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On 18 August 2011, what was to be Wootton Bassett’s final repatriation came through the High Street. As had become traditional – remarkable given that repatriations only came to Bassett in 2007 – hundreds lined the High Street to pay their respects. Lieutenant Daniel Clack, of 1 Rifles, had been killed by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol in Helmand Province, six days earlier. But that last repatriation has a connection with one of the names on Wootton Bassett’s war memorial, just yards away from where Lt Clack’s hearse paused for a few, tearful moments. Killed on a different battlefield, fighting a different enemy, in a war to end all wars; Gilbert, or Bert, Angelinetta, was also a rifleman. Allison Bucknell is a councillor for nearby Lyneham, through which 345 bodies were returned during 167 repatriations. She was there for the final ceremony in August 2011. She is keen to understand how her experience of modern day repatriations compares with that of WW1. To help her do that, Allison has been finding out more about Gilbert Angelinetta from Wiltshire WW1 historian, Richard Broadhead. Gilbert was in the 7th Battalion, the King’s Royal Rifle Corp, and was from Wootton Bassett. “But he worked for the Great Western Railway, and that took him to Dan-y-Graig in Wales where he was a blacksmith’s striker”, says Richard. Gilbert’s Short Service Attestation paper shows that he joined the colours for three years, or the duration of the war. “He signed up on the 5th September, 1914 when he was 20-years-old. So he joined up just a little after a month after the start of the First World War, probably in response to Kitchener’s appeal for a 100,000 men which ultimately recruited around a million”, explains Richard. Gilbert’s service records also reflect a very human side of his behaviour, according to Richard. “His conduct sheet shows that he was absent from roll call from 9pm til 10.30pm on the 26th February 1915. On the same day, he created a disturbance in the barrack room after lights out and was also charged with ‘using filthy language to an NCO’ (non-commissioned officer). The assumption is that he had one too many on a night out. For that he was given field punishment no.2, so he’d have been confined to barracks, say, for ten days.” His regiment deployed to France in May 1915 but Gilbert only joined them in July of that year. His medal card reflects his time in France beginning on 20 July and would have qualified him for the 1914-15 Star. He arrived in France where he joined his unit and was sent onto Ypres, from where they joined the ‘thin red line’ of the British trenches at Hooge in Belgium. On 30 July, the 7th Bn – Gilbert’s unit – joined the front line. The timing is significant, as it was the first time that the Germans employed ‘liquid fire’, or flamethrowers. “We don’t know exactly what happened to Gilbert, but we do know from his unit’s War Diaries that there’s a big attack and his unit is involved in the counter attack. During that time, Gilbert is marked up as missing. Sadly, the diaries reflect British soldiers counter-attacking ‘over the charred bodies’ of their comrades in the earlier attack by the Germans.” Records show that Gilbert died just ten days after arriving in France. To find out more about how Gilbert’s family would have found out about his death, Richard took Allison to Wood Street in Wootton Bassett. Gilbert’s mother lived at no.21 and her only notification would have been telegrams to say he was missing, and then that he’d been confirmed dead. Allison says the difference is stark. “I realise that the numbers are so different, with hundreds dead in a single action and that you can’t realistically pay that much attention to that great a number but it’s so different from the time, and respect and dignity that we’ve seen afforded to the service personnel coming through Wootton Bassett”. Wootton Bassett was made Royal Wootton Bassett in October 2011, in recognition of the town’s support for grieving military families. Location: Royal Wootton Bassett, High Street, Swindon, Wiltshire SN4 7AQ Image: Rifleman, No.2062, Gilbert Angelinetta from Wootton Bassett
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