#28 Lce Cpl William Benjamin Knibb (1895-1932)

#28 Lce Cpl (and Acting Cpl) William Benjamin Knibb

Birth 3rd January 1895 in Clerkenwell, Holborn district, London, England. The GRO digitised index shows his mother's maiden name was Marson. birth record (freeBMD) [William's exact date of birth is taken from his army service record (in my mother's possession)].

Death 9th March 1932 at Queen Mary's Hospital, Roehampton, Putney, Wandsworth district, London, England. He was buried at Brighton and Preston cemetery, Hartington Road, Brighton, East Sussex, England. His gravestone reads "In ever loving memory of my dear husband William Knibb who fell asleep 9th March 1932 aged 37 years" death record (freeBMD) grave record (BillionGraves) [His exact place of death is taken from the announcement of his death in the April 1932 edition of the Briove Post (in my mother's possession) which also states his date of death to be 10th March 1932, however the billion graves transcription and image of his grave shows his death date was 9th March 1932.].

Marriage 28th October 1916 in Holborn Register Office, Holborn district, London, England to Ellen Elizabeth Pearcey marriage record (freeBMD) [William's exact marriage date and place are taken from the Military History Sheet within William's WWI Pension Records].
William and Ellen had two children:
28.1 Leslie William Thomas Knibb (1918-1920)
28.2 Ronald Knibb (1921-1998)

Residences
31st March 1901 Census - William B Knibb was a single 6 year-old born in Clerkenwell. He was the son of market porter Thomas Knibb, and was living at 11 Margaret St, Cletkenwell, London, England with Thomas, Thomas' wife Mary A Knibb and 5 of their other children, Thomas W Knibb, George Knibb, Alice R Knibb, Minnie E Knibb and Maggie M Knibb. 1901 census (familysearch) or 1901 census (ancestry)
2nd April 1911 Census - William Knibb was a single 16 year-old junior mechanic at a factory for the GPO and was born in Clerkenwell, London. He was the son of Thomas Knibb, a wholesale scalesman for the frozen meat industry. He was living at 11 Margaret Street, Clerkenwell, London, England with Thomas, Thomas' wife Mary Ann, and their 6 other children, Thomas William Knibb, George Knibb, Alice Knibb, Minnie Knibb, Margaret Knibb and Albert Knibb. 1911 census (familysearch) or 1911 census (ancestry)
4th September 1914 - According to the attestation page of his WWI Pension Records, William was living at 11 Margaret St, Clerkenwell, EC at the time of his enlistment.
9th January 1920 - At the death of his son, Leslie, William was living at 18 Caledonian Road, Brighton, and was a Diamond Cutter.

Territorial Army
August/September 1914 - The 8th London Regiment, which William would join, began at 130 Bunhill Row, Finsbury in August 1914. It moved, on mobilisation on 5th August, to Bisley, then went on, in September, to Crowborough. The 8th London Regiment (the Post Office Rifles) were part of the 2nd London Brigade of the 1st London Divison.
4th September 1914 - William enlisted as a Rifleman in the City of London Rifles in the 8th 1.S [I don't know what this means] unit of the 8th London Regiment (the Post Office Rifles). His regimental number was 2017. At the time of his enlistment William was 5'7". His chest, when expanded, had a girth of 37", with a range of expansion of 3". His vision and physical development were both described as good, and he was considered fit for the Territorial Forces. C of E, and Telephone Mechanic, PO Factory Holloway have been noted on the top of his attestation form. He served at home until the 16th March 1915.
5th November 1914 - The 1/8th unit of the 8th London Regiment (the Post Office Rifles) moved to Watford, and transferred to the 4th London Brigade of the 2nd London Divison.
17th March 1915 - Willliam joined the Expeditonary Force in France. He served until 28th May 1915.
18th March 1915 - The 1/8th unit of the 8th London Regiment landed in Le Havre. According to the medal roll (see 1920) William began service in War Theatre 1a on this date.
9th May 1915 - The 2nd London Division took part in the Battle of Aubers Ridge.
11th May 1915 - The formation (the 4th London Brigade of the 2nd London Division) were renamed 140th Brigade of the 47th (2nd London) Division.
15th May 1915 to 25th May 1915 - The 2nd London Division took part in the Battle of Festubert
24th May 1915 - William was wounded in action, suffering a gunshot wound to the head.
28th May 1915 - According to the medal roll (see 1920) William's service in War Theatre 1a ended on this date. He is shown on what appears to be a list of hospital entries that contained an error or could not be verified. The list is numbered 'No. 23480' and subheaded 'No. 5 General Hospital 28th May 1915' on which William's entry reads '2017 Pte Knibb, W.B. 4th. London R. No Trace.'. Hospital List (findmypast)
29th May 1915 - William returned to serving at home, and stayed there until 12th December 1915.
26th June 1915 - William transferred to the 3/8th unit of the 8th London Regiment (the Post Office Rifles), whilst still serving at home. The 3/8th were at Tadworth at this time. [At least I think it says 3/8th. The 1/8th were still in France at this time, so it must either be 2/8th or 3/8th, but looks more like a 3 than a 2].
October 1915 - The 3/8th unit of the 8th London Regiment moved to Blackheath, and would move again in January 1916 to Fovant (Where the London Rifle Brigade regimental badge is carved on the chalk hillside).
13th December 1915 - William transferred to the 1/8th unit of the 8th London Regiment (the Post Office Rifles). William rejoined the Expeditionary Force in France, serving until 5th July 1916.
14th December 1915 - According to the medal roll (see 1920) William's second period of service in War Theatre 1a began on this date.
6th April 1916 - William was appointed an unpaid Lance Corporal in the 1/8th unit of the 8th London Regiment (the Post Office rifles)
21st May 1916 - The 2nd London Division was engaged in the German attack of the Vimy Ridge.
22nd May 1916 - He was wounded in action, suffering gunshot wounds to his eye and a fractured femur. The effect of his wounds was amputation of the left leg (though the date of amputation is not specified).
26th or 27th May 1916 - William was admitted to No. 2 General Hospital in Le Havre, where he was under treatment for 41 days. His injuries were described, in the army's roman numeral classification system, as Gunshot Wound Forehead II I [II = a gunshot wound of the face, II 1 = with only contusions and/or simple flesh wounds of the scalp. i.e. the injury didn't include any fracture, penetration or peforation of the cranium] and Right Thigh IX4 [IX = a gunshot wound of the lower extremeties, IX4 = with compound fracture]. He was admission number 6712, his rank at this point was Acting Corporal and he was described as being in 3rd Company of 1/8th Battalion.
1st June 1916 - William had an operation at 2nd General Hospital for the Gunshot Wound to his buttock. The operation is described as Counter Incisions and Free Draininge under General anesthetic. Medical Record for 1st October 1916 (findmypast)
21st June 1916 - William had an operation at 2nd General Hospital for the Gunshot Wound to his buttock. The operation is described as Further Incision and Free Drainage under General anesthetic. Medical Record for 21st June 1916 (findmypast)
24th June 1916 - William had an operation at 2nd General Hospital the Gunshot Wound to his buttock, and his fractured femur. The operation is described as Amputation at fractured upper of Femur under General Anesthetic and Slocaine[?]. Medical Record for 24th June 1916 (findmypast)
5th July 1916 - William transferred to ac [According to the 'unit' colum in his service record. Presumably ac means army convoy or ambulance convoy?]. He transferred from No. 2 General Hospital to sick convoy on the Hospital Ship HM Asturias after 41 days of treatment. His discharge record states he is C of E. According to the medal roll (see 1920) William's second, and last, period of service in War Theatre 1a ended on this date. Discharge (transfer) record for 5th July 1916 (findmypast)
6th July 1916 - William returned to serving at home, remaining in the territorial army until being discharged in May 1917.
14th September 1916 - HM The King was graciously pleased to award the Military Medal to L.C W.B.Knibb Lond. R. London Gazette 12th Sept 16 Edinburgh Gazette 18th Sept 16 military medal gazetteer image
1917 - All soldiers in the Territorial Forces were renumbered, from consecutively issued 4 digit numbers (up to about 8700 by early 1917), to numbers from 370000 onwards, also issued consecutively by start of service. William's new number was 370422, meaning he was at this time 422nd in the 8th London Regiment by service date, having been 2017th when he first enlisted. The 8th London Regiment must therefore presumably have experienced almost 1,600 casualties just among those who had signed up to the regiment before William (which includes those already in the regiment prior to the outbreak of WWI). See here for more.
9th May 1917 - William was awarded a weekly pension of 27/6, by direction of the Minister of Pensions. He was awarded the Silver War Badge on this date (badge no 176,933), and the Silver War Badge record states the reason for his discharge from the 8th London Regiment was 'Para 392 XVI Wounds'. Para 392 XVI means a discharge because the soldier was 'no longer physically fit for war service', in this case due to wounds. See here for more about para 392.
17th May 1917 - William was discharged, according to his service record, having served in the territorial army for 2 years and 257 days.
By 18th May 1917 - The Silver War Badge Record contains a signature certifying that all the men listed on that record (12 men including William Benjamin Knibb) had received their Silver War Badge and Certificate by this date.
2nd December 1919 - W B Knibb (Embarkation 18/3/15, Discharge para 392 XVI KR 17/5/17) was listed in the roll of those entitled to the 1914-15 Star. WWI Medal And Award Rolls (ancestry)
12th July 1920 - 370422 Rfn Wm Benjamin Knibb was listed on the roll of individuals entitled to the Victory Medal and/or British War Medal under army orders. On this particular page 'or' was had crosses typed through it to indicate everyone on that page was entitled to both medals. His service was summarised on the roll as:
8th London R. Rfn 2017: Theatre 1a 18-3-15 to 28-5-15 and Theatre 1a 14-2-15 to 5-7-16

The sources for the Territorial Army section are WWI Pension Records (ancestry), WWI Service Records (findmypast), WWI Medal Rolls Index Card (ancestry) and Silver War Badge Record (ancestry) and Military Hospital Admissions and Discharges (forces-war-records) The movements of 1/8th and 3/8th regiments are shown here: www.longlongtrail.co.uk and the engagements of the 2nd London Division are shown here: www.longlongtrail.co.uk

The WWI Pension Record on ancestry and WWI Service Record on findmypast actually contain the following [findmypast has much better scan quality for these documents]:
An attestation, signed by William at enlistment, and confirming his residence at that time.
A statement of his services, detailing changes in his regiment, battalion and rank
A military history sheet detailing campaigns served on, periods at home and wounds received
A small additional form detailing the particulars of his marriage
A medical inspection report, filled out at enlistment, and declaring him fit for duty
and a Ministry of Pensions form, from Royal Hospital, Chelsea, detailing the decision to award him a pension.

The Military Hospital Admission and Discharges record is an online transcript of the record of his admission to and discharge from No. 2 General Hospital, Le Havre, the original of  which can be found in the National Archives (MH106/935 6712).