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6th Battalion, East Kent Regiment (The Buffs)
6th (Service) Battalion, The East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) was raised at Canterbury in August 1914 as part of Kitchener's First New Army and joined 37th Brigade, 12th (Eastern) Division. They trained at Purfleet with final training being undertaken near Aldershot from the 20th of February 1915, with the cavalry, motor machine gun battery, sanitary and veterinary sections joining the Division. They proceeded to France between the 29th of May and 1st of June 1915 landing at Boulogne, they concentrated near St Omer and by 6th of June were in the Meteren-Steenwerck area with Divisional HQ being established at Nieppe. They underwent instruction from the more experienced 48th (South Midland) Division and took over a section of the front line at Ploegsteert Wood on the 23rd of June 1915. They were in action in The Battle of Loos from the 30th of September, taking over the sector from Gun Trench to Hulluch Quarries consolidating the position, under heavy artillery fire. On the 8th they repelled a heavy German infantry attack and on the 13th took part in the Action of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, capturing Gun Trench and the south western face of the Hulluch Quarries. During this period at Loos, 117 officers and 3237 men of the Division were killed or wounded.By the 21st they moved to Fouquieres-les-Bethune for a short rest then returned to the front line at the Hohenzollern Redoubt until the 15th of November, when they went into reserve at Lillers. On the 9th of December, 9th Fusiliers assisted in a round-up of spies and other suspicious characters in the streets of Bethune. On the 10th the Division took over the front line north of La Bassee canal at Givenchy. On the 19th of January they began a period of training in Open Warfare at Busnes, then moved back into the front line at Loos on the 12th of February 1916. In June they moved to Flesselles and carried out a training exercise. They moved to Baizieux on the 30th June and went into the reserve at Hencourt and Millencourt by mid morning on the 1st of July. They relieved the 8th Division at Ovillers-la-Boisselle that night and attacked at 3.15 the following morning with mixed success. On the 7th they attacked again and despite suffering heavy casualties in the area of Mash Valley, they succeeded in capturing and holding the first and second lines close to Ovillers. They were withdrawn to Contay on the 9th July. They were in action in The Battle of Pozieres on the 3rd of August with a successful attack capturing 4th Avenue Trench and were engaged in heavy fighting until they were withdrawn on the 9th. They moved north and in 1917 were in action at Arras in The First Battle of the Scarpe, The Battle of Arleux and The Third Battle of the Scarpe. They remained in the Arras sector until the 30th of October when they moved to Hesdin for the Cambrai offensive in which the Division suffered heavy losses. In March 1918 they moved by motor lorry from Busnes to Albert and were in action in The Battle of Bapaume and spent the spring engaged in heavy fighting a the enemy advanced across the old Somme battlefields. On the 1st of July 1918, they attacked Bouzincourt. but were repelled by the enemy. They were relieved on the 10th and moved to the area south of Amiens. They were in action in The Battle of Amiens and were engaged in heavy fighting from the 22nd pushing the enemy back and capturing Meaulte, Mametz, Carnoy, Hardecourt and Faviere Wood with in a week. In September they were in action in a successful attack on Nurlu and pursued the enemy back to Sorel Wood. They were in action during The battles of the Hindenburg Line, including The Battle of Epehy and The Battle of the St Quentin canal. In October they fought in The Final Advance in Artois reaching the Scheldt Canal by the 27th. They were withdrawn for rest on the 30th and after the Armistice moved to the area east of Douai and were engaged in battlefield salvage and sports until demobilisation began.
27th Jun 1915 Rockets
27th September 1915 Orders
27th September 1915 Orders 
28th September 1915 Reliefs complete
10th Oct 1915 Last Letter Home
13th Oct 1915 In Action
1st Nov 1915 Relief
2nd Nov 1915 In the Trenches
14th Nov 1915 Reliefs Complete
15th Nov 1915 Shelling
17th Jan 1916 On the March
4th Aug 1916 In Action
21st of August 1916 On the Move
1st Jan 1918 Training
2nd Jan 1918 Training
3rd Jan 1918 Training
4th Jan 1918 Training
5th Jan 1918 Moves
6th Jan 1918 Moves
7th Jan 1918 Training
10th Aug 1918 Reliefs
22nd Aug 1918 Attack Made
25th Sep 1918 Medals Awarded
9th Feb 1918 Parcels for Prisoners
If you can provide any additional information, please add it here.
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These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with6th Battalion, East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) during the Great War 1914-1918. - Auburn Herbert George. Pte. (d.29th Aug 1918)
- Baily William Henry. Pte (d.4th Oct 1916)
- Barrett MM. Archie James. Sgt. (d.13th Sep 1916)
- Briscoe Samuel Henry Niblett. Pte. (d.3rd May 1917)
- Brown Albert Edward. Pte.
- Bruce Robert Henry. Pte. (d.6th April 1916)
- Butler Walter Edward. Sgt. (d.13th Oct 1916)
- Cave Herbert James. Pte. (d.11th July 1917)
- Cotter VC William Richard. Cpl. (d.14th March 1916)
- Cottingham John Albert . Pte. (d.3rd May 1917)
- Couch John William. Pte. (d.29th Sep 1918)
- Culmer Arthur T.. Sgt (d.7th Oct 1916)
- Cushion Alfred Joseph. Cpl. (d.9th August 1918)
- Dowling Charles John. Pte. (d.12th April 1917)
- Gibson Charles Samuel. Pte.
- Giles Oliver Robert. Cpl. (d.10th April 1917)
- Giles Oliver Robert. Cpl. (d.10th Apr 1917)
- Hobbs William. Pte. (d.20th Sep 1918)
- Hodgkin William. Pte. (d.1st May 1917)
- Jordan Walter Henry. Pte. (d.7th Oct 1916)
- Kingsford MM & bar. Walter. Sgt. (d.23rd Aug 1917)
- Kitchingham Thomas. Pte.
- Marshall Reginald Arthur Owen. Pte. (d.14th September 1917)
- Martin Lewis Edwin . Cpl. (d.7th Oct 1916)
- Mattock Thomas William. Pte. (d.22nd September 1918)
- Nash John. Pte. (d.8th Sep 1915)
- Orsler Harry James Elijah. L/Cpl. (d.13th Oct 1915)
- Payne Percy Edward.
- Phillpott Edward. Pte. (d.1st Apr 1918)
- Piggott Horace. Pte. (d.23rd Aug 1918)
- Saunders Bert. Pte. (d.18th March 1916)
- Symons Cecil Henry. Pte. (d.3rd Oct 1917)
- Thompson William L.. Pte. (d.22nd Apr 1916)
- Tunstall Henry William. Pte. (d.16th August 1918)
- Want James. Pte. (d.9th April 1918)
- Williams Thomas. Pte. (d.9th Aug 1918)
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 6th Battalion, East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) from other sources.
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Pte. Herbert George Auburn 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment (d.29th Aug 1918) My uncle Herbert George Auburn, my fathers eldest brother. My father (aged 3) remembers standing in the kitchen one morning when Herbert, came into the kitchen dressed in full uniform. 'Look at me mum' said Herbert, 'don't I look smart', my grandmother cried and my father never saw him again. So sad.
Still remembered Herbert, you were never forgotten by your brokenhearted parents, brothers and sisters. RIP.
Herbert George Auburn served with the 6th Battalion, East Kent Regiment (The Buffs)during WW1 and died on the 29th August 1918. He is buried in the Peronne Road Cemetery, Maricourt, Somme, France.
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Cpl. William Richard Cotter VC 6th Btn. The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) (d.14th March 1916) William Cotter died of wounds on the 14th of March 1916, aged 33 and is buried in the Lillers Communal Cemetery in France.
An extract from The London Gazette, dated 28th March, 1916 (No. 29527), records the following:- "For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. When his right leg had been blown off at the knee and he had also been wounded in both arms, he made his way unaided for fifty yards to a crater, steadied the men who were holding it, controlled their fire, issued orders, and altered the dispositions of his men to meet a fresh counter-attack by the enemy. For two hours he held his position, and only allowed his wounds to be roughly dressed when the attack had quieted down. He could not be moved back for fourteen hours, and during all this time had a cheery word for all who passed him. There is no doubt that his magnificent courage helped greatly to save a critical situation."
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Pte. John Nash A Coy., 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) (d.8th Sep 1915) Extract from Buffs (East Kent Regiment) 12th Division Piece 1860/1-4: 37 Infantry Brigade: 6 Battalion Buffs (East Kent Regiment) war diary, p.37:
Despierre Farm 27th of July 1915: Small rockets went up in enemy lines opposite A company's trench 95, 2358 Pte Nash wounded, 1963 Pte R Rowkins killed. Strength: 27 Officers, 976 other ranks (inc attached). Weather unsettled south west wind. TW
Private John Nash died of his wounds in 3rd General Hospital, Wandsworth on 8th of September 1915.
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Pte. Charles Samuel Gibson 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment Charles Gibson serve with the 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment (The Buffs). He was treated at the Kitchener Military Hospital in Brighton in 1918.
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Sgt Arthur T. Culmer 6th Btn East Kent Regiment (d.7th Oct 1916) Arthur Culmer served with 6th East Kent Regiment.
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Pte. Albert Edward Brown 6th Battalion East Kent Regiment Albert Brown died from having been exposed to gas.
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Pte. Thomas Williams 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment (d.9th Aug 1918) Thomas Williams was the son of Mrs Eleanor Williams of Hyfrydle, 17 Greenfield Road, Colwyn Bay, and the late William Williams.
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Pte. James Want 14th Btn. Essex Regiment (d.9th April 1918) James Want was a conscript into 14th Battalion Essex, Regiment. He was wounded and patched up and transferred into 6th Battalion The Buffs (East Kent Regiment). He died of wounds in a hospital near Doullens, France and is buried there in an extension to communal cemetery. RIP
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Cpl. Alfred Joseph Cushion 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment (d.9th August 1918) Alfred Cushion was born in 1876 living in Rotherhithe as a boy. He worked in the printing industry as a compositor and lived in Edmonton, Middlesex.
He joined up in 1916 at the age of 40 years. He was killed in action at the Battle of Morlancourt on 9th of August 1918 leaving a wife and four children.
His name is commemorated at Vis-en-Artois Memorial which bears the names of casualties who fell in the period from 8th August 1918 to the date of the Armistice in the Advance to Victory in Picardy and Artois.
We visited the Memorial in the 1960s. He is our maternal grandfather and felt it appropriate to remember him at the centenary of his death and the end of WW1.
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Pte. Henry William Tunstall 6th Battalion East Kent Regiment (d.16th August 1918) Henry Tunstall served with the 6th East Kent Regiment. I know very little. He was born in July 1893, married to Elizabeth Braithwaite on 5 April 1914 and died on 16th August 1916. He was 24 years old. He died of his wounds. I do not know where he died or if he is on a memorial in France.
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Pte. Cecil Henry Symons 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment (d.3rd Oct 1917) Cecil Symons was born in Bradford on 2nd August 1894, the second child of Henry Octavius Paul Symons (known as Harry) and Eliza Cooke. Cecil's grandfather was a civil engineer who constructed railways all over England, including the Settle-Carlisle line. He settled his family in Bradford during the 1870s. Harry had been born in Hampshire. He started work as a clerk, as did two of his brothers, and he rose to become cashier to a wool-combing company. In 1890 he married Eliza, the daughter of a Bradford tailor. They had five children, four of whom survived infancy. Cecil showed promise from an early age and he went to Bradford Grammar School shortly after his eighth birthday in 1902. He would be a pupil there for seven years, leaving shortly before he was fifteen. Throughout his school years, he did well at French and also Maths, History, Geography and in his final year, Physics. From school, he went like his father to work in the wool trade as a clerk with wool merchants Messrs. Francis Willey and Co. in central Bradford. When the war began Cecil was twenty and a single man living with his parents, near Toller Lane. He did not volunteer during the first year of hostilities but when the government moved towards conscription in November 1915 Cecil attested his willingness to serve when called upon. Although the place of his attestation was Bradford, he was assigned to the 2/5th Battalion, East Kent Regiment. He was duly mobilized in April 1916 and travelled to Tonbridge in Kent. His medical inspection reveals that he was 5 feet 5 inches tall, weighed a little over nine stones and his chest measured 36 inches. He received eight months training before he was sent to 38th Infantry Base Depot in France at the end of December, where he was posted to D Company, 6th Battalion East Kent Regiment (6th Buffs). In 1917 Symons survived going over the top twice during the British Spring Offensive around Arras. On 9th April 6/Buffs successfully took their objectives for relatively light losses. On the disastrous 3rd May, the battalion lost 360 men for no gain at Monchy-le-Preux. The 6th Buffs were then withdrawn to refit and train in the new attack methods the B.E.F. was adopting. At the end of June Symons went down with trench fever, caused by infected lice bites, and was eventually taken to a hospital at Boulogne. He was not discharged until 4th September, and he was then at 38th Infantry Base Depot before returning to his unit on 24th September. A few days later on 3rd October, the 6th Buffs were in the front line at Monchy when a neighbouring battalion launched a raid on the German trenches. In retaliation the Germans heavily shelled The Buffs trenches, causing 33 casualties. Cecil Symons was one of six dead who were buried in the same row at Monchy British Cemetery. Cecil's sibling Horace had volunteered before his elder brother, in January 1915. He served with the Royal Field Artillery and the Royal Engineers and survived the war. Their parents dedicated a window in St. Chad's, their parish church just off Toller Lane, to Cecil's memory.
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Sgt. Archie James Barrett MM. 6th Battalion, B Company East Kent Regiment (d.13th Sep 1916) For many years we only knew that our Gt Uncle had been killed in WW1 with the suggestion he lost his life during the Battle of the Somme.
After a family conversation in early 1997 it was suggest Archie had a medal, so with no family records, the medal card was sourced at the PRO in Kew to show he had been awarded the M.M. Other than a gazette entry to confirm the medal we could find no other information, the war diaries revealed little.
Several years ago some further information was located in the, by now digitised service records, via a family website. This helped paint a picture of the uncle we never knew. The papers included his attestation papers so, unlike is younger brother and others in the family all who were relatively short, Archie was 6" 1'. He joined up in August 1914 joining the 6th Buffs and from other papers found online he had risen to the rank of Sergeant by October 1915. We also know he was sent back to the UK with a scalp wound in March 1916, before returning back to his unit in France a few weeks later.
In September 1916 the battalion were in trenches in the Arras area and we are assuming he was the chap killed, as recorded in the diary, on the 13th of that month.
Maybe the most poignant tribute to Archie by his Commanding Officer and as recorded in the Roll of Honour as follows:-
"He was the most tactful fellow during the most trying and desperate times and his gallant conduct and conscientious work won for him brotherly love from all ranks. His good work had been noticed throughout the battalion and had he been spared he would shortly have achieved greater greatness. He was awarded the Military Medal for bravery on the field during the operations on the Somme."
We'll never know much about Archie but this eptiaph means much to a family who never knew their uncle.
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Pte. Edward Phillpott 6th Btn East Kent Regiment (d.1st Apr 1918) Edward Phillpott was my 2nd Great Grand Uncle and the only relative I know of who served and died in WWI.
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Pte. Thomas Kitchingham 6th Battalions East Kent Regiment Thomas Kitchingham was born on 20 April 1897 at Place Farm, Hartlip, Kent.
Unfortunately, we do not have the Service Records to confirm precisely when he joined and his precise service information, and we only have the medal card and medal roll to refer to.
It would seem he initially joined the 6th Battalion East Kent Regiment before being transferred to the 7th Battalion, dates and details not known.
It is understood from what his younger brother has mentioned, he was at the Battle of the Somme.
Tom survived the war and eventually died in 1978 in Gillingham, Kent.
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Pte. Bert Saunders 6th Btn. C Coy East Kent Rgt (The Buffs) (d.18th March 1916) My grandfather Bert Saunders was killed in action, aged 28, in Northern France in WWI. He is commemorated on the Loos Memorial.
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Pte. Horace Piggott 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment (d.23rd Aug 1918) Horace Piggott served with the 6th Battalion, East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) during WW1 and was killed in action on the 23rd August 1918, aged 20. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial in France.
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Pte. William L. Thompson 6th Btn. East Kent Regiment (d.22nd Apr 1916) William Thompson srtved with The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) 6th Battalion, He was executed for desertion on 22nd April 1916 aged27 and is buried in Labourse Communal Cemetery, Pas-de-Calais, France.
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Pte. Walter Henry Jordan 6th Btn The East Kent Regiment (The Buffs) (d.7th Oct 1916) Walter Henry Jordan was born in Deal, Kent on 15 Nov 1894 to John and Georgina Emily Jordan. Ancestry records show him on the 1911 census living at No 17 Griffin St, Deal, Kent. He is a Confectioner's Errand Boy. His father is dead by this date. Other family members are Georgina Emily Jordan (50), Percy Jordan (25), Arthur Jordan (19), Florence Jordan (18), Charlie Jordan (20) Harry Jordan (15), Daisy Jordan (13) and Grove Ralph Norris (56).
He enlisted in to the Buffs at Sandwich, Kent and joined the regiment at Canterbury on 1/11/1915. He was small in stature at 5'4" tall with a chest measurement of 34" fully expanded. His religion is given as Congregational. He was killed in action at The Somme on 7 Oct 1916 in the Battle of Le Transloy and his mother, by then Mrs GE Norris, 144 Middle St, Deal, acknowledged receipt of his medals.
Walter is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
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Pte. John Albert Cottingham 6th Battalion East Kent Regiment (d.3rd May 1917) The day that John died his battalion was in frontline trenches near Monchy, France. The battalion went forward at 0345 hours in complete darkness. The battalion’s objective was Keeling Copse. This position was reached but it could not be consolidated because of repeated enemy counter attack. About 250 men were killed in this action (including John). He was killed in what was known as the Third Battle of The Scarpe
John Albert Cottingham of the 6th Battalion, The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) died on Thursday 3rd May 1917 aged 20 years. He had been born in Rolvenden and enlisted Faversham. He had resided in Throwley, Faversham, the son of Henry Obid and Jemima Cottingham of Halden Place, Rolvenden, Kent. John has no known grave. His name appears on the Arras Memorial, Arras, France. Panel reference Bay 2.
I am still unable to find a picture of John Albert Cottingham. if anyone knows how I can get one I would love to hear from you. Thank you.
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