Orders, Decorations, Medals and Militaria

A poignant Great War M.M. group of three awarded to Private G. Gibson, 7th Battalion Canadian Infantry (1st British Columbia), who suffered the loss of both of his legs after being severely wounded by shellfire near Amiens in August 1918

Military Medal, G.V.R. (524530 Pte. G. Gibson, 7/Br. Col. R.); British War Medal 1914-20, erased naming; Victory Medal 1914-19 (524530 Pte. G. Gibson, 7-Can. Inf.), together with War Amputations of Canada Meritorious Service Medal, silver, unnamed, minor official corrections to number on the first, good very fine (4) £400-500

M.M. London Gazette 24 January 1919.

Garnet Gibson was born at Rivers Inlet, British Columbia in January 1892 and enlisted in the Canadian Overseas Expeditionary Force - direct from his studies as a Theology student - in October 1915. Embarked for England in March 1916, he served at a Canadian Army Service Corps depot until March 1918, when he joined the 7th Battalion Canadian Infantry in France.

It was in this latter capacity that he was severely concussed and appallingly wounded in the legs by shellfire near Amiens in August 1918, the commencement of a torturous journey from Field Ambulance to Casualty Clearance Station and beyond. Medical reports dated on the 19th refer to the amputation of his shattered right leg at the thigh and his left leg at mid-calf. Removed from the dangerous list in September, he was deemed well enough for onward transport to the U.K. in October - his concussion still causing ‘singing noises’ in his head.

Gibson was discharged at Vancouver in September 1919, his subsequent award of the Canadian Amputees’ M.S.M. speaking volumes in respect of his courage and endurance in the face of much suffering; sold with extensive copied research, including service record and medical reports.