Gilbert Hill

From The Orange Wiki

(Difference between revisions)
Jump to: navigation, search
 
Line 3: Line 3:
'''HILL, Gilbert'''
'''HILL, Gilbert'''
-
'''Service no:''' 2943 [http://soda.naa.gov.au/record/3012033/1]
+
'''Service no:''' 2943 [https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5457948]
'''Place of birth:''' Spring Hill, 12 January 1898
'''Place of birth:''' Spring Hill, 12 January 1898

Current revision as of 00:25, 3 January 2021

Gilbert Hill. Image courtesy Jenny Roberts.

HILL, Gilbert

Service no: 2943 [1]

Place of birth: Spring Hill, 12 January 1898

Address: Rifle Range, Orange

Occupation: Railway porter

Next of kin: Lena Hill (mother), Edward Street, East Orange

Date of enlistment: 18 January 1916

Place of enlistment: Sydney

Age at enlistment: 18

Fate: Embarked HMAT A71 Nestor, Sydney, 9 April 1916. Embarked HMT Franconia, Alexandria, 16 June 1916. Disembarked Plymouth 16 June 1916. Taken on strength Etaples, France, 6 September 1916. Admitted to 5th Field Ambulance, France, suffering from trench foot, 2 December 1916. Admitted to Edmonton War Hospital, England, 17 December 1916. Transferred to 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Dartford, 11 January 1917. Proceeded to furlough, Perham Downs, 12 February 1917. Returned from furlough 27 February 1917. Marched into No 1 Company, Weymouth, 16 March 1917. Proceeded to France, 26 June 1917. Admitted to 24 General Hospital, Etaples, suffering from trench foot, 15 October 1917. Transferred to hospital in England 24 October 1917. Proceeded to Le Havre 30 June 1918. Wounded in action 27 August 1918, sustaining a gunshot wound to the right arm. Transferred to hospital in England 1 September 1918. Returned to Australia per HMAT Karmala, 22 February 1919. Discharged from AIF 27 April 1919 due to medical unfitness

Date of death: 3 May 1959


When Gilbert Hill enlisted in January 1916 he was the only surviving son of Thomas Baird and Selina (Lena) Hill. Eric, their youngest, died of dysentery at nine months of age, and Herbert, their eldest, had died of appendicitis in 1913, aged just 17.

Gilbert was educated at Orange Public School, where he served three years in Senior Cadets and two years in the Militia. In August 1914 he was appointed as a porter at Orange Railway Station. He enlisted five months later, aged 18, though he claimed to be 21 on his attestation papers.

Gilbert embarked in April 1916 aboard HMAT Nestor, a private in the 30th Battalion, 6th Reinforcement. He served for three years in England and on the Western Front. He was hospitalised on two occasions with trench foot, which saw him transferred to hospital in England, followed by lengthy periods of furlough to enable his recovery.

In August 1918 Gilbert sustained a gunshot wound to the right arm. He was again evacuated to hospital in England, and embarked for return to Australia early in the new year. Gilbert arrived in Sydney in February 1919 and was discharged from the AIF in April.

Gilbert returned to Orange and became an orchardist. Like his father Tom, Gilbert excelled at rifle shooting; he would regularly travel to Sydney and interstate to compete. In 1920 he won the King’s Cup and King’s Prize in Brisbane, where he competed against a British team. In the final round he shot seven consecutive bull’s eyes from a distance of 900 yards.

In February 1923 Gilbert married Barbara Fitzgerald; the couple had four children - Isabel, John (Jack), Evelyn and Gerald. Gilbert passed away in May 1959, and now, many years later, his descendants still live at the property opposite the Orange Rifle Range.

Gilbert is commemorated on Orange High School Roll of Honour and St John's Presbyterian Church Orange Honour Roll.

Personal tools