The fob watch, inscribed with the name Gilbert Bremin Young, was discovered among the belongings of Llewela Davies, a recently deceased relative of Liz and Mike Calvert from Wanstead, England.
Intrigued by the fob's history, the Calverts began researching Gilbert Young's identity, eventually discovering he was an Australian soldier who had been killed in the Great War.
With little information to go on, and no connection to their wider family, the Calverts contacted the Rutherglen RSL in Australia to see if there were any living descendants of Gilbert Young who could be reunited with the fob watch.
The RSL was equally intrigued by the mystery surrounding Gilbert Young, as there was little information available about the soldier's life in Rutherglen.
Unbeknown to Calverts, on the other side of the world in Rutherglen, historians for years had been baffled as to who Gilbert Young was. There was good information about other local soldiers, families, and lives of past yet there was nothing relating to Gilbert Young.
A chance social chat at the front gate between the Rutherglen RSL President Craig Williams and local historian Nyree Wiggins determined the next exciting pathway in eventually giving Gilbert Bremin Young his identity and returning his fob to the town he was born in.
Nyree Wiggins had taken on the challenge of uncovering Gilbert Young's life story. With the help of genealogist Anita Payne, Wiggins spent months researching Gilbert's military records and piecing together his life story. What they discovered was a tragic and heartbreaking tale of a young man sent to war who never returned home.
Gilbert Young was born and raised in Rutherglen, and like many young men of his generation, he joined the army to fight in the Great War. He was assigned to the 59th Battalion, A Company, 4th Reinforcements and sent to the Western Front in France. On October 4, 1917, Gilbert was killed in action during the Battle of Broodseinde. He was just 25 years old.
Gilbert's death was a devastating blow to his family. His mother had already lost one son, Ivor Howard Young, who was killed at Gallipoli in 1915. Gilbert's other siblings passed away prematurely, leaving no living descendants to carry on his legacy.
For decades, Gilbert's story had been lost to time, until the discovery of his fob watch sparked a new wave of interest in his life.
Thanks to the efforts of the Calverts, Nyree, Anita and the Rutherglen RSL, Gilbert's fob watch has been returned to his hometown, where it will be displayed as a tribute to his sacrifice.
The Rutherglen Historic Society laid a wreath on behalf of the Calverts at the Rutherglen ANZAC Day Commemorative Service last month with the words "you have no family – we are all your family now".
The return of Gilbert's fob watch has brought closure to a long-standing mystery and provided a new chapter in the story of a young man who gave his life for his country.
