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On 18 August 2011, what was to be Wootton Bassett鈥檚 final repatriation came through the High Street.

As had become traditional 鈥� remarkable given that repatriations only came to Bassett in 2007 鈥� 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鈥檚 war memorial, just yards away from where Lt Clack鈥檚 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鈥檚 Royal Rifle Corp, and was from Wootton Bassett.

鈥淏ut he worked for the Great Western Railway, and that took him to Dan-y-Graig in Wales where he was a blacksmith鈥檚 striker鈥�, says Richard.

Gilbert鈥檚 Short Service Attestation paper shows that he joined the colours for three years, or the duration of the war.

鈥淗e 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鈥檚 appeal for a 100,000 men which ultimately recruited around a million鈥�, explains Richard.

Gilbert鈥檚 service records also reflect a very human side of his behaviour, according to Richard.

鈥淗is 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 鈥榰sing filthy language to an NCO鈥� (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鈥檇 have been confined to barracks, say, for ten days.鈥�

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 鈥榯hin red line鈥� of the British trenches at Hooge in Belgium.

On 30 July, the 7th Bn 鈥� Gilbert鈥檚 unit 鈥� joined the front line. The timing is significant, as it was the first time that the Germans employed 鈥榣iquid fire鈥�, or flamethrowers.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 know exactly what happened to Gilbert, but we do know from his unit鈥檚 War Diaries that there鈥檚 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 鈥榦ver the charred bodies鈥� of their comrades in the earlier attack by the Germans.鈥�

Records show that Gilbert died just ten days after arriving in France.

To find out more about how Gilbert鈥檚 family would have found out about his death, Richard took Allison to Wood Street in Wootton Bassett.

Gilbert鈥檚 mother lived at no.21 and her only notification would have been telegrams to say he was missing, and then that he鈥檇 been confirmed dead.

Allison says the difference is stark. 鈥淚 realise that the numbers are so different, with hundreds dead in a single action and that you can鈥檛 realistically pay that much attention to that great a number but it鈥檚 so different from the time, and respect and dignity that we鈥檝e seen afforded to the service personnel coming through Wootton Bassett鈥�.

Wootton Bassett was made Royal Wootton Bassett in October 2011, in recognition of the town鈥檚 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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