Early History
Gibbs was born in Penarth in 1915, the son of shipowner and Wales international rugby player Reggie Gibbs. He was educated at Oundle School in Northamptonshire and was awarded a cadetship to RAF College Cranwell in 1934. At Oundle and Cranwell, Gibbs, like his father, excelled as a sportsman, especially in rugby, tennis and squash. He trained as a pilot and specialised in maritime strike and reconnaissance. On 1 August 1936 he was commissioned into the Royal Air Force as a pilot officer, and was seconded to the Fleet Air Arm for two years. With them he flew Shark and Swordfish planes off aircraft carriers, and he gained his first experience of launching torpedoes from the air. Gibbs was then posted to the Torpedo Training School at Gosport, where he became an instructor in aerial torpedoing.
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