Geoffrey Damarel Gidley 1896 - 1916

Geoffrey Damarel Gidley died on May 30th 1916, aged 20. He was a Lance Corporal in the London Regiment (Queen Victoria's Rifles).
Geoffrey was born in 1896 in Ladbroke Grove, West London, and christened in Notting Hill. He was the fourth of five sons born to George Gidley and his wife Annie Maud, nee Sharp. There were also two daughters. Geoffrey's father George was, together with two of his brothers, a tailor in Shepherds Bush, West London. The family had originated in Chagford, Devon, and was part of the Winkleigh family of Gidleys.
Geoffrey was evidently a bright lad. He did not follow his father into the family tailoring business, but in 1911 was a clerk in a barrister's office, living at home in Shepherds Bush.
I came across Geoffrey's name in the latest edition of the school magazine for Latymer Upper School, Hammersmith, whilst looking for my uncle's obituary, for both he and my father later attended Latymer Upper (my husband did too, much later). All of them gained scholarships there. In the Latymerian magazine of January 2014 Geoffrey Damarel Gidley is described as falling at Gommecourt, on the first day of the Battle of the Somme, but I think that could be an error, as the first day of that battle is usually given a date of July 1st 1916, one month after Geoffrey died.
The names on Chiswick's war memorial have all been well researched and I am indebted to their website, Heroes of Chiswick, for the following information. The website quotes from The Chiswick Times of 9 June 1916:
"“Geoffrey Gidley was a very keen scout, and was the first member of a diocesan troop in London to gain the coveted “King’s Scout” badge. His early days as a scout were spent in St Stephen’s, Shepherd Bush Troop, from which he transferred to the 3rd Chiswick when coming to live in Chiswick.
A memorial service was held at St Michael’s, Sutton Court, on Wednesday evening, Holy Communion having been held in the early morning, when the 3rd Chiswick Troop and a contingent from St Stephen’s, Shepherd’s Bush, attended. The 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Chiswick Troops were represented by their patrol leaders. Mr T. Edwards Forster, J.P. (president of the Chiswick Scouts’ Association), District Scoutmaster and Commissioner H. S. Martin, and Scoutmasters H. Garlick, P.J. Lupton, F. Bransdon and L. Wilkinson were also present. The hymns “Nearer, my God, to thee” and “Fight the Good Fight” were sung, and the choir gave a really beautiful rendering of “O rest in the Lord”. The Rev L. McNeill Shelford conducted the service and gave an address. A colour party was furnished by the 3rd Chiswick Troop, consisting of Patrol Leader F. Robinson and Scouts Goffin and Simpson. At the conclusion of the service the Dead March in Saul was played, followed by the first verse of the National Anthem. Mr. and Mrs Gidley, who live in Burnaby Gardens, have reason to be proud of the record set up by their five sons. In addition to the one just lost, their married son, George William, has just joined as a private in the A.S.C. Julian Norman is a second-lieutenant in the R.F.A, and Robert Dudley is a cadet in the Queen Victoria Rifles. Their remaining son is a member of a volunteer corps in Burma. Mr and Mrs Gidley’s daughters have been married during the past twelve months in St Michael’s to Lance-corporal F. L. Edgar, Queen’s Westminsters, and Sergeant W.J.S Cook, London Scottish, both of whom are in France.”
The website also quotes from the parish magazine of St Michael's, Chiswick, as follows:
"Geoffrey Damarel Gidley enlisted with Queen Victoria’s Rifles (QVR) in September 1914 (The Chiswick Times edition of 18 September 1914 includes his name in its weekly update of local men who had joined up, under the heading “Chiswick’s Brave Sons”), and soon rose to the rank of Corporal. He entered France on 17 August 1915, but owing to his skill in training men was kept at base until about a week before his death. In fact he had only been in the firing line a few hours when a shell struck the rough dug-out in which he was, injuring him very severely. He was able to be moved to a clearing station, but died of his wounds the same day – 30 May 1916."
Geoffrey is buried in Doullens Communal Cemetery Extension no. 1, which was apparently used by several casualty clearing stations. He was awarded the 15 Star, the Victory and the British medals.
Sadly, Geoffrey's younger brother Robert Dudley Gidley was later killed in the war, and a third brother, Douglas Gidley died in 1920 in Burma. A cousin, Frederick William Gidley, was killed in 1917.

With thanks to the researchers of The Heroes of Chiswick website.