Selected Biographies

Kemp, Bertie Louis – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 15.7.1896.[1] Parents: John Edward Kemp (Flax Mill Worker) and Kate [née Horrex] (Dressmaker) of Long Melford. Family Connections: Brother to Edward Brian Kemp [b1894]. Home: Back Meadow, Smaley Lane, Long Melford (1901), Rotten Row, Long Melford (1911), 38 College Place, Camden Town, London (1921) to [1927], 95 Wellington Row, Bethnal Green, London (1939) to [1945].[2] Occupation: Labourer for W. Browning, Chemical Manufacturers of Camden Town (1921), Council Road Sweeper and Air Raid Warden (1939). Married: Emma Kirby in 1927. Service Record: Bertie was conscripted on 10.12.1915 as Private, later L/Cpl.26653 with 14^th [Service] Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, being posted to France from 6.3.1916 as part of 116^th Brigade, 39^th Division.  His battalion saw action at the Battles of the Somme in 1916 and the Third Battles of Ypres in the following year.  He was issued with a Silver War Badge on 5.12.1918 and discharged due to sickness.[3] Died: Hackney, London in 1980.

Kemp, Charles William Luff – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 5.8.1899.[4] Parent: Martha Maud Kemp (Laundress). Family Connections: Father to Donald Charles Kemp [b1923] and nephew of Wilfred Ernest Kemp [b1899]; also, father-in-law of Robert Ernest Little [b1920]. Home: Living with William and Susan Kemp (great-grandparents) in Westgate Street, Long Melford (190 to 1911), The Green, Long Melford (1921), 6 Council House, High Street, Long Melford (1939). Occupation: Shop Assistant (1917), out of work Engineer Fitter lately employed by the Flax Production Company of Bury St Edmunds (1921), Stoker for Stafford Allen and Sons, Distillers of Herbal Oils (1939). Married: Alice May Gowers in 1920. Service Record: Charles was conscripted on 9.7.1917 as N^o. Z.7192 in the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve.  He served at HMS Victory VI the shore-based establishment at Crystal Palace from 9.8.1917 to 26.10.1917 and on the W Class destroyer HMS Winchelsea from 14.3.1918 to 15.8.1919.  This ship was at Gibraltar in 1919 when it was ordered to Scapa Flow to guard the interned Imperial German High Seas Fleet.  On the morning of 21.6.1919 the German commander, Admiral Ludvig von Reuter ordered the officers of his seventy-four ships to open the seacocks and scuttle the entire fleet.  Charles managed to salvage a link from one of the scuttled vessels, which his wife used as a hob for her flat iron and is still in the possession of the Kemp family to this day.[5] Died: Halstead, Essex in 1971.

Kemp, Donald Charles – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 21.8.1923.  Parents: Charles William Luff Kemp (Engineer Fitter) [see above for details] and Alice Mary [née Gowers].  Family Connections: Nephew to Charles William Luff Kemp [b1899] and brother-in-law of Robert Ernest Little [b1920].  Home: 6 Council House, High Street, Long Melford (1939).  Service Record: Donald enlisted as FAA/FX79976 with the Royal Naval Air Service, being stationed at HMS Vulture, the RNAS base at St Merryn in Cornwall.  Died: Leading Seaman Kemp was the wireless operator/air gunner on a Fairey Swordfish II torpedo plane when it crashed into the sea on 23.5.1944, during bombing practice in Harlyn Bay off the Cornish coast.  He is commemorated on the Fleet Air Arm Memorial [bay 5, panel 2], Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire and the War Memorial at Long Melford.

Kemp, Edward Brian – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 22.10.1894.[6] Parents: John Edward Kemp (Flax Mill Worker) and Kate [née Horrex] (Dressmaker) of Long Melford. Family Connections: Brother to Bertie Louis Kemp [b1896]. Home: Back Meadow, Smaley Lane, Long Melford (1901), recorded as Brian Camp living with Ada Brunning (aunt) at 38 College Place, Camden Town, London (1911 to 1939). Occupation: Railway Van Guard (1911), Shunter for London and North-Western Railway [1916], Capstan Man for LMWR at Camden Town Goods Station (1921 to 1939). Married: Alice Maud Tuffs in 1921. Service Record: Edward was conscripted on 18.1.1916 and mobilised on 5.3.1917 as Pte.TR/13/71210 with ‘A’ Company, 109^th [Training Reserve] Battalion, being posted to Egypt from 19.6.1917.  On 6.7.1917 he was transferred as R^fn. R/39774 to 1/11^th [County of London] Battalion, London Regiment [Finsbury Rifles], then on 26.8.1918 as S^pr. WR/291307 to the Railway Section, Royal Engineers.  Returning to England in August 1919 he was discharged three months later.[7] Died: St Pancras, London in 1953.

Kemp, Frederick William – Born: Alford, Lincolnshire in 1884. Parents: Robert Kemp (Chemist and Druggist) and Lydia Jane [née Brooker]. Family Connections: Brother to Sidney Robert Kemp [b1887] a Solicitor’s Clerk in Long Melford. Home: Thoresthorpe Road, Alford, Lincolnshire (1891 to 1911). Occupation: Chemist’s Assistant (1911). Service Record: Frederick was conscripted as Pte.31617 with 6^th [Service] Battalion, Lincolnshire Regiment, being posted to France and transferred to 2^nd Lincolns as part of 25^th Brigade, 8^th Division.  By December 1917 the Battalion was stationed in the Ypres Salient, manning front-line trenches near Passchendaele.  The position received the regular attention of German artillery and machine guns, claiming 17 victims since the beginning of January.  The last such incident was recorded on 19.1.1918 when three Lincolns were wounded.[8]  Private Kemp was probably in this unlucky group, as on that night the Battalion was taken out of the line.[9] Died: Frederick died of wounds on 25.1.1918 and is buried in Wimereux Communal Cemetery [grave ref: VIII.C.11], Pas de Calais, France and commemorated on the Roll of Honour in St Winifreds Church, Alford, Lincolnshire.[10]

Kemp, Sidney Robert – Born: Alford, Lincolnshire on 1.11.1887.[11] Parents: Robert Kemp (Chemist and Druggist) and Lydia Jane [née Brooker]. Family Connections: Brother to Frederick William Kemp [b1884]. Home: Thoresthorpe Road, Alford, Lincolnshire (1891 to 1901), The Green, Long Melford (1911), Saleby Road, Alford (1921 to 1939), 51 East Street, Alford [1964]. Occupation: Solicitor’s Clerk in Long Melford (1911), Chemist’s Assistant (1921), Pharmacy Owner (1939). Married: Margaret.[12] Service Record: Sidney enlisted on 2.9.1914 as Pte.2291, later renumbered as Pte.550713 with 1/16^th [County of London] Battalion [Queen’s Westminster Rifles], London Regiment, posted to France from 27.6.1915 as part 18^th Brigade, 6^th Division.  In February 1916 the Battalion came under the command of 56^th [1^st London] Division’s 169^th [3^rd London] Brigade, seeing action on 1.7.1916, the first day of the Somme Offensive, attacking enemy positions at Gommecourt.  The attack was repulsed with great loss to Sidney’s unit with 250 killed and wounded and as many captured.  The challenge for the Battalion came on 9.9.1916 at the Battle of Ginchy, where it was tasked with clearing Leuze Wood, which was being robustly defended by rifle and machine-gun fire.  The attack was renewed the following morning, but after seven hours of hard fighting and over 200 casualties, a general withdrawal was ordered.[13]  Sydney was one of the many injured men, receiving a gunshot wound to his right thigh.  He returned to England for treatment, joining 3/16^th London as part of the Battalion reserve at Winchester in December.  He does not appear to have returned to the Western Front and on 18.11.1918 was transferred as Cpl.682919 to the Labour Corps, receiving his discharge in February 1919.[14] Died: The County Hospital, Louth, Lincolnshire on 11.12.1964.[15]

Kemp, Wilfred Ernest James – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk on 11.8.1899.[16] Parents: William Kemp (Whitesmith) and Ellen ‘Helen’ [née Ambrose] (Laundress). Family Connections: Uncle of Charles William Luff Kemp [b1899]; also, brother-in-law of Lionel Alexander Hurst [b1898]. Home: Westgate Street, Long Melford (1901), Hall Street, Long Melford (1911 to 1939). Occupation: Engineer for Stafford Allen & Sons (Manufacturing Chemist) of Long Melford (1921), Radio and Electrical Dealer and Service Engineer (1939). Married: Dorothy May Hurst in 1929. Service Record: Wilfred was a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1916.[17]  He was conscripted as P^te. G/96954 with ‘C’ Company, 2^nd Battalion, Duke of Cambridge’s Own [Middlesex] Regiment and posted to France as part of 23^rd Brigade, 8^th Division.  On 24.4.1918 the Germans launched a large-scale attack, supported by tanks, against the trenches of 23^rd Brigade.  The Battalion was virtually wiped out after three days of intense fighting, losing over 500 men killed, wounded, or missing.[18]  During this action, later known as the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux, Private Kemp was wounded in the right arm and taken prisoner, being sent to a series of German Prisoner of War Camps at Hammelburg, Germersheim, Altdamm and Darmstadt.[19]  Wilfred would have been part of the general repatriation of prisoners of war at the end of December 1918.[20] Died: Sudbury, Suffolk in 1978.

Related Biographies

Hurst, Lionel Alexander – Born: Long Melford, Suffolk 11.3.1898.[21] Parents: Bernard Horace Hurst (Music Teacher) and Amelia [née Boggis]. Family Connections: Brother to George Bernard Hurst [b1903]; also, nephew of Alexander Burnett Hurst [b1862] and Walter Boggis [b1870], and brother-in-law of Wilfred Ernest James Kemp [b1899]. Home: Hall Street, Long Melford (1901 and 1911), School House, Great Cornard, Suffolk (1939). Occupation: School Teacher [1916], Head Teacher (1939). Married: Edith Elvira Theobald in 1924. Service Record: Lionel was a member of the Long Melford Volunteer Training Corps in 1915,[22] enlisting in July 1916 as Ordinary Seaman N^o. Z/6044 with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.  In April 1917 he qualified as a signaller, receiving his discharge in March 1919.[23] Died: Colchester, Essex in 1963.

Little, Robert Ernest – Born: Carlisle, Cumberland on 24.12.1920.  Parents: Robert Little (Cotton Dyer) and Harriet [née Higgins].  Family Connections: Son-in-law of Charles William Luff Kemp [b1889] and brother-in-law of Donald Charles Kemp [b1923].  Home: Viaduct Buildings, Charlotte Street, Carlisle, Cumberland (1921).  Married: Joan Edith Kemp of Long Melford in 1943.  Service Record: At the start of the Second World War Robert held the rank of Cpl.3712628 with 5^th Battalion, King’s Own Royal Regiment, which became a mechanised unit in November 1941 when it was re-formed as 107^th Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps.  By 1944 he had been promoted to Sergeant, taking part in the Normandy Campaign and seeing action on 15 July at the Second Battle of Odon, on 7 August establishing a bridgehead on the River Orne and in September taking part in Operation Astonia against the occupied port of Le Havre.  Further operations followed in Belgium, Holland and as part of Operation Veritable in February 1894 attacking the Siegfreid Line in the German Rhineland.  His personal actions while defending the bridgehead on the Orne were recognised in the award of the Military Medal.  The citation reads as follows: ‘On August 8^th, 1944, at Cormelles, Sergt. Little showed great courage and coolness.  The squadron echelon was being heavily bombed; an ammunition lorry was on fire and its contents were exploding in all directions.  A lorry containing flame-throwing fuel was hit and started to blaze.  The bombing still continued but Sergt. Little appreciating that the flame-throwing fuel lorry if not driven off at once would ignite all the other lorries, [he] entered the lorry and drove it off to a safe place.  Bombs continued to fall throughout this period.  His action required courage of the highest order, and Sergt. Little’s actions were an example to all. The citation continued: On August 12^th, 1944, at Grentheville, the squadron came under heavy fire when in an assembly area.  Several men were wounded and Sergt. Little, despite the fact that shells were falling, organised first-aid parties and controlled the evacuation of casualties.  Again by his courage and coolness, he was an example to all’.[24]  Died: Great Yarmouth, Norfolk in 1989.

Notes – [1] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Bethnal Green, London. [2] Address taken from the Electoral Rolls for Camden Town and Bethnal Green. [3] For details of 14^th Hampshire’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/2583/6].  See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372], and Silver War Badge [ref: B61470]. [WO 329].  [4] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 16.9.1899, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford. [5] See also his Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve: Records of Service [ADM 337/44] and Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/127].  My sincere thanks to Charles’s sons Arthur and Richard Kemp of Long Melford for bringing this story to my attention.  [6] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for St Pancras, London.  [7] See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363]. Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  The Medal Card differs from the Service Record, which erroneously records the London Regiment unit as 16^th Battalion.  This battalion served in France but not in Egypt.  [8] For details of 2^nd Lincoln’s movements see War Diary [WO 95/1730/1]. [9] Also see his, Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [10] Commonwealth War Graves Commission record.  [11] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Alford, Lincolnshire.  [12] Name of spouse taken from the 1939 Register for Alford, Lincolnshire, however, a definitive marriage record has not been found.  [13] For details of 1/16^th London’s movements see War Diaries [WO 95/1616/2 and WO 95/2963/2]. [14] See also his Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329], and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  His Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363] also confirms that he received a gunshot wound to his left ankle. [15] His date of death is taken from the National Probate Calendar.  [16] Date of birth from the Baptism Register 16.9.1899, Holy Trinity Church, Long Melford.  [17] For details of the Training Corps see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 27.12.1916.  [18] For details of the action see 2^nd Middlesex’s War Diary [WO 95/1713/1].  [19] For his POW records see International Committee of the Red Cross [file refs: PA27320; PA34683; PA37528 and PA38010].  [20] See also his Service Medal and Award Rolls 1914-1918 [WO 329] and Service Medal and Award Rolls Index Cards 1914-1922 [WO 372].  [21] 1939 Register for Melford Rural District in Suffolk.  [22] For Training Corps articles see Suffolk and Essex Free Press 10.3.1915 and 29.12.1915. [23] Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve: Records of Service [ADM 337/43] and Medal and Award Rolls [ADM 171/127].  [24] For notification see The London Gazette 21.6.1945 and ‘MM for Melford Man’ Suffolk and Essex Free Press 12.7.1945.