Selected Biographies

Kitchiner [MSM, DCM], Victor Charles – Born: Mill Hill, Middlesex on 2.7.1887.[1] Parents: Charles Kitchiner (Groom) and Ada Annie [née Ellacott]. Family Connections: Brother to Stanley William Kitchiner [b1885]. Home: Mill Hill, Hendon, Middlesex (1891), The Post Office, Mill Hill (1901), 13 Queensbury Road, Kingsbury, Middlesex [1928 to 1935], 45 Ealing Road, Wembley, Middlesex (1939), 180 Harold Road, Hastings Sussex [1955 to 1959], 8 Greville Road, Hastings [1961].[2] Occupation: Engineer’s Assistant [1905], Soldier [1905 to 1919], Omnibus Driver (1939). Married: Dorothy Eugenie May Birdsey in 1915. Service Record: Before enlisting with the regular army in 1905, Victor was a member of 7^th [Militia] Battalion, Rifle Brigade. He was transferred as Gnr.27324 to the Royal Garrison Artillery being posted to Malta from 1905 to 1910 and to Sierra Leone in 1911 with 50 Company, RGA, returning to England and transferring to the Army Reserve in 1913.[3] He was recalled to the Colours on 26.8.1914, joining 1^st Siege Battery in France on 17.9.1914.  Already the recipient of a Meritorious Service Medal, in 1918 he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for gallantry and distinguished service in the field.  Now holding the rank of corporal, his citation read as follows: For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. Whilst subjected to heavy shelling and gas the Battery was ordered to open fire. No,1 of the detachment having just been severely wounded, this NCO though suffering from the effects of gas, collected the remaining men of the detachment and opened fire. For the next two hours, in spite of continuous heavy shelling, he kept up a rapid rate of fire from his gun until ordered to cease fire. That night he did further good work whilst the guns were being withdrawn, encouraging the exhausted men to further efforts.[4] Sergeant Kitchiner received his discharge in April 1919.[5] Died: Hastings, Sussex in 1961.

Kitchiner, Stanley William – Born: Mill Hill, Middlesex on 11.3.1885.[6] Parents: Charles Kitchiner (Groom) and Ada Annie [née Ellacott]. Family Connections: Brother to Victor Charles Kitchiner [b1887].  Home: Mill Hill, Hendon, Middlesex (1891), Botesdale, Diss, Norfolk (1911), The Manse, Alderton, Woodbridge, Suffolk [1912].[7] The Manse, Hall Street, Long Melford [1919], Dainsmead, Trimley St Mary, Suffolk (1939). Occupation: Congregational Minister (1911 to 1939). Married: Ethel Wingrave in 1912.  Service Record: Stanley was a member of the Long Melford War Memorial Committee in 1919 and during the Second World War was a worker with the Air Raid Precaution Service. Died: Ipswich, Suffolk in 1967.

Notes – [1] 1939 Register. [2] Some addresses taken from the Electoral Roll. [3] Militia Service Records 1806-1915 [WO 96]. [4] Supplement to London Gazette No.30879, 3.9.1918. [5] Soldiers’ Documents, First World War ‘Burnt Documents’ [WO 363], Medal Roll [WO 329], and Medal Index Card [WO 372]. [6] Date of birth from the 1939 Register for Deben District in Suffolk. [7] Kelly’s Directory for Suffolk 1912.