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World War 1 One ww1 wwII greatwar great 1914 1918 first battalion regiment
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.
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