Regiment: Warwickshire Yeomanry.
Died: 15 July 1918 aged 20 in France. Died from exposure in torpedoed ship.
Cemetery: Etaples Military Cemetery XXVIII O 10
Born March 18th 1898. Son of Henry and Elizabeth Gilman (Oil and Colour merchant), Nuthurst Grange, Hockley Heath, Warwickshire.
Lower Modern II — Modern I.
Birmingham University.
Articled to a Chartered Accountant.
'R. J. Gilman, like his elder brother, will always be remembered here for his simple, straightforward character. He had grit and determination which carried him up the School and gave every promise of success in the future. His Major wrote of him: "Young, keen and popular with everyone: just the right fellow to make an ideal officer"; and that is exactly what his friends here would expect him to be. He obtained his commission, in December 1915, at the age of 17. He served in Egypt and Palestine, and was wounded on Nov. 8th, 1917, in charge of the Yeomanry. After this action he was recommended for the Military Cross, but he did not receive it. On his way to another front his ship was torpedoed, and he was one of the few to go down with her. The shock and exposure are believed to have been the cause of his illness and death, three weeks after his arrival, in a military hospital abroad.' (Malvernian, Nov 1918).
On 8th November 1917, he sustained a gun shot wound just below the left shoulder.
Service record:WO 374/27389