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Pte John Edward Gill
British Army 2nd (West Lancs.) Field Ambulance Royal Army Medical Corps
from:Michael, Isle of Man
(d.28th Dec 1917)
From my earliest days I remember that my (adoptive) Grandma Teare, who lived with us, had a framed photograph in her bedroom of a soldier in uniform. When I asked who he was she told me it was John Gill who died in the First War. Not until much later did I realise that John was her only son.
John was born in Andreas, Isle of Man, on 19th December 1894, when his mother was 20. His birth was registered in his mother's maiden name of Cormode. I think his father Robert Gill died at the age of 29 when John was about 8 years old. Soon afterwards Mary married Philip Teare who worked at the White House Farm in Kirk Michael, and they lived in one of the farm cottages on Main Road, and attended Park View Wesleyan Chapel a few yards away on the opposite side of the road. Mary and Philip had one daughter in 1904, Ella, who married Edward Kennaugh and had a daughter Enid (born 1924).
I am not sure whether John volunteered for active service or not, but in any case I think conscription was extended to the Isle of Man and the other Crown Dependencies sometime in 1916. Clearly, John's death occurred just a few months before my mother Phyllis was born, so not only did I not know him, but neither did my mother. Nevertheless I feel increasingly that I ought to have known him and the war robbed me of the opportunity.
It is difficult to discover exactly where John was and what he did during World War I, because, like many other service records, his detailed record was lost. What is certain is that he served with the Royal Army Medical Corps as Private 339576 in the Second (West Lancashire) Field Ambulance. He died a week after his 23rd birthday. No cause of death is given in the military records. I was told simply that John died in the war (not very informative!), and I am aware that as many service people died of illnesses as were killed in action. However, I have recently obtained a copy of the death certificate giving the cause of death as acute pulmonary tuberculosis, 1 year 6 months. The TB could have been contracted anywhere, but it was sometimes caused by gas poisoning on active service. Was John involved in France and/or in Belgium? I should like to find out.
I have discovered much about the Uncle I never knew, but there is much more that, to date, I have been unable to unearth. For example, I know nothing about his childhood and youth in Andreas and Michael. As I have mentioned, my Grandma Teare, who lived with us until she died when I was 12, hardly ever mentioned him, except when asked about the picture of the soldier on her bedroom wall; even then she would say only tat it was John Gill who died in the war. Only much later did I discover that he was her only son.
I could not understand why she never talked about her son, but almost everyone in the village had lost somebody in the war, and I think that in many cases their grief remained a private matter. It seemed as if they had agreed to get on with life and put a good face on things. By that time, of course, Mary had her daughter Ella, and I suppose too that her loss of John might have been a factor that led her sister Margaret to leave baby Phyllis in her care when she died. From John's death certificate I find that before his military service he was a grocer. I remember two grocery shops in Michael, one of which was Callows. John might have worked in one of these.
This is the sum of my knowledge about John. I should like to know more about his short life, his childhood and youth, and the details of his service in the Royal Army Medical Corps. If anyone is able to give me such information, or to steer me in the right direction, I should be very grateful.
