Gibb, JH

2nd Lieutenant John Hardie Gibb

Born on March 17th 1898 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, John was the eldest son of Scottish-born gas engineer William Gibb and his wife, Mary. He began his education there, at the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, but in late 1909 the family moved to London, and he started at Dulwich early the following year; several years later his younger brother William would also start at the College.
After leaving in the summer of 1916 John joined an Officers Cadet Battalion at Oxford, where he underwent several months of training before being granted a commission in the King’s Royal Rifle Corps in January 1917. Shortly after this he received first class certificates for having qualified as an instructor in both musketry and bombing, and in May was sent overseas for the first time, joining up with the 18th Battalion of his regiment. He had been at the front less than three months when, on July 31st 1917, he was shot through the lung by a sniper whilst leading an assault on a German held village near Hollebeke, in the Ypres sector, and died an hour later.