Those Who Served
Pte. G. P. Kable . Australian Imperial Forces 33rd Btn. (d.7th Jun 1917) |
L/Cpl. J. Kane . British Army 12th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (d.21st Mar 1917) |
Pte. Thomas Kane . British Army 11th Btn. Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (d.23rd Apr 1917) I'm currently trying to find a photo of my great grandfather who is buried at Arras in France. Even a photo of his 11th Bt as I'm going over to meet him with my family in the near future and would love to have more than a name to show them. His name was Thomas Kane 11th bn argyll and sutherland highlanders
Killed at Arras 23 4 1917 serv nu s/4992 |
Pte. E. Kay . Australian Imperial Force. att 3rd Salvage Coy. 37th Btn. |
Sjt. W. Kay . Army 8th Btn. Durham Light Infantry |
John "Jack" Keaveney . Army Inniskilling Fus from Sligo, Londonderry John(Jack) of Beechwood Av, Londonderry was reared as an orphan in a Manse, Sligo with his two older brothers, both professional soldiers before him (see Enniskillen War Memorial). He served in Ireland, on the Nile and in Crete before the War.
As one of the Old Contemptibles he was engaged on the left flank of the British Army - family has it before the Battle of Mons proper. There he was wounded in his right hand and bottom when his position was overrun in an Infantry pincher movement. The Germans found him beside a machine gun with the belt in his teeth. They admired him and gave him the best of attention, which included having his sinews and bottom passage fixed by a Vienesse surgeon.
He was a POW and awarded with a ham by the Kaiser for his POW Camp vegetable garden.
He converted to RC and lost his inheritence - the northern Whig family of Boyle were aunts?
He served afterwards as a Barrack warden in Ebrington Barracks, Londonderry.
In WW2 he was employed in runs to east Anglia supplying intercept missiles?
I have not been able to find the skirmish on the left flank but the historians attribute the delay forcerd on the German Advance by the Inniskilling Fus as one of the causes of the war being won. |
Able Seaman George Henry Thomas Keech . Royal Navy H.M.S. Coquette (d.7th Mar 1916 ) |
Rifleman James William Keen . Army 21st Btn. Kings Royal Rifle Corps from 22, Milton Rd., Herne Hill, London. (d.14th Aug 1917) In researching my family history I have discovered that James William Keen, of Camberwell, London, died aged just 20 in the Great War. James was the brother of my Great Nan, Lily. He served in the Kings Royal Rifle Corps 21st Battallion and is recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as having died on the 14th August 1917. James was a Rifleman. His grave is at Godewaersvelde British Cemetery, although as someone whose knowledge of these things is very limited I don't know if that means that literally he is buried there or if the headstone is merely a memorial and that he lies elsewhere in an unknown grave.
My family history has led me to discover many sad stories, some of children passing in infancy, but it is James' death more than any other which reduces me to tears. I have made some enquiries online and it appears that James would have been engaged in battle at Passchendaele, about which I have learned a little more as a result. I am beginning to discover the full horrors of the first phase of the Battle of Ypres yet still I can barely take in what those poor men must have suffered.
I understand that there were no major battles on the 14th August 1917, which suggests, I'm told, that James may have died as a result of injuries sustained in the Battle of Pilckem or in the clearing operation following it. I shall probably never know how or why he died but if I can I should dearly like to find out as much as possible about the Kings Royal Rifle Corps during that time. A pacifist since my teens, I feel I owe it to all these men to understand the circumstances in which they lost their young lives and that my own children should be aware of how they suffered in order for us to have the freedom we take for granted. If anyone could help me in my quest to discover more I would be very grateful indeed.
Finally, I would just like to add that I learned that it must have been Passchendaele in which James died by posing a question on "Yahoo Answers". I got many replies, some far more detailed than one particular response, but it is that short one which will forever stick in my memory. The gentleman who answered said that he felt that Passchendaele was indeed the most likely, gave a little more information, then at the bottom added:
" R.I.P. James Keen, Soldier, 21st Batallion Kings Royal Rifle Group.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM."
Those few words, from a total stranger to a man I might have had the pleasure to have known and loved had the War not taken him from my family meant more than I can say. They may not have changed my beliefs as a pacifist, but I know that this November I shall, for the first time in 42 years, wear a poppy, and wear it with pride.
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L/Cpl. Austin Job Keetch . British Army 8th Battalion Prince Albert's Somerset Light Infantry from Stoke-sub-Hamdon, Somerset (d.19th Nov 1916) |
Pte. Fred Thomas Bennett Keeton . British Army 9th (Service) Battalion Seaforth Highlanders from Beighton, Nr Sheffield. My Grandad, died before I got any chance to talk to him about his war experiences. It was only after his death that I became aware of his service. He joined up on 10/05/1915 and served throughout the war 'till his demob. I have seen his medal record and although they are the ones they all received they still make me proud. I would love to know more about him but fear that will no longer be possibloe unless he was mentioned in a war diary somehwere. But its very good to know that although he would have spent much of his years digging trenches etc. he could have also been involved in heavy fighting as well. |
Pte. John Wallace Keith . British Army 14th (Fife and Forfar Yeomanry) Btn. Black Watch from Ladybank, Fife, Scotland (d.2nd Sept 1918) My Grandmother's youngest brother, John, worked in the ticket office of Kirkcaldy Railway Station and either enlisted or was called up in 1916 aged 20. He was first sent to Egypt but after a bout of dysentry was sent back home to recuperate. John returned to France but was killed on the Somme at the village of Moislains, 2nd September 1918, aged 22. Three officers and 37 other ranks died in the same action.
John Keith is commemorated on the War Memorials in his home town of Ladybank and in nearby Giffardtown also in Fife, also on the National Railworkers Memorial in Waverley Station, Edinburgh. The Keith family never knew where John was buried, the Books of Remembrance inside Edinburgh Castle show 'no known grave'. However, many years after his parents and siblings had died, the Commonwealth War Graves website put full details of WW1 casualties online and the final resting place of John Wallace Keith was found to be the Communal Cemetery in Peronne. Surviving members of his family have visited the site and say it is a quite beautiful place. RIP John
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Spr. Andrew Kelly . Australian Imperial Forces 1st Australian Tunnelling Coy. |
2nd Lt. Charles Colville Kelly . British Army Royal Garrison Artillery This photo includes my husband's grandfather Charles Colville Kelly who joined up in the South African Infantry and as a Private and then the Royal Garrison Artillery as a Second Lt. |
Rfm. David Fergus Ferguson "Dan" Kelly MM.. British Army 9th then 15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles from West Belfast, Nth Ireland I am proud to have known my Godfather, David Fegus Ferguson Kelly who served in the 36th (Ulster) Division throughout the 1st World War and was gassed in 1917. A brave man amongst many. |
Pte. J. J. Kelly . Australian Imperial Force. 3rd Salvage Coy. |
Spr. Nathaniel Kelly . Australian Imperial Forces 1st Australian Tunnelling Coy. (d.14th Sep 1917) |
2nd Lt. Oscar Ralph Kelly . Royal Flying Corps 53rd Sqd. (d.12th May 1917) Oscar Kelly was commissioned into the Northumberland Fusiliers in 1916 and transferred to the RFC in May 1917. He was killed whilst on a photographic mission flying in an RE8 from Bailleul over the front lines near Messines, when his aircraft was shot down. He is buried at Oosttaverne Cemetery. |
L/Cpl. Robert William Kelly . Australian Imperial Forces 36th Btn. from Nowra, New South Wales (d.10th Jun 1917) |
Pte. Irvine Kellyn . from Pontefract Rd., Castleford, Yorkshire (d.6th Aug 1914) Irvine Kellyn is not a relation but I am interested in local WW1 deaths.
He lived at 25 Pontefract Rd Castleford, his father Alfred was a clerk at a glass works and his mother Jane was an elementary school teacher. He lost his life on HMS Amphion aged 28 and is remembered on the Plymouth Memorial.
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Pte. Fred Kemp . British Army 6th Btn. Royal West Kent Regiment from Crouch, Kent |
Pte. George William Kendall . Australian Imperial Force. 49th Btn. from Goldring St., Richmond, N. Queensland (d.7th Jun 1917) |
Pte. Michel Kennealy . Australian Imperial Force. 45th Btn. |
Rifleman. Andrew William Kennedy . Army 2nd Btn. Royal Irish Rifles from Ireland (d.7th May 1915) My Granddad was one of the fallen heroes. He was killed in Action in France on 7 May 1915 and is remembered forever with honour on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial. I am sorry that I have no photograpth and will never know what he looked - but I think he was beautiful. |
Pte. Hugh Kenworthy . British Army 11th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers from Dukinfield (d.16th May 1916) Hugh Kenworthy was my great great grandfather. The family never knew where he was killed and as far as they knew he had no known grave. I have been online today searching the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website and have found that he is buried in a French cemetery in Ecoivres. He was killed at Vimy Ridge on May 16 1916. I have let my mother know and she is going to tell the rest of the family. Hopefully we will be able to visit his grave soon. Hugh left a wife and 8 children, some of whom ended up in the workhouse until rescued by their grandmother. Hugh was not forgotten!!
We are trying to find out how he died, although at least we now know where he is. |
Pte. Michael Keogh . British Army 2nd Btn. Dublin Fusiliers from Kilkenny, Ireland. My father, Pte. Michael Keogh,(No.32276 'A' Company - 2nd Battalion), joined the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, I think around 1918, putting his age up in order to join his brother Patrick Keogh who had just returned from serving in France. My father went to Turkey, Asia Minor, with the Black Sea Army and served in the Anatolian Mounted Infantry. From there he went to India with the RDF and served on the northwest frontier(Punjab) in what is now Pakistan. His discharge certificate is marked 30-10-1926.
He wrote numerous poems and vignets about this period of his life; some of which show extraordinary sensitivity in one so young. In addition, his sense of humour as experienecd through the daily life of a soldier, speaks of another generation of tough, hardy and resourceful men. I grew up listening to his 'war stories'and I gathered the impression that despite the dangers and hardships, the time he spent with the "Dubs" was the happiest in his life. Although he abhorred war and its futility, he held his comrades in high esteem and the code of honour they shared.
Michael Keogh migrated to Australia in 1924 and died there at the age of 70 years in 1971. To his last day he still maintained the bearing of a soldier, something he attributed to his training with the Royal Dublin Fusliliers.
I have some photographs and articles which I will post at a later date. I would love to hear from any relatives of former RDF members who served during this time. |
Cpl. Walter William Kerner . British Army 2nd Btn. G Coy. Northumberland Fusiliers (d.8th May 1915) |
L/Cpl. A G. Kerr . British Army 10th Btn. Royal Irish Rifles (d.1st Jul 1916) |
Sgt. Andrew Smith Kerr . British Army 157 Coy. Machine Gun Corps from 31 Main St. Beith (d.19th Apr 1917) |
Pte. J. Kerr . British Army 9th Btn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (d.1st Jul 1916) |
Lt. Arnold John St Legier Kerry MID.. British Army 16th Service Btn (1st City) Manchester Regiment from 67 Cotham Brow, Cotham, Bristol, Gloucestershire (d.14th Feb 1918) |
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