Sergeant George Henry Gibbings


Service Army Service No. 3854 / 7304 Cap badge Devonshire Regiment
Rank Sergeant
Regiment:Devonshire Regiment, 1st/6th Battalion
Date of Birth: 1886
Born Dawlish
Date of Death: 17/06/1916
Memorial: Dawlish Memorial Inscription GIBBINGS G.H. SERGT DEVON REGT

Service History

By 1911 George Gibbings had enlisted with the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment and was a Lance Corporal in barracks in Malta. He had enlisted in the regiment ca. 1903 at Teignmouth. His service records do not exist, as far as can be established.
The following press item reveals part of his army experience:
Exeter and Plymouth Gazette of Friday 23 June 1916
“Mr Frank Gibbings of Manor Row, Dawlish, received news yesterday of the death of his eldest son, Sergt. George Gibbings. When war broke out deceased was serving in Egypt. He returned to England with the regiment and was sent to France. After a few months active service there he was invalided home in consequence of a breakdown in health. He recovered, and subsequently went to Mesopotamia. He contracted enteric fever, and died in a Bombay hospital on June 17th.

Association with Dawlish

George Henry F T Gibbings was the oldest son of Henry F and Mary A Gibbings who lived at Chapel Street, Dawlish. George's birth is shown in the March Quarter of 1886 (Newton Abbot district, Vol 5b, p116).
In 1891 Henry Frank Gibbings was a cellarman and his wife a laundress.
In 1901 George was 15 and working as a Yard boy on a cattle farm, and the family with six children had moved to Manor Row.

Devon Roll of Honour Dawlish Boys' School Roll of Honour
Additional Information Commonwealth War Graves Site


Next of Kin: George Henry Gibbings had married Florence Batters in Devonport in Q2 1907. (Apr-Jun,Vol 5b, p701). The Death Grant of £13.14s.4d and the War Gratuity of £11.10s.0d were paid to his “Widow and sole legatee” and his rank was shown as Sergeant. The Victory Medal and the British War Medal were sent to his widow and his rank was shown as Acting sergeant with a Regimental number 7304.
Last Known Address: 1, Lansdowne Place, The Hoe, Plymouth.

Cap badge Devonshire Regiment
Cap badge -The Devonshire Regiment

The Kirklee Memorial cemetery, Poona, Bombay (Mumbai), India where G H Gibbings is laid to rest

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Forces War Records
UK, WW1 Service Medal and Award Rolls
UK, Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-1919
UK, Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects 1901-1929