Albert Gilbert
- Family History
- Military History
- Extra Information
- Photographs
Albert was the son of Clara Gilbert and James Barker and was born before their marriage. Clara Gilbert was the daughter of William and Ann Gilbert (née Clay) who were married at Arnold St Mary in March 1875. Clara (b. Arnold 1875) was their eldest child and she had at least nine siblings. William, Ann and seven of their children, including Clara, were living on Nottingham Road, Arnold, in 1891. Albert was born in Arnold in 1894 (reg. J/A/S Basford) and his mother married James Barker (b. 1874), a brewer's labourer, at Arnold St Mary in August 1895. Clara was 19 years old, a laundress, and still living with her parents on Nottingham Road. In 1901 James and Clara were living on West Street, Arnold, with their son Albert (surname Barker) and daughter Ada (b. 1896). Clara died in 1905 and at the time of the 1911 census Albert Gilbert (16), a coal miner, and his sister Ada Barker (14), a hosiery finisher, were living with their maternal grandparents at Gedling Grove, Arnold. Albert's father, James Barker, has not yet been traced after 1905 (see 'Extra information') and Albert appears to have named his grandmother, Ann Gilbert, as his next of kin when he joined the army.
Served as Albert Gilbert. He enlisted at Nottingham into the Sherwood Foresters and was posted to the 11th Battalion (known as Men From The Greenwood). This unit was formed in 1914, and was a part of the 70th Brigade of the 8th Division in France and Flanders. Albert went to France on 27th August 1915. and was killed in action on i July 1916, the first day of the battle of the Somme. He has known grave and his name is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Pier and Face 10C,10D & 11A. He qualified for the 1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal. Battalions attacking Ovillers on 1st July 1916 had to cross 'Mash Valley' one of the widest expanses of No Man's Land (750 yards) along the entire Somme front. Today, looking from Ovillers Cemetery (German front line) towards distant houses (British front line) across open fields offering little cover, the magnitude of their task is still evident. 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters' War Diary recorded: 'Casualties along the whole line were very heavy and a general attempt was made to crawl forward under intense machine gun and shrapnel fire, any available cover being made use of.... Lt Colonel Watson, walking diagonally across the front collecting men as he went gave fresh impetus to the advance by his personal example... A third attempt, led by Captain C E Hudson*, to reach the German trenches by the sunken road on the right flank was made but... was brought to a standstill by heavy frontal and flank fire as they came over the brow of the hill in the last 80 yards. The casualties sustained by the battalion during the day amounted to 21 officers and 508 men. The strength of the battalion on entering the trenches on 26th June was 27 officers and 710 men.' 11th Bn Sherwood Foresters War Diary TNA WO95/21871(3). 125 men from 11th Battalion Sherwood Foresters were killed during the attack on Ovillers (CWGC Debt of Honour Register). *John Cotterill adds 'The man who brought the 11th Foresters out of action on 1 July and, one of the 6 unwounded officers, was Capt Edward Hudson who would go on to get a VC as CO of 11th Foresters on Asiago Plateau in Italy in 1918'. 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment suffered 264 fatalities during the same advance. Concerns of their CO Lieutenant Colonel Edward Thomas Falkiner Sandys DSO, a brave and well respected officer, that his battalion would be badly mauled crossing such an expanse of open ground with uncut wire an added hazard, did not impress his superiors. Sandys was wounded during the attack and evacuated to the UK. Depressed at the fate of so many men who had trusted him, Sandys shot himself in a London hotel room and died a few days later. 8th Division's Official History records a total of 5,121 casualties on 1st July 1916. Military Research by David Nunn
Nottingham Evening Post, 8 March 1905: ‘This Day’s Police News. Shire Hall, Nottingham. (Before Col. L Rolleston, Mr FE Seeley, G Radford, H Heath, and JR Anderson). A Family Dispute. William Gilbert, Arthur Gilbert and Henry Gilbert, three Arnold colliers, were summoned for an assault on James Barker. He was taking away his little boy [Albert], he said, when defendants, who were his deceased wife’s brothers, set upon him and assaulted him. The defendants contended that the boy belonged to them more than the complainant, but the magistrates held that they had nothing to do with family affairs and fined defendants 10s. each.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) Beeston Gazette & Echo, 11 March 1916, 6 May 1916, 17 June 1916. The newspaper published regular reports of the names of the men ‘from Arnold, Daybrook and district who are taking their share in the great fight for King and country: Gilbert, Albert. Notts & Derby.’ (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) CWGC additional information: 'Son (sic) of Mrs. Gilbert, of 6, Gedling Grove, Arnold, Notts.' WW1 Pension Ledgers: named his grandmother, Ann Gilbert. Registers of Soldiers' Effects: his grandmother, Ann Gilbert, was his sole legatee.
