Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

From François Berthout

Cpl Gilbert Harold HINDLE, 15th MG Company
 
On the lands of remembrance of the Somme, along the old battlefields, stand proudly, under the sun, row after row, the white graves of a whole generation of young men between which poppies grow on which, there are over a hundred years, the blood of heroes was shed who, for their country and for France, gave their youth and who, united to their comrades, their brothers in arms, gave their today and fought bravely in the trenches until their last breath, with all their courage and energy, they put their hearts into the righteousness of their actions for future generations like mine who live in the peace for which they gave their lives.Gone but not forgotten, they still stand tall and proud on the soils of France who will forever be grateful to them, they rest in peace, side by side in the silence and in the peace of a friendly country that will keep their memory alive and who will bring to life the history of these men, the history of extraordinary men over whom, now and forever, I would always be honored and proud to watch so that they are never forgotten.

Today, it is with the greatest gratitude that I would like to honor the memory of one of these young men, one of my boys of the Somme who fought and fell with bravery, I would like to pay a very respectful tribute to the Corporal number 3134 Gilbert Harold Hindle who fought in the 15th Machine Gun Company,5th Australian Machine Gun Battalion of the Australian Machine Gun Corps and who died of his wounds 103 years ago, on April 7, 1918 at the age of 21 on the Somme front.

Gilbert Harold Hindle was born in 1897 in Tallangatta, Victoria, and was the son of Joseph and Elizabeth Hindle, of 168 Bambia Road, Caulfield, Victoria. Gilbert was educated at Tallangatta State School and later at Caulfield State School and finally at Technical School, Swinburn, Hawthorn, Victoria.Before the outbreak of the war, he served with the Cadets and then for a year in the 29th Light Horse and qualified for Corporal.After his military service, he worked as a carpenter.

Enlisted on August 2, 1915 in Melbourne, Victoria,as a Private in the 21st Australian Infantry Battalion, 7th Reinforcement, he embarked with his unit from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A18 Wiltshire on November 18, 1915 and sailed for Heliopolis, Egypt where he arrived on February 13 and was admitted the same day to the 1st Australian General Hospital suffering from Influenza.After recovering quickly, Gilbert was, on February 26, 1916, transferred to the 60th Australian Infantry Battalion then a month later, on March 12, 1916, he was transferred to the 15th Machine Gun Company of the Australian Machine Gun Corps in Tel- El-Kebir,Egypt.Three months later, on June 17, 1916, he embarked from Alexandria, Egypt, on board Kalyan and was sent to France where he was disembarked in Marseilles on June 24. Three months later, on September 1, 1916, he was isolated in the 15th Field Ambulance and on September 14 he joined his unit on the Somme front where he fought with great courage.

After three months on the front line in particularly difficult weather conditions, Gilbert fell ill and was admitted to the 1st Australian Medical Station suffering from bronchitis then, after recovering and a period of rest, he was sent to the Machine Gun School in Camiers, Pas-De-Calais on February 3, 1917 and sent again to the front line where, on May 10, 1917, he was slightly wounded in the shoulder and the next day, on May 11, he was admitted to the 9th Divisional Rest Station and joined his unit on May 29 and was, a few days later, on June 1, 1917, promoted to the rank of Temporary Corporal.On June 6, 1917, Gilbert and his unit were again in the Somme and were detached to the Anti Aircraft Guard at Méaulte where they remained until June 16 then they were sent to Acheux, Somme, still in the Anti Aircraft Guard until July 13, 1917.On July 23, 1917, he went on leave to England until August 4, 1917 and was sent back to the Somme front where he joined the 15th Machine Gun Company and was promoted to the rank of Corporal on August 10. Eight months later, on March 2,1918 Gilbert returned to the Machine Gun Base Depot in Camiers, Pas-De-Calais for a new training period which ended on March 12 and returned to the Somme in the Corbie sector.

Unfortunately, it was in Corbie,near Amiens, Somme, that a month later Gilbert met his fate. On April 4, 1918, around 2pm, while billeted with his unit in the village of Corbie, Gilbert went to headquarters when the German artillery opened fire and a 5.9 shell fell near him, seriously injuring his right shoulder and left arm.He was immediately evacuated to Vignacourt, Somme, and admitted to the 20th Casualty Clearing Station, but despite the greatest care, he died of his wounds three days later, on April 7, 1918, he was 21 years old.

Today, Corporal Gilbert Harold Hindle rests in peace with his friends, comrades and brothers in arms at Vignacourt British cemetery, Somme, and his grave bears the following inscription "Dying that honor might live,mort pour faire survivre l'honneur","Dying that honor might live,died to keep honor alive".
Gilbert Harold Hindle's photo was taken by the Darge Photographic Company which had a permit to take photographs at the Broadmeadows and Seymour army camps during the first world war. In the 1930s, the Australian War Memorial purchased the original glass negatives from Algernon Darge, along with the photographers' notebooks. The notebooks contain brief details, usually a surname or unit name, for each negative.

Gilbert, you who were young and who, in the name of justice and freedom, for your country and for France, fought and served with dedication and bravery and who, on the battlefield, alongside your comrades gave your life in the fields of the Somme, I would like, from the bottom of my heart, with the highest esteem, with respect and gratitude to say thank you for all that you have done for my country alongside your brothers in arms because if today I walk in peace in your footsteps, under the sun and serene silence, it is thanks to you, to your courage and to your sacrifice which have not and will never be forgotten.you who came from Australia, you walked alongside your friends and comrades, guided by exceptional courage and by an admirable sense of duty, you answered the call of duty without hesitation, with your head held high and with conviction and joined the united ranks of your comrades who together turned their gaze for the last time to the love and warmth of their home and joined the cold and mud of the battlefields,fields of death devastated by hell on earth, destroyed, pounded and pulverized by tons of steel which fell in the endless howl of artillery which rained death and destruction on the shoulders of a whole generation of men who stood with honor despite the horrors they went through and who found in each other the strength and courage to stand and move forward under rain of bullets under which they were mown down.in the cold, gripped by hunger, in deep mud, they advanced with difficulty under the weight of their weapons but supported by their friends, united in a very strong comradeship, they continued to advance meter by meter under a hail of steel, under metal hurricanes and firestorms, they showed the courage of a whole nation, of a whole generation who overcame their fears and who, in the strength of their unity, fought for freedom through the howls of the wounded , through the flames and mud raised by the explosions that surrounded them, they never backed down.Always in the front line, standing in their trenches, they were involved in all the battles in the Somme which were among the hardest, the most horrible and the deadliest of the war, Pozieres, Mouquet Farm, Amiens, Gueudecourt, Flers, Villers -Bretonneux, these names still resonate in our hearts with pride, the pride and love that we have in our hearts for Australia, which, alongside the French soldiers, in the trenches, fought with the greatest bravery in which was born between our two countries, a very strong friendship, a friendship of which we are honored and proud. in the Somme, the Australian soldiers were, with love and respect, nicknamed "the diggers", they were deeply admired and loved by the people French and this love, this respect has never ceased to exist and to grow and it is today with this same love that I watch today over all these young men because their life was not stopped after their death , their memory continued to live just like today because they live in us, in our hearts and in our thoughts, we are here because they were here,and today, they still stand proudly, eternal guardians of a friendly country for which they did and gave so much, through the poppies, they are the silent but living witnesses of a proud, brave and heroic generation on which I would watch with the greatest care and that I would not cease to keep alive by sharing their story to transmit their memory so that they are never forgotten.I am proud and happy to watch over these men who will have forever, all my gratitude, my respect, my love and my devotion and that I see, each of them as heroes and who will be forever in my heart, my boys of the Somme.Thank you Gilbert,for everything.At the going down of the sun and in the morning,we will remember him,we will remember them.

Gilbert was born in September of 1896 at Tallangatta, Victoria. He was one of five children of Joseph Illingworth and Elizabeth Ann (née Gilbert) Hindle. Gilbert’s parents had emigrated from New Zealand prior to their first child, Dulcie, being born in Tallangatta in 1894. The Australian Electoral Rolls show that while the family lived in Tallangatta, Joseph’s occupation was a rate collector. The family moved to Caulfield, near Melbourne around 1911 and Joseph continued to collect rates. 

Gilbert attended three different schools; Tallangatta State School, Caulfield State School and Swinburne Technical School. As he listed “carpenter” as his occupation on his enlistment papers we can assume that this was his area of study while he attended Swinburne. Gilbert also completed his cadet training and served for one year in the 29th Light Horse, where he qualified for the rank of corporal.

On the July the 20th, 1915, Joseph Hindle sat down at his kitchen table and write a letter that he would no doubt come to regret in the years to come. Gilbert was desparete to enlist but being only 18 years of age, he needed his parents permissions.  It was only three months since Australian troops had stormed the dry, scrubby hills of Gallipoli. The long casualty lists of the August offensives at Lone Pine, the Nek and Baby 700 were only a few weeks away. By then, Gilbert was Private Gilbert Hindle, Regimental Number 3134 of the 7th Reinforcements for the 21st Infantry Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces.

The 7th Reinforcements embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A18 Wiltshire on the 18th of November 1915. By the time they disembarked in Egypt, Allied forces had withdrawn fro the Dandenelles. Gilbert contracted influenza in mid February of 1916 and was admitted to the 1st Australian General Hospital at Heliopolis. Two weeks later he was taken on strength with the 60th Battalion. On the 18th of March he was transferred to the 15th Australian Machine Gun Company of the 5th Australian Division. After three months of training, the company embarked at Alexandria to join the British Expeditionary Forces on the Western Front. Gilbert spent two weeks in an isolation ward of the 15th Field Ambulance in France. Although the reason is not given, various infectious diseases such as measles and mumps were rampant in the close living conditions in the field. After another period spent in hospital in September, Gilbert was sent to England for further training at the Machine Gun Training Depot in Tidworth, Wiltshire. 

In early February of 1917, Gilbert attended a Machine Gun School at Camiers in the north of France. The company was to take a part in the Second Battle of Bullecourt, a renewed attempt to seize an advance German stronghold on the Hindenburg Line. The company war diarist wrote on the 10th of May;

“During the morning there was intense artillery activity on both sides. Two of our guns were put out of action by shell fire. The afternoon was comparatively quiet. 

Casualties 2 O/R (other ranks).”

Gilbert was one of the OR’s wounded. He was hit by shrapnel in the right shoulder and sent back to the 5th Division Rest Station. He rejoined his unit four days later. On the 1st of June he was promoted to temporary Corporal. On the 6th he was detached to the anti-aircraft guard at Méaulte near Albert. Three weeks later he was transferred to the anti-aircraft guard at the village of Acheux, ten kilometeres north-west of Albert.

When not in the front line, troops would occupy the various villages behind the line. Men were also granted a 10-day leave pass that they could use to go to Paris or England. Most Australians, with their English backgrounds, chose to go to the England. Gilbert had his leave between the 23rd of July and 4th of August, 1917. Arriving back from leave he was promoted to full Corporal. In early Septmeber he was detached for duty to the Machine Gun Depot at Grantham, so back he went to England.

On the 21st of January, 1918, Gilbert decided to have some unofficial leave. Unfortunately he was apprehended on his way back into camp and was charged with having been absent without leave from “5 pm 21-1-18 to 10 pm 22-1-18”. He was reprimanded by Major E Sexton and forfeited two days pay.

It was a fine and clear day when, on the 12th of March 1918, Gilbert returned to his unit. The 15th Machine Gun Company was billeted near Messines in Belgium. A little over two weeks later the company  would be involved in the First Battle of Viller-Bretonneux.

Gilbert’s Red Cross File explains what happened to him.

“Died of Wounds

I was with Hindle and two others in billets at Corbie on 4th April. In afternoon 2 p.m. shell fell right into building. Hindle was hit badly about the head and shoulder. - conscious. and complaining about his wounds - taken by Ambulance to C.C.S. along with myself. He died two days after at Amiens C.C.S. I was in C.C.S. when he died - know nothing of burial. Knew him as Gil. The two other men were taken away before us on stretchers. Pte. H. Gyer 1797 15th M.G.C. died of wounds next day and was buried in cemetery near Amiens. Pte. T. Hennis. No — 15th M.G.C. was killed outright. Don’t know where buried.

Informant:- Pte. R.P. Henry. 3545

15th M.G.C.

HAREFIELD”

Gilbert was buried in the Vignacourt British Cemetery, France. He is also remembered at the Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, and the Boer War and WW1 Roll of Honour at Tallangatta, Victoria. For his service he was awarded the 1914- 15 Star, the British War medal and the Victory Medal.