Family :

Service Life:

Campaigns:

• The First World War 1914-1918, World-wide.

20 November - 30 December 1917. As the Battle of Third Ypres closed down the opportunity presented itself for a short but rapid attack on the German positions near Cambrai. Drawing on the considerable lessons learnt at Ypres the battle plan concentrated on better ground the combined resources of infantry, artillery, tanks and air support in what was in part a blueprint for the combined operations that are now a normal part of military thinking and planning. It was at first spectacularly successful but again the German ability to reorganise and counter attack was demonstrated to such an extent that by the end of the battle virtually all gains were lost. British casualties were about 45,000.

Detail :

Derby Daily Telegraph 20 December 1917 - " THE ROLL OF HONOUR - A DERBY SOLDIER'S FATE. - Much sympathy will be extended to Mr. and Mrs. Henry Buckley of North-street, Derby, in the terrible anxiety through which they are passing as to the fate of their son Private Gilbert H. Buckley, of the King's Own Scottish Borderers. This sympathy, it goes without saying, will be equally extended to his young wife and family. Pte. Buckley took part in the recent heavy fighting on the Hindenburg Line, and according to a letter from a comrade, was severely wounded on November 30th, when the Germans made their desperate effort to recover a portion of the ground they had lost ten days earlier in front of Cambrai. No official notification has been received, but the comrade to whom we have referred-the son of a Sheffield engineer, with whom he had struck up a close friendship-fears the worst has befallen him. The last he saw of Private Buckley he was "kneeling to in the act of loading a rifle when suddenly the German machine guns opened fire, and Gilbert fell instantly to the earth before the officer who was addressing him had finished speaking. They would be about 50 yards away. I waited to see if I could be any help or do anything, but the firing was too heavy, and I could not move then. When the fire abated we pressed forward and dug in for the night ... It appeared to me to be instantaneous death." Despite this gloomy conclusion, there is, of course, a chance that Private Buckley may still be alive though wounded or perhaps a prisoner of war. It is always permissible to hope even against hope. Private Buckley was a member of a well-known family of Dercby Nonconformists, and was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him. He was associated with various activities at Victoria-street Congregational Church, and was one of the founders of the chess circle at the Derby Liberal Club. When the call came to him to take up arms he made no attempt to evade his responsibilities. He was then close on 40 years of age, and though, as he said, not in the least possessed of the martial idea, he was prepared to do his bit in the interests of his country. He was employed by the firm Brigden and Co., Iron-gate, and was married to a daughter of the late Mr. Herbert Basford, Uttoxeter-road. He had two little children, one born not long before he went to France. If the fears ass to his fate should turn out to be all too well founded, he will be affectionately remembered in the various circles to which we have already alluded, and in addition in the Hartington Lodge of Freemasons, in which he had been a junior office bearer."

Masonic :

Senior Deacon

Source :

The project globally acknowledges the following as sources of information for research across the whole database:

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• The (UK) National Archives
• Ancestry.co.uk - Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History online
• ugle.org.uk - The records of the United Grand Lodge of England including the Library and Museum of Freemasonry

Additional Source:

• Founder Researchers : Paul Masters & Mike McCarthy
• Researcher : Bruce Littley