Papers of Brig Arthur Blair Gibson (1894-1986)
[GIBSON: 1.] Papers relating to
Gibson's service with 56 Frontier Force Rifles
(2 Bn, 13 Frontier Force Rifles) on the North West Frontier,
India, 1922-[1951].
[GIBSON: 1/1]
1922 Dec 1-1923 Apr 5
Official war diary of 56 Frontier Force Rifles, relating to a tour of duty on the North West Frontier, India, between Asad Khel and Razmak (Waziristan), as part of the Razmak Field Force, notably recording the movements of the whole battalion from camp to camp along the route; arrivals and departures of various units and supply convoys from a base camp during the creation and garrisoning of permanent piquets on the high ground; incidents of sniping and ambush by Mahsuds; the return of the battalion to a rest camp at Kohat; appendices concerning the strength of the battalion, details of permanent piquets in the Asad Khel sector, statements of casualties, temperature charts, and rough copies of operational orders. 69pp.
[GIBSON: 1/2]
1922-1923
Photograph album depicting the tour of duty of 56 Frontier Force Rifles on the North West Frontier, India, including pictures of Asad Khel and Razmak camps, various piquets on the route between the two camps, aerial views of the landscape being patrolled, and the officers of 5 Bde at Razmak. 19pp.
[GIBSON: 1/3]
1922
Map of the Tochi-Razmak-Makin area of the North West Frontier, India, published under the direction of Col Charles Henry Dudley Ryder, Surveyor General of India, on a scale of 1:63,360, and annotated with the positions and names of the permanent piquets created or relieved during the tour of duty of 56 Frontier Force Rifles.
[GIBSON: 1/4]
[1951]
Unofficial War History of 2 Bn, 13 Frontier Force Rifles, from Jan 1942-Nov 1946, an account compiled from notes written by the commanding officers of their service in Burma. 1 file.
[GIBSON: 2.] Diaries relating to
Gibson's service with 15 (Service) Bn,
(1 Glasgow) Highland Light Infantry and the
Intelligence Section, 4 Army, on the Western Front
during World War One, 1915-1917.
[GIBSON: 2/1]
1915 Nov 22-1916 Dec 26
Personal diary of active service with 15 (Service) Bn, (1 Glasgow) Highland Light Infantry on the Western Front during World War One, notably a list of officers of the battalion; the movements of the battalion around the front line on the Somme, including names and descriptions of trenches, and the positions of battalion headquarters; training in preparation for the Battles of the Somme, July 1916, and Gibson's inability, through illness, to join his battalion in the initial attack (the Battle of Albert); description of the part played by 15 (Service) Bn, (1 Glasgow) Highland Light Infantry in the attack, with a list of killed and wounded; Gibson's removal from the unit due to illness, and transfer through various hospitals in France, culminating in his return to England on 28 Sep 1916; a visit to 2 Div, 4 Battle Squadron, of the British Grand Fleet, 7-12 Nov 1916; a medical board at Stobhill, followed by four weeks home service with 3 (Reserve) Bn, Highland Light Infantry at Edinburgh headquarters. 1 vol.
[GIBSON: 2/2]
1917 Feb 2-1917 Jul 11
Personal diary of active service on the Western Front during World War One, notably Gibson's return to 15 (Service) Bn, (1 Glasgow) Highland Light Infantry in Feb 1917; an interview with Col [Valentine] Vivian, Chief S[taff] O[fficer] for Intelligence, leading to a post at 4 Army Headquarters, Querrieu, France, 22 Feb, 1917; description of his work as a junior intelligence officer, including interrogation of prisoners and gathering of information concerning the German withdrawal from the Serre salient; a note on the death of Lt Col William MacCallum Macfarlane, who served with Gibson in the original A Company of 15 (Service) Bn, (1 Glasgow) Highland Light Infantry; Gibson's evacuation to No 8 General Hospital after contracting measles, 24 Mar 1917, and his eventual return to the battalion stationed at Nesle, 28 Apr 1917; transport of the battalion to Bailleul in Flanders in preparation for the Battle of Messines Ridge, 1-7 Jun 1917; transport of the battalion north, to the trenches near Nieuport; Gibson's interview in London with the India Office, and his acceptance into the Indian army, 9-11 Jul 1917. 1 vol.