The first and third sons (George William Russell, and Ronald Stanley) were both killed in action in WWI.

He started off studying for Natural Sciences Tripos Part I, but this was cut short by the advent of war.

After a year's work at the Chelsea Physic Garden, Chibnall was awarded a travelling scholarship to the USA.

He secured a place with the leading expert on plant proteins, T B Osborne, at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station.

His notable students included Fred Sanger, who was a double winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

Chibnall suggested Sanger work on methods of identifying the terminal amino acid of Insulin.