Five hundred years ago John Kennington's legacy was one farm at Scartho, Linolnshire, and all thereon and also to Gie(?) Kennington half an acre of barley; that will is the earliest record I know of. We are a family of stewards of land.
One hundred years ago, 5 miles away to the west on the Wolds, his descendant John Kennington's heritage was farming; possibly he expected to enjoy harvesting crops in the late summer, he was wrong.
I come from haunts of coot and hern,
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.
By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorpes, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.
Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
I make a sudden sally
And sparkle out among the fern,
To bicker down a valley.
By thirty hills I hurry down,
Or slip between the ridges,
By twenty thorpes, a little town,
And half a hundred bridges.
Till last by Philip's farm I flow
To join the brimming river,
For men may come and men may go,
But I go on for ever.
The politicians had other ideas, ideas that did not include Alfred Lord Tennyson's idyllic scenes scribed in 'The Brook'; ideas such as fighting a war, a war we were woefully unprepared for - no uniforms for the 100,000 extra troops (never mind guns of course), in the absence of khaki the war office had bought 500.000 surplus Post Office uniforms to become a well known site - school boys loved them.
So they swarmed up, over the top, and across No Man's Land, only to discover that in warfare things do not work with clock-like accuracy. 15 Officers and 487 men (out of 1000) killed, missing or wounded; it was on this occasion that Lieut.-Col. Kennington, my grandfather, distinguished himself and won the Military Cross. It was to be a short war, almost certainly over by Christmas, that was the populist view 100 years ago but not Field Marshall Lord Kitchener of Khartoum's.
Kitchener agreed to the creation of Battalions formed from men of a common background, of common occupations, professions, sporting associations or even youth groups such as the Boy's Brigade and these Battalions became the 'Pals'. Of around 304 such Battalions, only one chose to become know as the 'Chums', these were the 'Grimsby Chums'. One volunteer was Kennington, John, Serjeant, number 469 of the Lincolnshire Regiment Reserves 5th (also known as the Territorial Army).
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| Ready to serve |
Gazetted! The Grimsby Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment, The undermentioned to be temporary Lieutenants: Dated 9th September, 1914. John Kennington; so the nightmare started, The Great War.
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| Ready to fight for King and Country |
The Chums embarked for France on January 4th 1916. They reformed at Le Havre and set off for rest camp before deployment in the Armentiers sector. The section of the line held by the Chums and their 101st Brigade comrades was at La Boiselle. Prior to attack, at 7.28 am a large mine was exploded beneath the German line, the Chums were then to attack at 7.30 am. Unknown to the Battalion, the mine fell short of the German positions and during the 2min gap between the explosion and the "whistle" the enemy had the chance to set the machine guns.
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| Roll call in the trenches at the front |
Several attempts to attack were made with the remnants of the Battalion on the 2nd and 3rd July, but as the roll was called when they were finally withdrawn it read 15 Officers and 487 men ( out of 1000 ) killed, missing or wounded.Here they took part in the great attack on Vimy Ridge on April 9th 1917, with the 34th Division on the right the Highland Division, and in that magnificent fight they reached their objective without any great sacrifice. It was on this occasion that Lieut.-Col. Kennington, then a Major, distinguished himself and won the M.C.
The London Gazette 17 July 1917 Issue: 30188 Page: 7234
Finally some addenda: in the pre-War situation, there were two Territorial Battalions of the Regiment. A territorial battalion was one raised and largely financed by the local County Territorial Committee. The two in existence at August 1914 were the 4th and the 5th. The 4th recruited from the south of the County and the 5th from the north, the recruiting centre being Grimsby. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN/military_linc.html#WWoneFirst published in 1991 and written by the Grimsby Telegraph’s Odd Man’s Week columnist Peter Chapman, here we begin the full serialisation of his book, Grimsby’s Own: The Story of The Chums.
Read more: http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Grimsby-s-Story-Chums-Read-serialisation-Peter/story-21661488-detail/story.html#ixzz39KZWfojP
Grimsby Telegraph book link http://issuu.com/grimsbytel/docs/chumspt1?e=0/8676116
The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was raised on 20 June 1685 as theEarl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments and named the 10 Regiment of Foot. After the Childers Reforms of 1881, it became the Lincolnshire Regiment after the county where it had been recruiting since 1781. After the Second World War, it was honoured with the name Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, before being amalgamated in 1960 with the Northamptonshire Regiment to form the2nd East Anglian Regiment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Lincolnshire_Regiment
Battle Honours
Great War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, '18, La Bassée 1914, Messines 1914, 1917, 1918, Armentières 1914 Ypres 1914, '15, '17, Nonne Bosschen, Neuve Chapelle, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Aubers, Loos, Somme 1916, '18, Albert 1916, '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Ancre 1916, '18, Arras 1917, '18, Scarpe 1917, '18, Arleux, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road,Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917, '18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Lys, Estaires, Bailleul, Kemmel, Amiens, Drocourt Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1916,
Temp. Capt. John Kennington, Line. R, MILITARY CROSS.
For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He commanded the two leading companies with great skill and courage, setting a splendid example at a time when it was most needed. Later, although badly stunned, after a brief rest, he completed the consolidation of his line.
In the last stage of the attack the Battalion advanced 1600 yards with practically no support, with their flanks "in the air," led by Col. Kennington. For five days they held the position, five terrible days of snow and sleet, with the cold so bitter that 50 men were taken from the trenches suffering from exposure and exhaustion.
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| A Grimsby Chums grave at The Somme |
Most horrible of all the battles on the Western front was the attack on the Passchendaele Ridge in the latter part of 1917, horrible because of the mud and slime through which British soldiers struggled foot by foot. Here again we find "The Chums" attacking at Langemarck, where Major Emerson led them and won his M.C.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 21 JULY,1917 7435
Line. B.
Temp. Capt. J. Kennington to be temp. Maj. 17 Oct. 1916.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 15 JULY, 1918. 8281
War Office, 15th July, 1918. - REGULAR FORCES. INFANTRY (ATTD.).
Line. R. Temp. Maj. J. Kennington, M.C., from a Serv. Bn., to be temp. Maj. 3 June 1918 with seniority 17 Oct. 1916.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 14 DECEMBER, 1918. 14759
INFANTRY. R. War. R.—Temp. Maj. J. Kennington, M:C., Line. R. (attd.), to be actg. Lt.-Col. whilst comdg. a Bn. 21st Aug. 1918.
SUPPLEMENT TO THE LONDON GAZETTE, 1 FEBRUARY, 1919. 1607
T./Maj. John Kennington. M.C., Line. R.,
attd. 1st Bn., R. War. R.
For conspicuous) gallantry and devotion to duty east of Arras, on August 30th, 1918.
When his battalion was assembling for the attack it was heavily shelled, and he was wounded in three places and badly shaken. In spite of this he carried on, launching the attack under most trying conditions, and, owing to his careful organisation and attention to details, bringing it to a successful conclusion.
His determination and courage had
a stimulating effect on his men.
The above is Grandpa's 'Mention in Dispatches' relating to his Distinguished Service Order (DSO).
Posted lest we forget.
I can't find any mention of leave just promotions and citations in the field, did the chums stay in France for 4 years? I also wonder, looking at the dates of promotion, how many were of the last man standing, though given his later life I suspect they were for his abilities, and whether Grandpa, a farmers boy, ever ran the French earth through his fingers.
Finally some addenda: in the pre-War situation, there were two Territorial Battalions of the Regiment. A territorial battalion was one raised and largely financed by the local County Territorial Committee. The two in existence at August 1914 were the 4th and the 5th. The 4th recruited from the south of the County and the 5th from the north, the recruiting centre being Grimsby. http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN/military_linc.html#WWoneFirst published in 1991 and written by the Grimsby Telegraph’s Odd Man’s Week columnist Peter Chapman, here we begin the full serialisation of his book, Grimsby’s Own: The Story of The Chums.
Read more: http://www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/Grimsby-s-Story-Chums-Read-serialisation-Peter/story-21661488-detail/story.html#ixzz39KZWfojP
Grimsby Telegraph book link http://issuu.com/grimsbytel/docs/chumspt1?e=0/8676116
The Royal Lincolnshire Regiment was raised on 20 June 1685 as theEarl of Bath's Regiment for its first Colonel, John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath. In 1751, it was numbered like most other Army regiments and named the 10 Regiment of Foot. After the Childers Reforms of 1881, it became the Lincolnshire Regiment after the county where it had been recruiting since 1781. After the Second World War, it was honoured with the name Royal Lincolnshire Regiment, before being amalgamated in 1960 with the Northamptonshire Regiment to form the2nd East Anglian Regiment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Lincolnshire_Regiment
Battle Honours
Great War: Mons, Le Cateau, Retreat from Mons, Marne 1914, Aisne 1914, '18, La Bassée 1914, Messines 1914, 1917, 1918, Armentières 1914 Ypres 1914, '15, '17, Nonne Bosschen, Neuve Chapelle, Gravenstafel, St. Julien, Frezenberg, Bellewaarde, Aubers, Loos, Somme 1916, '18, Albert 1916, '18, Bazentin, Delville Wood, Pozières, Flers-Courcelette, Morval, Thiepval, Ancre 1916, '18, Arras 1917, '18, Scarpe 1917, '18, Arleux, Pilckem, Langemarck 1917, Menin Road,Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Cambrai 1917, '18, St. Quentin, Bapaume 1918, Lys, Estaires, Bailleul, Kemmel, Amiens, Drocourt Quéant, Hindenburg Line, Épéhy, Canal du Nord, St. Quentin Canal, Beaurevoir, Selle, Sambre, France and Flanders 1914–18, Suvla, Landing at Suvla, Scimitar Hill, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1916,
