Pte Albert Gill, Welsh Guards

Disgrifiad

Ganwyd Albert Gill yn Ystalyfera ger Swansea yn fab i Anthony and Elizabeth Gill. Ef oedd yr ieuengaf ond un o dri ar ddeg o blant. Arolygwr gyda'r heddlu oedd y tad, ac mae'n ymddangos fod Albert a'i frodyr a'i chwiorydd wedi symud o gwmpas sir Forgannwg, gan fyw yn y mannau lle gwasanaethai ei dad. Pan ddechreuodd y rhyfel, roedd y teulu'n byw yn "Llwyn-on", St. Martin's Road, Caerffili. Ymunodd Albert â'r fyddin ym Merthyr, lle gweithiai fel ffitiwr, ar 7fed o Fedi 1914. Ymnodd â Gwarchodlu'r Grenadwyr, ond trosglwyddwyd ef i'r Gwarchodlu Cymreig (Welsh Guards) pan ffurfiwyd y gatrawd yn Chwefror 1915. Lladdwyd Albert Gill ar ddydd Sadwrn 16 Medi 1916 pan roedd yn rhan o ymosodiad y Gwarchodlu Gymreig yn Guillemont ar y Somme. Mae Hanesy Gwarchodlu Gymreig gan C.H. Dudley Ward, yn cynnig darlun byw o'r digwyddiad: 'At 1a.m. on the 16th orders were given that the Welsh Guards would attack...The Hour was to be 9.30a.m. But local conditions were so bad they could not be surmounted so easily. Orders arrived in pulp, a solid sheet of rain fell all night, and communication was fearful. Casualties were heavy... The advance had to be made in sectional rushes, and the assaulting troops got into standing crops, where they lost direction... There were some good men who fell that day... It was hard and confused fighting... The total casualties were 144.' Cofnodd y South Wales Echo a'r Caerphilly Journal hanes ei ladd yn Hydref r 1916. Mae erthygl y South Wales Echo yn dweud : 'SUPERINTENDENT GILL'S SON. Although only 22 years of age, the late Private gill (news of whose death has just been received by his father, Ex-Police Superintendent Gill, of Caerphilly, formerly of Treharris) underwent more than his share of strange experiences. Joining with a number of friends from the Ocean Colliery, Treharris, all of whom have been killed, he went to France 12 months ago. He took part in the notable charge of the Welsh Guards at Hill 70. Later he was frostbitten and "gassed" three times. Whilst crossing on the way home on the hospital ship Anglia the ship struck a mine. Pte. Gill "jumped for it," ill as he was, and was picked up by a sailor. After being at Leicester for a short time he ws transferred to the Welsh Metropolitan Hospital, Whitchurch, where his brother, the Rev. W.E. Gill (now curate of Bargoed), held a curacy. He later rejoined his regiment full of spirit, and went again to France. He has a brother, Gunner Geo. Gill, in Salonika down with dysentery. A brother-in-law, Sergeant Burke (son of Superintendent Burke, of the Cardiff City Police), is also fighting in France.' Ni ddaethpwyd o hyd gorff Albert Gill, na chwaith gorff un arall o'r Welsh Guards a hannai o Gaerffili, sef Is-gorpral Henry Jervis. Cofnodir eu henwau ar Gofeb Thiepval sy'n diogelu enwau'r dynion a gollwyd.