EARDLEY-WILMOT Gerald Howard 2/Lt

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Surname: EARDLEY-WILMOT;

Forename(s): Gerald Howard;

Initials: GH;

Rank: 2/Lt;

Previous Battalion: 9 of;

Previous Regiment: Devon Regt;

Date of transfer to MGC: 01-Feb-1916;

MGC Unit: 20 Coy;

How killed: DOW;

Where: France;

When killed: 10-Mar-1916;

Other Data: Lancing School Roll of Honour: son of F Eardley-Wilmot of Babbacombe, Torquay. Mortally w. at Corbie and d. 10/3/1916. Portrait.
Roll of Honour (de Ruvigny) Vol 2 p 239: 9 Devon Regt attd MG section. Youngest son of F Eardley-Wilmot of Winthorp House, Shaldon (Lt. RN) by his wife Lucy Mary Emily, eld.d.of Rev GR Prynne, vicar of St Peters, Plymouth. Born Lewisham 14/3/1890; educ Southey Hall, Worthing and Lancing College, where he was a member of the Vol Coy. Was subs apprenticed to the Brush Works at Loughborough and afterwards remained on the staff for a year, then being employed by Messrs Brown, Bouverie & Co as Electrical Engineer. Obt commsn 9th Devons on 27/11/1914. Served BEF from 1/10/1915. Subs attd MG section and died in hospital at Corbie 10/3/1916 from wounds received in action opposite Fricourt earlier in the day. Buried Corbie Cem. He was the author of several articles in various engineering papers on technical subjects. Unmarried.

From John Hamblin (The Long Trail):
Eardley-Wilmot Gerald Howard 2nd Lieutenant

9th (Service) Battalion Devonshire Regiment and 20th Machine Gun Company, Machine Gun Corps
Died of wounds on the 10th of March 1916 aged 25
Gerald Howard Eardley-Wilmot was born in Lewisham on the 14th of March 1890 the fifth and youngest son of Lieutenant Francis Eardley-Wilmot RN and Lucy Mary Emily (nee Prynne) Eardley-Wilmot of Winthorpe House, Shaldon, Teignmouth in Devon. He was educated at Southey Hall in Worthing and at Lancing College where he won an Exhibition and was in News House from September 1904 to April 1908; he was a member of the Officer Training Corps.
On leaving school he was apprenticed to the Brush Works at Loughborough and, after his apprenticeship was complete, he worked for them for a further year.
He left them to join the firm of Messrs. Brown, Bouverie and Company as an electrical engineer during which time he wrote a number of articles on technical matters in engineering publications.
Following the outbreak of war he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 9th Battalion Devonshire Regiment on the 27th of November 1914.
He landed in France on the 1st of October 1915, one of a draft of 300 officers and men sent out to replace the crippling losses the 9th Battalion had suffered at Loos the previous month.
The 20th Machine Gun Company of 20th Brigade was formed on the 10th of February 1916 and he transferred to the new unit on the same day.
He was wounded in the trenches opposite the village of Fricourt on the 10th of March 1916. He was evacuated and died at the 5th Casualty Clearing Station at Corbie later the same day.
His Brigade Chaplain wrote:-
"I deeply regret to tell you that your son Gerald was very badly hit in the trenches this afternoon. I think it was a rifle grenade, though some men say it was a shell. I was quite near to him at the time, and I went up to him at once. The doctor arrived on the spot very shortly afterwards and dressed him and gave him morphia. He had a nasty wound in his left breast, and I am afraid his lung must have been hit. I travelled with him to the Field Ambulance , where the doctor was not very hopeful as to his recovery. From here he was sent on to the Casualty Clearing Station, where he will get a comfortable bed and be operated on if necessary. He was very quiet , and suffered little pain after the morphia. He did not fear the prospect of death in the least, and I have no doubt the padre at the Clearing Station will give him the Communion. He asked me to write to you, which of course, I promised to do. I think he felt he was dying as he turned to me and said "Padre, I am going; goodbye." I only knew your boy slightly, but to know him was to love him and I cannot tell you how deeply I felt for you and him in all the four hours I was with him after he was hit. His C.O. told me that he was the keenest officer he had got, and he was quite fearless. I do hope he will pull through; but if he doesn't, I can assure you that he was the kind of boy who didn't fear death because he had no need to."
His Colonel wrote:-
"It is with the very deepest regret I have to inform you that your son died of his wounds yesterday evening in the 5th Casualty Clearing Station at Corbie, and will be buried there tomorrow. As the battalion is in the trenches, only Prynne can be spared to attend. As I said yesterday, his loss is a very great one to both the battalion and to the Machine Gun Company. he was always so very keen and did his work so well. Will you please accept, on behalf of the battalion and myself, our most sincere sympathy with you in your great loss."
His Company Commander wrote:-
"Just a line to send you my sincerest sympathy. I was very sorry to hear that your son had died from the wound he received. He joined the Company on the 10th of last month, and during the short time I knew him I formed a very high opinion of you son. He was a splendid officer, always cheerful, and was very popular in his Company."
He is buried at Corbie Communal Cemetery Plot I Row E Grave 11

War Diary;"seriously wounded left breast by rifle grenade……..";

Other Notes: GERALD HOWARD EARDLEY WILMOT Second Lieutenant Machine Gun Sect. 9th Bn., Devonshire Regiment who died on Friday 10 March 1916 . Age 25 .
Additional Information: Son of F. Eardley Wilmot, R.N., and Mrs. L. M. Eardley Wilmot, of Lewisham, London.
Cemetery: CORBIE COMMUNAL CEMETERYSomme, France Grave or Reference Panel Number: Plot I. Row E. Grave 11.;

Is photo available? Yes, see VMGCRA Patreon

END OF RECORD.

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