In search of brave bomb man

11:20am Monday 28th April 2008

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WHITLEY Local History Group would like to contact relatives of Sapper William Gibson, Royal Engineers, who died in a bomb explosion on Whitley Common, on the outskirts of Coventry on October 18, 1940.

During the Blitz on Coventry in the Second World War, it was customary for unexploded bombs to be removed from the city to Whitley Common for de-fusing or a controlled explosion.

Sapper Gibson was in the bomb disposal squad who were unloading a bomb on the Common when it detonated unexpectedly, killing seven men instantly.

We are planning to erect a memorial to these brave men on Whitley Common later this year and we would like to invite relatives of the men to the unveiling ceremony.

Unfortunately the death certificates quote the men's home addresses as No 9 Bomb Disposal Group Royal Engineers', in each instance and all we have been able to find out about Sapper Gibson is that he hailed from Burnage, then Lancashire and now Greater Manchester and he was the son of William and Eleanor Gibson.

I would be grateful if anyone related to Sapper Gibson could contact me at 234 London Road, Whitley, Coventry CV3 4BX so we can tell them more.

REG KIMBER, Hon Secretary, Whitley Local History Group.