Lieutenant-Colonel J.T. Gibson
1/5th Battalion, Welch Regiment
“Hoot” Gibson was the hero of many daring escapes. In India, Africa, Sicily, Italy and France, and other fighting fronts wherever the Wech Regiment was in the thick of battle, soldiers talked of him as a dashing, fearless leader whom they would follow “into hell.” In between battles he found time to indulge in hunting and yachting.
(Liverpool Daily Post, 5 Oct 1944, 4)
Born on 18 September 1903 in Deal, Kent, Jack Tremayne Gibson was a sportsman, naturalist and big game hunter. A graduate of RMC, Sandhurst, he was commissioned into the Welch Regiment in 1923 and served with the King’s African Rifles from 1930 to 1936. He participated in almost every theatre India to North Africa to Europe. He fought with the 1st Battalion, Welch Regiment, surviving the near destruction of the unit twice in Crete and Libya.
Following fighting in the Western Desert, the 1st Welch had been stationed in Crete. The battalion suffered heavy losses when the German airborne troops invaded in May 1941. As one of the few officers left, a wounded Gibson led a few hundred surviving men over the rugged mountains. Fighting off the Germans with little food and water, the shattered battalion was evacuated to Egypt, where it was rebuilt.
By January 1942, Gibson had been promoted to commanding officer of the 1st Welch now stationed in Benghazi, recently recaptured in Operation Crusader. However, the city fell to Rommel’s Africa Korps and the battalion was again cut off and surrounded. Gibson ordered the men to break up into small groups to escape. Fighting his way out of Benghazi, he and survivors made the 150-mile journey back to British lines.
The battalion was once again reinforced and by July 1943, Gibson led the 1st Welch to Sicily. He relinquished command in January 1944 to be recalled to England. The regimental history paid tribute: “He had taken a leading part in all the actions fought by the 1st Welch since the outbreak of war and had proved himself an outstanding Commanding Officer during his two years in command. He had endeared himself to all ranks by his justice, firmness and consideration as well as by his determination and courage in battle.”
During the Normandy campaign, when Lieutenant-Colonel E.R.G. Ripley of the 1/5th Battalion, Welch Regiment was accidently shot by a sentry, Gibson was called in as his replacement. He succeeded temporary CO Major J.S. Morrison-Jones on 21 July 1944. For the capture of Fresney Le Vieux on 12 August, he earned the D.S.O.:
Time and again, when fighting was very fierce in the village, Lieut-Col. J.T. Gibson went forward and organised resistance. It was entirely due to Lieut-Colonel Gibson’s personal bravery and skill that the village was taken.
One officer recalled “He displayed no fear or anxiety and strolled down the path … In a static position Colonel Gibson would search me out saying, ‘Get binoculars and a Bren , we’re going to harass the Hun,’ and harass them we did.” “He was shot by a sniper in Belgium on 20 September 1944 and succumbed to his wounds later that day. Command passed again to Major J.S. Morrison-Jones.
