Gibson, JS

2nd Lieutenant John Seear Gibson

John was born on December 30th 1883, the fourth son of solicitor Edward Gibson and his wife, Martha, and the third to come to Dulwich, having been preceded by his elder brothers Alexander and Stanley. After leaving the College at the time of his sixteenth birthday he went on to take up an engineering apprenticeship at Ilford Council, subsequently furthering his training and taking positions all over the country, as well as becoming an Associate Member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers. He ultimately settled in Tunbridge Wells, where he was engaged in working at the Tunbridge Wells Corporation Electric Light Works.
On the outbreak of war John volunteered as a member of the Armed Forces, at first as a member of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, with whom he was stationed at Crystal Palace for the next six months, before being given a commission in the Bedfordshire Regiment in March 1915. For the next fifteen months or so he continued to be stationed in the south of England, at locations such as Mill Hill, Felixstowe and Colchester, before in April 1916 being sent overseas for the first time. He joined up with the 8th Battalion near Ypres, and served with them throughout the Somme Offensive that summer, on two occasions being attached for a short time to a Royal Engineers Tunnelling Company. On October 12th, still serving on the Somme, he was attached to the 13th Trench Mortar Battery of his regiment; three days later he was struck in the head by a piece of German shell, dying without having regained consciousness. He was survived by his widow, Elsie.