Gilbert Waterhouse
Encyclopedia
War poet
A War poet is a poet writing in time of and on the subject of war. The term, which is applied especially to those in military service during World War I, was documented as early as 1848 in reference to German revolutionary poet, Georg Herwegh.-Crimean War:...
. He was killed on the first day
First day on the Somme
The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the opening day of the Battle of Albert, which was the first phase of the British and French offensive that became known as the Battle of the Somme...
of the Battle of the Somme
Battle of the Somme (1916)
The Battle of the Somme , also known as the Somme Offensive, took place during the First World War between 1 July and 14 November 1916 in the Somme department of France, on both banks of the river of the same name...
, in World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, while serving as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Bn Essex Regiment
Essex Regiment
The Essex Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army that saw active service from 1881 to 1958. Members of the regiment were recruited from across Essex county. Its lineage is continued by the Royal Anglian Regiment.-Origins:...
. A volume of his poems Rail-Head and other poems (including the poems Rail-Head and Bivouacs) was published posthumously in 1916
1916 in literature
The year 1916 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:* The Journal of Negro History is founded by Carter Godwin Woodson, the father of "Black History" and "Negro History Week."...
.
Early life
Waterhouse was born the 3rd child of 7 at ChathamChatham, Medway
Chatham is one of the Medway towns located within the Medway unitary authority, in North Kent, in South East England.Although the dockyard has long been closed and is now being redeveloped into a business and residential community as well as a museum featuring the famous submarine, HMS Ocelot,...
Kent on 22 January 1883. His family was middle-class English, his Father’s occupation being a shipbroker. Waterhouse was educated at Bancroft's School
Bancroft's School
Bancroft's School is a co-educational independent school in Woodford Green, London. The school has around 1,000 pupils aged between 7 and 18...
1894-1900 and at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
. At the UK 1901 Census, the family were shown to be living in East London, where his occupation was given as Ship’s Draughtsman
Drawing
Drawing is a form of visual art that makes use of any number of drawing instruments to mark a two-dimensional medium. Common instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, inked brushes, wax color pencils, crayons, charcoal, chalk, pastels, markers, styluses, and various metals .An artist who...
at the age of 18. He is known to have then qualified as an architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
(RIBA) and gives his profession as “architect-surveyor” when he enlisted on 8 September 1914.
Army Service
Waterhouse enlisted as a Private Soldier, aged 31, in the 18th Bn Royal Fusiliers. He then applied for a commission in April 1915, and was discharged to a commission in May 1915. He was then posted as a Second LieutenantSecond Lieutenant
Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces.- United Kingdom and Commonwealth :The rank second lieutenant was introduced throughout the British Army in 1871 to replace the rank of ensign , although it had long been used in the Royal Artillery, Royal...
to the 3rd Battalion
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
Essex Regiment at Harwich
Harwich
Harwich is a town in Essex, England and one of the Haven ports, located on the coast with the North Sea to the east. It is in the Tendring district. Nearby places include Felixstowe to the northeast, Ipswich to the northwest, Colchester to the southwest and Clacton-on-Sea to the south...
. This was a training unit for officers and soldiers. His "Sonnet
Sonnet
A sonnet is one of several forms of poetry that originate in Europe, mainly Provence and Italy. A sonnet commonly has 14 lines. The term "sonnet" derives from the Occitan word sonet and the Italian word sonetto, both meaning "little song" or "little sound"...
"; "Coming in splendour thro' the golden gate" appeared in The English Review
Ford Madox Ford
Ford Madox Ford was an English novelist, poet, critic and editor whose journals, The English Review and The Transatlantic Review, were instrumental in the development of early 20th-century English literature...
, October 1915.
It is not known when he was posted to join the 2nd Bn Essex Regiment in France, however National Archive records have a telegram
Telegraphy
Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages via some form of signalling technology. Telegraphy requires messages to be converted to a code which is known to both sender and receiver...
to his Father, dated 25 February 1916 stating that Waterhouse has been 'admitted to No 3 General Hospital Le Treport 22 Feb suffering from septic left arm, slight'.
The Somme
Battalion
A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...
, The Essex Regiment
Essex Regiment
The Essex Regiment was an infantry regiment of the British Army that saw active service from 1881 to 1958. Members of the regiment were recruited from across Essex county. Its lineage is continued by the Royal Anglian Regiment.-Origins:...
, at some stage prior to the Battle of the Somme. This Battalion was part of the 12th Brigade
Brigade
A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...
of the 4th Infantry Division
4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)
The 4th Infantry Division is a regular British Army division with a long history having been present at the Peninsular War the Crimean War , the First World War , and during the Second World War.- Napoleonic Wars :...
On 1 July Waterhouse was serving with C Company
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
. His unit was stationed in the line south of the village of Serre
First day on the Somme
The first day on the Somme, 1 July 1916, was the opening day of the Battle of Albert, which was the first phase of the British and French offensive that became known as the Battle of the Somme...
. At the start of the assault the 2nd Bn had comprised 24 officers and 606 other ranks. By the end of the day it was decimated and finished it with only two officers and 192 other ranks unscathed.
Waterhouse was initially posted “wounded and missing”.
His personal records are available in the UK National Archives
and it is clear from survivor testimony that he either died of wounds or was killed after being initially wounded and cared for by his servant. However he was not formally pronounced dead until March 1917, leaving his family in some anguish and forlorn hope
Forlorn hope
A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the leading part in a military operation, such as an assault on a defended position, where the risk of casualties is high....
he may have been taken prisoner.
From Pte J Adkins 15951 St John's Hospital Etaples 11 July 1916:
His body was not recovered until after the battle, when he was buried in the CWGC
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
Serre Road No.2 cemetery around July 1917.
Poetry
Waterhouse left behind a slim volume of poems, published posthumously in December 1916, entitled “Rail-Head and other poems”. There are only 24 poems, most of them written pre-war or before he arrived at the front. But some half a dozen are definitely ‘trench’ poems and show that his powers of observation, precise expression and developing satiric humour might have matched a SassoonSiegfried Sassoon
Siegfried Loraine Sassoon CBE MC was an English poet, author and soldier. Decorated for bravery on the Western Front, he became one of the leading poets of the First World War. His poetry both described the horrors of the trenches, and satirised the patriotic pretensions of those who, in Sassoon's...
or Owen
Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Edward Salter Owen MC was an English poet and soldier, one of the leading poets of the First World War...
had he survived longer than the average infantry officer.
One of the more famous poems in the book is Bivouacs.