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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
Pte. Thomas Kinsella
British Army 10th Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers
from:Dublin
(d.12th Oct 1918)
Pte. Thomas Kinsella
Royal Dublin Fusiliers 10th Btn.
from:Dublin
(d.12th Oct 1918)
Pte. William Kinsey
British Army 12th Battalion Sherwood Foresters
from:Woodville
(d.25th Apr 1917)
William Kinsey was a fireman of the kiln for J. Knowles and Company, Woodville. He was the son of Francis and Rebecca (nee Moody) Kinsey. William joined the 12th Battalion of the local Sherwood Foresters Regiment in August 1916 and proceeded to France at Christmas 1916. He was wounded by a shell which burst near him on Good Friday 1917 and he was stuck in the thigh. William died of wounds on 26th April 1917 aged 32 years and is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery.
William is remembered on the main war memorial in High Street Woodville not far from his home and also on the wall of the local Methodist Church. He was survived by his father Francis, his brother James and his sisters Ada and Rebecca. William and my grandfather were first cousins and grew up together in Woodville.
Rfmn. Frank Victor Kinsman
British Army 2/12th Btn. London Regiment
from:North London
(d.24th Aug 1918)
Frank Kinsman was killed in action near Albert. He was originally buried north west of Bray Sur Somme and South East of Albert. He was later moved and rests at Bray Veil British Cemetery north of Bray Sur Somme.
Sgt. Arthur Lesley Kirby MM.
British Army 7th Dragoon Guards
from:Portsmouth
My grandfather, Arthur Kirby, was in the 7th Dragoon Guards. He finished his army career as a RSM but was a Sergeant during the First World War. He took part in the last cavalry charge by the British Army, at High Wood - part of the Battle of the Somme. For this he was awarded the Military Medal. Like many men of his generation, he never talked about his army service. On the occasions I asked him about his Military Medal, he always said it was for refusing a tin of bully beef, or for being first in the NAAFI queue!
Pte. Cecil Ernest Kirby
British Army 14th Btn. Hampshire Regiment
from:Portswood Soton
(d.1st Aug 1917)
Pte. Cecil Ernest Kirby
British Army 14th Battalion Hampshire Regiment
from:Southampton
(d.1st August 1917)
Cecil Kirby was born in 1886, in Dundridge, (no address as there was only 5/6 houses) and was a railway worker on the LSRW. He became Pte Kirby in the 14th Battalion, (the 1st “Portsmouth Pals') Hampshire Regiment. He was obviously a volunteer in Kitchener's Army. After final training in Aldershot, he moved from Folkstone to France in May 2016. 14th (Service) Battalion (1st Portsmouth). Formed at Portsmouth on 3rd of September 1914 by the Mayor and a local Committee. Adopted by War Office on 30 May 1915. October 1915 they moved to Witley and came under orders of 116th Brigade in 39th Division. Landed at Le Havre 6th of March 1916.
At the time of his enlisting, Cecil was living at 14 Somerset Rd. Portswood. Lucy R was living just down the road at Northlands Rd. Cecil had a sister, Rose, who I do remember as “Auntie Rose”, a lovely old lady, who, for our wedding present, gave us a large tin of tea.
In 1915, probably after he joined up, Cecil (28 yrs) married Lucy Rose Purkiss,(nee Stone) a widow, aged 40. She was from Swanmore, so maybe childhood sweethearts? It was she who received the widow's pension thereafter.
He probably took part in the Battle of the Somme. Portsmouth had two pals battalions that served on the Western Front. The 1st Pompey Pals, 14th Battalion Hampshire Regiment, was the first to go over the top. They led a brutal assault on German positions on 3rd of September 1916, just north of Hamel on the River Ancre, France. Of the 570 men who went into action that morning 457 became casualties, a vast majority of these being fatalities.
Cecil Kirby must have survived that battle. As the Third Battle of Ypres, 1917, involving the 14th Battalion, started on 331st of July 1917, when the battalion had to attack the Geluvelt plateau. As part of the Battle of Pilkem Ridge. The Germans were well entrenched on higher ground than the attacking forces, and the weather was foul, driving rain, to add to the thick unmovable mud. The Germans hit hard with high explosive shelling and also used Mustard Gas.
Cecil Kirby was killed on 1st of August 1917. He was one of 27,001 casualties, of which 3,697 were killed.
Jessie Kirby
British Red Cross No.12 Voluntary Aid Detachment Cambridgeshire
Jessie Kirby of Hill Farm, Over, first volunteered with the Red Cross in 1915 to nurse at 12 VAD Auxiliary Hospital, Swavesey, her sister Mary Kirby later volunteered to nurse there as well. From June 1917 to October 1918, Jessie worked as a full time paid nurse at 1st Eastern General Hospital, Cambridge. From her photos, she seems to have largely worked on ward 14. I remember her talking about the cold they experienced working there in the winter.
She wrote later: "Apart from the farm, what kept me busy at this time was First Aid and Home Nursing classes, then a large empty farmhouse at Swavesey was taken over, as a convalescent hospital for wounded men, from the 1st Eastern General Hospital in Cambridge. The wounded who first were brought to Cambridge were put into beds in the cloisters of Trinity College, and the wounds healed so well there that when the 1st Eastern General was built, it was to the same plan. All right for the men in bed, but chilly for the staff. When I finally went there full-time, I got chilblains and didn't know what they were until Sister saw them... I'd never had them in all the work on the farm."
Sports Day 1st EGH August Bank Holiday 1918
Pte. John Joseph Kirby
British Army 16th Btn. Rifle Brigade
from:90 Heath Street, Stepney, London East.
I have only just found my father Jack Kirby's POW records through the International Red Cross Records. I was unable to get his service records because of the damage to records during the blitz. All I know is that he enlisted under age and was captured at Saulcourt, France in March 1918 and was repatriated in November 1918.
Pvt.2 Patrick Kirby
Royal Air Force
from:Broom Lane, Mallow.
(d.30th October 1918)
Private 2nd Class Kirby was the Husband of Mrs. M. Kirby, of Broom Lane, Mallow.
He is buried in the Kilshannig Cemetery, Kilshannig, Co. Cork, Ireland.
2nd Lt. Robert Arthur Kirby
British Army 11 Coy. Machine Gun Corps
from:St Albans
(d.11th May 1917)
One of two brothers who died in WW1 at Arras. Bob Kirby was originally in the Buffs the Royal East Kent Reg., but during training the officer in charge saw the two volumes of detailed notes Bob had written (family heirlooms) on the Vickers Machine Gun which demonstrated his engineering background and promoted him to 2nd Lieut., with the 11th Machine Gun Corps. Bob was the 2nd son of Edward and Emma Kirby of Liverpool St, later of Glanville Road St Albans. He came from a Heavy Engineering family on the Railways as his grandfather was Engineer for the Midlands Railway building the sheds at Leicester, Peterborough and Saltly, Birmingham instructing the workers how to build railway engines.
Robert Arthur (Bob) was a clerk at Gower St for the LMS and a bell ringer at St Peter's. St Albans. His father Edward was the Chief Engineer at the LMS Sheds at St Albans and founded the Edward Kirby and the St Albans Lodges of the ROAB. His younger brother Ernest was killed on the minesweeper HMS Enterprise in the Adriatic and was buried at Brindisi. During 1981 his body along with other graves were moved to the Bari War Cemetery. Their elder brother Edward was a engineer designer for Rolls Royce at Derby but was headhunted by Smiths Industries at Cricklewood. He had three sons, Edward (Ted), Robert (Bob) and Ernest (Ern). The family came from Medbourne Leics, they were a branch of the Kirkby family of Castle Hedingham on the De Vere estate but anciently from Yorkshire and Furness in Nth Lancs., now Cumbria.
Pte. Sidney W. Kirbyshire
British Army 8th Btn. Lincolnshire Regiment
from:Steeple Morden, Cambs
(d.4th October 1917)
Pte Sidney Kirbyshire is commemorated on the Steeple Morden village memorial cross. He was formerly of the Suffolk Regiment, but was later found to be in the 8th Lincolnshire Regiment. Sidney was killed in action on 4th October 1917. He is buried in Hooge Crater Cemetery, in Belgium.He was most likely killed during the Third Battle of Ypres which mainly consisted of combating German counter attacks in the sector.
Kirbyshire is an unusual surname and there is another Kirbyshire from the village also commemorated, Walter Charles Kirbyshire of the Royal Engineers who was killed in action on Friday, 21st of July 1916 aged 33. Like so many others he is commemorated additionally on the Thiepval Memorial, having no known grave. They must surely have been related.
2nd Lt. Bernard Joseph "Jumbo" Kirchner
British Army
Pte. Edmund Wilks Kirk
British Army 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
served with 18th DLI , 20th and 19th DLI
Gnr. Edward Ernest Kirk DCM
British Army 76 Bty. Royal Field Artillery
(d.7th Feb 1917)
Edward Kirk was a serving soldier at the start of WW1 having joined the Army in 1911. He was sent to fight in an area known then as Mesopotamia in November 1914. He took part in the battle of Barjisiyah (Turkey) in 1915, where he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. The following year things took a turn for the worse when his Battery were trapped at the siege of Kut al Amara, and they and many others were forced to surrender.
He died in captivity on 7 February 1917 and is buried in the Baghdad War Cemetery.
Pte. Ernest Kirk
British Army 1st Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment
(d.6th March 1915)
Ernest Kirk was executed for desertion 06/03/1915 and buried in Chapelle-d'Armentieres Old Military Cemetery, La Chapelle-d'Armentieres, France.
Rflmn. Ernest Kirk
British Army 8th Battalion Kings Royal Rifles
from:Fulham
(d.6th August 1915)
Pte. George Thomas Kirk
British Army 8th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers
from:Morda, Oswestry
(d.23rd Oct 1918)
George Kirk was my great uncle. We know very little about him although I have recently been in touch with Qube who are carrying out some research on the men named on the park gates in Oswestry. I have some paperwork sent from the War Office, including telegrams advising that he was missing and another confirming his death. I also have the death penny and scroll and a photograph and a painting. There are very few of us left now and nobody to ask for information.
Pte. George Thomas Kirk
British Army 1/8th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers
from:Morda, Oswestry
(d.23rd October 1918)
George Kirk is buried in Quievy Communal Cemetry Extension along side 4 of his Battalion comrades. We are still researching his story.
The family home at the time of his death
Lt Gerald Kirk
Army 1/5th Btn. Kings Own (Royal Lancaster Rgt.)
A/Cpl. Henry Kirk
British Army 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry
2nd Lt. James Kirk VC
British Army 2nd Btn. Manchester Regiment
from:Droylesden, Manchester
(d.4th November 1918)
James Kirk was killed in action on 4th November 1918 aged 22 and is buried in the Ors Communal Cemetery in France. He was the son of James and Rachel Kirk, of 530 Edge Lane, Droylesden, Manchester. Born at Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire.
An extract from The London Gazette, No. 31108, dated 3rd Jan., 1919, records the following:- "For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty North of Ors on 4th Nov., 1918, whilst attempting to bridge the Oise Canal. To cover the bridging of the canal he took a Lewis gun, and, under intense machine-gun fire, paddled across the canal on a raft, and at a range of ten yards expended all his ammunition. Further ammunition was paddled across to him and he continuously maintained a covering fire for the bridging party from a most exposed position till killed at his gun. The supreme contempt of danger and magnificent self-sacrifice displayed by this gallant officer prevented many casualties and enabled two platoons to cross the bridge before it was destroyed."
Gnr. James Edwin Kirk
British Army 327th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery
from:Leeds
(d.3rd Aug 1918)
Pte. John Kirk
15th Btn.
from:Whitwell, Worksop
(d.21st Mar 1918)
John Kirk was my grandfather's youngest brother. He was born in 1899 in Kimberley, Notts, we did not know anything about John until my grandfather informed us just before he died, that he had a younger brother who died. Seeing that I am doing my family tree, I just happened upon John being on the roll of honour. I even found his photo in my old photos, it put a chill down my spine. Its just nice to know that I can put him on this website, so he is remembered. I hope one day to go to Pozieres to see his name there so future generations of the Kirk family will be able to see this.
Sgt. Thomas Kirk
British Army 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment
from:West Drayton, Middlesex
(d.15th March 1915)
Pte. John W. Kirkbride
British Army 10th Battalion West Yorkshire Regiment
from:Starbeck
(d.2nd April 1916)
John Kirkbride was my Great Uncle. I believe he received a gunshot wound in 1915, and was repatriated back to the UK, where he sadly died in 1916. His grave is in Grove Road Cemetery, Harrogate.
Pte. John William Kirkbride
British Army 10th Btn. West Yorkshire Regiment
(d.10th Apr 1916)
My beloved great-uncle John Kirkbride, who died 10th April 1916, aged 23.
L/Cpl. Herbert Kirkby
British Army 2nd Battalion Rifles Brigade
from:Portsmouth
(d.31st Mar 1918)
Herbert was mobilised in August 1914, aged 21 years, and was immediatly drafted to the Western Front, where he took part in the fighting at Mons. He also served through the Battles of Ypres, St. Eloi, Loos, the Somme and Cambrai, and was twice wounded. He fell in action in March 1918 during the Allied Retreat, and lies in Pozieres Cemetary with over 600 colleagues from the Rifles.
He was entitled to the Mons Star, and the General Service and Victory Medals, and his relatives were in receipt of the King's Scroll. "Whilst we remember, the sacrifice is not in vain"
James Serginson Kirkby
British Army 1/5th Btn. King's Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment
(d.3rd May 1915)
James Kirkby was born and enlisted in Carnforth. He died on 3 May 1915 whilst serving with the 5th King's Own (Royal Lancaster) Regiment.
The Lancaster Observer of the 14th of May 1915 reported on page 5: "Kirkby J S Sergeant 5th Battalion King's Own Royal Lancaster Regiment killed in action 3 May, 1915. Secretary of Carnforth F C, and Carnforth Cricket Club and a member of the church choir and Choral Society. First Non-Commissioned Officer in Carnforth to be killed."
Extract from the Battalion War Diary: 3rd May 1915 Frezenberg, Heavily shelled. C Coy in the morning sent to support Rifle Brigade. Lost heavily from shell fire and got held up. Proceeded on left on road. B Coy attached to East Yorks and York & Lancs in afternoon. Proceeded on right of road via Zonnebecke. Got close to trenches laid down and waited for dark. After dark ordered to dugouts as trenches were to be evacuated.
Lancaster Observer of the 14 May 1915 also reported "Private Tom Ryan writing to Mrs Watson of North Road, Carnforth, states that Sgt James Kirby had been killed and his brother Sgt H H Kirby wounded in the head. He also said that Private J Watson, Mrs Watson's husband had again been wounded in the right hand after being wounded in the head on Apr 13; he had only just returned to the firing line.
In a letter to Sgt Kirby's sister at 93 Market Street, Sgt W Simpson, whose home is at Crag Bank confirmed that Sgt Kirby had been killed; he had carried Jim back and buried him in the corner of a small churchyard.
A letter had been received from Sgt Kirby that, on the Sunday before he was killed they were to come out of the trenches and not going in again. Several interesting letters had been received from Sgt Kirby and published in the Observer. He was a prominent footballer and had figured prominently at half back for Lancaster, Carnforth and the Warton elevens. Writing from Ypres to Kirby's sister, Captain Evans said: " . . . . Sgt Kirby was killed whilst assisting in an advance by the Rifle Brigade who were in sore need of help. At the moment of his death he had been treating a wounded comrade; he had been hit in the neck by a shell and had died instantaneously. Colonel Lord Richard Cavendish has asked me to express his deepest sympathy. I cannot express to you any words which measure our sorrow at the loss of a true comrade, hero and friend. We laid him to rest in a soldiers grave in Verlorenbock; the Colonel said a service. It must be some consolation to you that he gave his life to save you all at home from the horrors of this sorrowing land.""
Pte Joseph Kirkby
British Army 2nd/5th Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers
from:Bury
(d.24th April 1918)
Page 18 of 24
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