The Wartime Memories Project - The Great War

Those who Served - Surnames beginning with K.

Surnames Index


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

1205398

Pte. W. Kinnarney

British Army 2nd Btn. A Coy. Leinster Regiment

(d.9th Jun 1917)




243825

Rflmn. William John Kinnear

British Army 8th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles

from:30 Coburg Street, Belfast

(d.2nd July 1916)

William Kinnear was born in Ballymacarrett, Belfast, the eldest son of the family. He enlisted in Belfast. William was killed in action on the 2nd of July 1916, Battle of the Somme aged 21 years. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, France. He was my father's eldest cousin.




1206058

Spr. John Thomas Kinrade

British Army 128th Field Company Royal Engineers

from:Isle of Man

John Kinrade served with the 128th Field Company, Royal Engineers




209810

Pte Cecil John Kinross VC

Canadian Expeditionary Force 49th (Edmonton) Battalion

from:Canada




220828

Rfn. William Matthew Kinsela

British Army 1/28th (Artists' Rifles) Btn London Regiment

from:Kensington, London

(d.26th Aug 1918)

William Kinsela served with the 1/28th Battalion, London Regiment (Artists Rifles) during WW1 and was killed in action on the 26th of August 1918, aged 20. He is commemorated on the Vis-en-Artois Memorial in France, the son of Walter and Catherine Jane Kinsela, of 10 Morton Mews, Earls Court Gardens, Kensington, London.




220267

Pte. Thomas Kinsella

British Army 10th Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers

from:Dublin

(d.12th Oct 1918)




222483

Pte. Thomas Kinsella

Royal Dublin Fusiliers 10th Btn.

from:Dublin

(d.12th Oct 1918)




1206019

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.




253954

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.




209067

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!




255219

Pte. Cecil Ernest Kirby

British Army 14th Btn. Hampshire Regiment

from:Portswood Soton

(d.1st Aug 1917)




262451

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.




264060

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

Sports Day 1st EGH August Bank Holiday 1918




221340

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.




241509

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.




219466

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.




249092

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.




222572

2nd Lt. Bernard Joseph "Jumbo" Kirchner

British Army




300270

Pte. Edmund Wilks Kirk

British Army 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry

served with 18th DLI , 20th and 19th DLI




263110

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.




217917

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.




242148

Rflmn. Ernest Kirk

British Army 8th Battalion Kings Royal Rifles

from:Fulham

(d.6th August 1915)




235426

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.




255521

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

The family home at the time of his death




792

Lt Gerald Kirk

Army 1/5th Btn. Kings Own (Royal Lancaster Rgt.)




300271

A/Cpl. Henry Kirk

British Army 18th Btn. Durham Light Infantry




1206231

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."




255187

Gnr. James Edwin Kirk

British Army 327th Siege Battery Royal Garrison Artillery

from:Leeds

(d.3rd Aug 1918)




204865

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.




238048

Sgt. Thomas Kirk

British Army 1st Battalion Royal Irish Regiment

from:West Drayton, Middlesex

(d.15th March 1915)







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