Arthur John Gill

The son of John and Florence Gill.

31 year old tractor driver Arthur Gill lived with his widowed mother Florence and brother at Sunnyside in Abbotsbury. On the night of Sunday 21st May 1944 he had walked his fiancée, Alice Diment, back to her residence at New Barn Farm. On his way home he was shot dead.

K Company of the 3rd Battalion, 16th Infantry Regiment was part of the US Army's 1st Division, the Big Red One. Veterans of the fighting in North Africa, they were based in Abbotsbury in the run up to D Day. An American sentry, Private Quinton Roosavelt Gregson fired the fatal shots. At the inquest he stated that he had challenged three times, then fired as Arthur Gill ran away. Afterwards he knocked on the door on Mr E F Cutler of Grove Lane, saying "I have killed a man".  Another soldier present at the time declined to give evidence, as was his right at an inquest.

The coroner recorded a verdict that Gill died from a gunshot wound, but that it wasn't clear how the shot came to be fired.

Arthur Gill was buried at St Nicholas Church, Abbotsbury. Along with his brother, fiancée and friends, his Auxiliary Units comrades attended the funeral. The service was conducted by Rev W G E Squire.

The Somerset County Herald covered the inquest. Acting Coroner Mr. P.M. Wicham recorded the verdict that Gill “died from a gun shot, though there was insufficient evidence to show how the shot was fired”.

The un-named American soldier attended the inquest but never spoke and any trial against him was dismissed.

There had been some suggestions that this was in some way a cover up for a terrible accident during a training attack on the US Camp. However in 2018 we met a local resident at the Chickerell Steam Fair, who told us that he knew the Patrol members well. Arthur Gill was apparently a bit deaf and most probably simply didn't hear the sentry's challenge.