Battalion AWMM - Last rank
- —
Biographical information
- Henry Herbert "Bert" Gill was born at Blenheim on 16 June 1885, the son of William and Maria Gill of Grovetown, near Blenheim. Before the war he worked as a carpenter and was living in Hamilton when he was called up by ballot in June 1917. He married Frances Sophia Brewster on 1 March 1916, and their daughter, Nancy Erica Gill, was born on 28 March 1917. While Bert trained at Featherston Camp, Sophie and their infant daughter moved to Palmerston North to live with her mother and sister. Bert's brother, William James Gill (31490), also served during World War I.
Auckland War Memorial Museum Tāmaki Paenga Hira holds the Henry Herbert Gill Papers (MS-1130), which include Bert's correspondence and letters written to his wife by family friend and fellow serviceman Thomas Thomson "Tommy" Caldwell. Selected letters are available to view digitally through Pou Kanohi New Zealand at War.
The correspondence provides a personal insight into the experiences of soldiers and families separated by war. Writing from France in December 1917, Caldwell encouraged Sophie not to let worry overwhelm her and reminded her that cheerful letters from home helped sustain the men at the front. He also described the relief of returning to headquarters for a bath, clean clothes and mail after periods of work in the field, and reassured her that he and Bert remained hopeful of returning home.
By April 1918, during the German spring offensive, Caldwell wrote that he was enduring "a strenuous time" and admitted that his health had never fully recovered after being gassed. He also expressed concern for Bert, who had recently arrived in Europe, and looked forward to hearing from him. Throughout the letters, Caldwell sent greetings to Sophie, her mother, sister and young daughter Nancy, signing himself "your loving (Brother) Tommy", reflecting the close friendship between the Gill and Caldwell families.
Bert’s final surviving letter, written from Rouen on 30 September 1918 after he had been wounded, was later displayed in Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Scars on the Heart gallery, in the section Remember: A generation of men lost. In the letter he described dreaming that he was back home talking to Nancy, only to wake in France with dirt pressing into his back and lice in his shirt:
“Had a lovely dream the other night. I dreamt I was back, if only it was true, and I was talking to Nancy. What fun I was having with her, just how she would be now too. I can picture her to a T, I woke up and suddenly discovered I was laying in France with a dam lump of dirt sticking ot my back, and a couple of dam shirt rats giving me hell ... I could’ve cried.”
Other objects associated with Gill were shown in the Scars on the Heart display On the Fringe of Hell: New Zealanders on the Western Front, including his identity discs, cigarette papers, matchbox holder, lighter, leather belt and badges. These were displayed alongside a bunk bed and other material relating to soldiers’ experiences on the Western Front. Gill was also represented in In Memory, an installation curated by Peter Kirby and commissioned by Auckland War Memorial Museum in 2008 to mark the 90th anniversary of the Armistice.
Next of Kin: Mrs F. S. Gill, Great Nth Rd, Auckland (Roll of Honour, Auckland Province 1914-1918 (Volume 1)) AWMM
About death
- Death
- 2 Oct 1918 AWMM
Age 30 AWMM - Date of death
- —
- Age at death
- 33Public - Theresa - Other Relative - 17 March 2015 - Military Personnel File
- Place of death
- —
- Cause of death
- Died of wounds AWMM
- Death notes
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- Cemetery
- Bois-Guillaume Communal Cemetery Extension, Seine-Maritime, France AWMM F. 17A. AWMM
- Cemetery name
- —
- Grave reference
- —
- Obituary
- —
- Memorial name
- —
- Memorial reference
- —
Memorial
- Memorial name
- Grovetown War Memorial, Grovetown AWMM
- Marlborough War Memorial, 20 Seymour Street, Blenheim, 7201 AWMM
- Borough of Blenheim Roll of Honour, Marlborough Museum. 26 Arthur Baker Pl, Redwoodtown, Blenheim 7201 AWMM
- Marlborough Great War Memorial, WW1 AWMM
- Auckland War Memorial Museum, World War 1 Hall of Memories AWMM
Related objects
Related Serviceperson
Sources
- External links
- Military personnel file
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R16786052
Further Reference - Auckland War Memorial Museum. Exhibition. 2008 "In Memory". Installation commissioned for the 90th Armistice anniversary. Curator, Peter Kirby.
https://web.archive.org/web/20100523181956/http://aucklandmuseum.com/?t=812
Further Reference - A Street Near You record
https://astreetnearyou.org/person/121659/-
Further Reference - Commonwealth War Graves Commission Casualty record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/121659
Further Reference - New Zealand War Graves Trust
https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/
Further Reference
- Military personnel file
- References
- Information kindly provided by family
- New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force. (1918). Nominal Rolls of New Zealand Expeditionary Force Volume III. Wellington, N.Z.: Govt. Printer.
72: 11 - Gill, Henry Herbert. Papers, 1917 - 1942. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 1130.
- Beattie, P.J. & Pomeroy, M. (2013-2020). Onward : portraits of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (vols 1-5). Auckland, New Zealand: Fair Dinkum Publications
Vol. 2: Includes portrait - Roll of Honour, Auckland Province (digital copy), 1914 - 1919. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS-2016-2.
- Ferguson, David (1921). The history of the Canterbury Regiment, N.Z.E.F. 1914-1919. Whitcombe and Tombs Ltd: Auckland, N.Z.
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