View source for Gilbert Waterhouse

{{short description|English poet}}
{{Infobox architect
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| birth_date = {{Birth date|1883|01|22|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Chatham, Kent]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1916|07|01|1883|01|22|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Battle of the Somme (1916)|The Battle of the Somme]]
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| nationality = English
| alma_mater = [[Bancroft's School]]
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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2014}}

'''Gilbert Waterhouse''' (22 January 1883 – 1 July 1916), was an English architect and, later, [[war poet]]. He was killed on the [[First day on the Somme|first day]] of [[Battle of the Somme (1916)|the Battle of the Somme]], in [[World War I]], while serving as a second lieutenant in the 2nd Bn [[Essex Regiment]]. A volume of his [[poem]]s, ''Rail-Head and other poems'' (including the poems ''Rail-Head'' and ''Bivouacs''), was published posthumously in 1916.

==Early life==
Waterhouse was born the third child of seven at [[Chatham, Medway|Chatham]] Kent on 22 January 1883. His father was a [[shipbroker]]. He was educated at [[Bancroft's School]] from 1894–1900 and then at the [[University of London]]. At the time of the [[UK Census|UK 1901 national census]], the family were living in East London, where Gilbert's occupation, aged 18, was given as a ship's [[drawing|draughtsman]]. He later qualified as an [[architect]] (RIBA) and gave his profession as "architect-surveyor" when he enlisted in the army on 8 September 1914. One of his architectural projects is recorded [http://archiseek.com/2009/1910-cottages-at-castleton-rochdale-lancashire/ here].

==Army service==
Waterhouse enlisted after the outbreak of World War I as a [[Private soldier#United Kingdom|private]], aged 31, in the 18th Battalion [[Royal Fusiliers]]. He applied for a [[Commissioned officer|commission]] in April 1915, and became an officer in May 1915, when he was posted as a [[second lieutenant]] to the 3rd Battalion Essex Regiment at [[Harwich]], a training unit for officers and soldiers. His sonnet "Coming in splendour thro' the golden gate" appeared in [[Ford Madox Ford|''The English Review'']] in October 1915.

It is not known when he was posted to 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment in France, but [[National Archives (UK)|National Archive]] contain a [[Telegraphy|telegram]] 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==
[[File:Waterhouse Grave.jpg|thumb|right|Serre Road Cemetery Grave]]
Waterhouse returned to his unit, the 2nd [[Battalion]], The [[Essex Regiment]], at some stage prior to the Battle of the Somme. This Battalion was part of the 12th [[Brigade]] of the [[4th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|4th Infantry Division]]

On 1 July, Waterhouse was serving with C [[Company (military unit)|Company]]. His unit was stationed in the line south of the village of [[Serre-lès-Puisieux|Serre]]. 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 [[National Archives (UK)|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]] he may have been taken prisoner.

From Pte J Adkins 15951 St John's Hospital Etaples 11 July 1916:

{{cquote|'I last saw Lt Waterhouse on the 1st July about 9.30 am two hours after the start.

'''He was a very brave man and he stood out more conspicuously than anyone.  He seemed so fearless….'''

'On the [[First day on the Somme#Serre .26 Beaumont Hamel|1 July]] between Serre Wood and [[Beaumont Hamel|Beaumont]],  about 9.30 in the morning, I had got over one German [[Trenches|trench]] and was advancing to a second when I was hit in the back.  I was carrying [[Mills bomb|bombs]] and I was going on again when I caught sight of Lt Waterhouse about 30 yards from me.  He had a [[Webley & Scott|revolver]] in his hand and he stood out, a solitary figure.  I saw him drop to his knees and begin to crawl and I did the same and so did his [[platoon]].  I thought at the time he had seen an [[Machine gun|MG]] and was avoiding the fire but he may have been hit.’}}

His body was not recovered until after the battle, when he was buried in the [[Commonwealth War Graves Commission|CWGC]] Serre Road No.2 cemetery around July 1917.

==Poetry==
<!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[File:Rail-headfrontcover.jpg|thumb|right|Rail-head front cover]] -->
Waterhouse left behind a volume, published posthumously in December 1916, entitled ''Rail-Head and Other Poems''. This contains only 24 pieces, most of them written before the war or before he arrived at the front. Some half a dozen are "trench" poems displaying powers of observation, precise expression and emerging satiric humour.[http://www.bancroftians.net/UserFiles/File/gilbertwaterhouse.pdf Comment by David Giles Bancroft's School, Head of English (retired)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160411222717/http://www.bancroftians.net/UserFiles/File/gilbertwaterhouse.pdf |date=11 April 2016 }}

One of the more famous poems in the book is "Bivouacs".

He is commemorated at Bancroft's School on the World War I War Memorial Honours Board, and a fuller biography is available online [http://www.bancroftians.net/cgi-bin/bancms3.pl?dn=centwaterhouseg here]

{{wikisource|Bivouacs}}
{{wikisource|Rail-Head}}

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
*[http://www.bartleby.com/266/106.html Full text of ''Casualty Clearing Station'']
*[http://www.firstworldwar.com/diaries/casualtyclearingstation.htm Memoirs & Diaries: A Casualty Clearing Station]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929102809/http://www.cwgc.org/search/certificate.aspx?casualty=610089 Waterhouse Grave location, Commonwealth War cemetery ]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061003014335/http://www.silentcities.co.uk/cemeterys/Serre%20Road%20Cemetery%20No%202,%20Beaumont-Hamel,%20Somme.htm Serre Road Cemetery No.2, Beaumont-Hamel, Somme]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060622165131/http://www.national-army-museum.ac.uk/exhibitions/theSomme/ National Army Museum Somme exhibition]
*[http://warpoets.org.uk/worldwar1/poets-and-poetry/gilbert-waterhouse/ English Association]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20181025010147/http://www.monongahelabooks.com/listbri4.html Poetry of WW1]
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waterhouse, Gilbert}}
[[Category:1883 births]]
[[Category:1916 deaths]]
[[Category:British Militia officers]]
[[Category:Royal Fusiliers soldiers]]
[[Category:People educated at Bancroft's School]]
[[Category:People from Chatham, Kent]]
[[Category:20th-century English poets]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Kent]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War I]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in the Battle of the Somme]]
[[Category:Essex Regiment officers]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of London]]
[[Category:English World War I poets]]
[[Category:20th-century English male writers]]
[[Category:English male poets]]