Herbert Kirby was born in 1888, the eldest son of Tom and Elizabeth. At the time of the 1911 Census he was 23 years old and working as a Baker’s Assistant alongside his father, who was the Manager of the bakery, at 2 High Street, Welling Kent, where the family also lived. He had an older sister, Elizabeth Ann, 25, and younger siblings Tom Joseph, an out of work Boat Repairer, 21, Margaret, 19, Frank Anning, a Butcher’s Assistant, 17, and Gladys 7. His parents were aged 53 and 52 respectively. The family had lived at the shop his father managed since at least the time of the 1901 Census. Sometime between 1915 and 1918 the Kirby family took over the bakery business.
Tom Senior had been born in Chatham, Kent on the 12th August 1855 and had served for at least 5 years in the Royal Navy , joining in July 1873 as a Steward (Service No.84151) after which he was employed as a Porter. Elizabeth was born in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire around a year later.
The children all attended Foster’s School. Herbert had started on the 10th August 1891, followed by Tom on the 25th September 1893 and Frank the 13th September 1897.
Herbert attested to join the army on the 10th December 1915 at which time he was employed as a Munitions worker at the Royal Arsenal. He was called up for service on the 25th May 1916, joining the 12th Battalion, the Rifle Brigade part of 60th Brigade, 12th (Eastern) Division. His enlistment papers show his age as being 28.
Herbert embarked for France on 13th September, disembarking at Havre the following day. In the 6 weeks or so leading up to being sent for action, he had gone absent without leave, overnight and through to the following evening on three occasions, the 29th July, 3rd August and 2nd September 1916. For these offences he received punishments of pay deductions from his wage and being confined to barracks. Fortunately he was still stationed in the U.K. If it had happened whilst on active service the punishment would have been much more severe.
Herbert joined the A Coy in the field on 28th September 1916. He probably joined the 12th Battalion at Gueudecourt during the later stages of the Battle of the Somme. On the 7th October they attacked and captured an area known as Rainbow and Cloudy Trench near to Gueudecourt. It was on this day, just 3 weeks after arriving in France that Herbert was reported as missing in action. On 2nd August 1917 he was officially declared as dead. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Pier and Face Panel numbers 16b and 16C. (The Commonwealth War Graves Commission gives his date of death as 7th November 1916. However, his service records show that he went missing, and therefore was presumed dead from, 7th October 1916). His age was given by the CWGC as 29 years whereas in fact he was 28.
Sadly Herbert’s brother Frank had died not far from him on the Somme battlefield on the 4 months earlier, on 3rd July 1916. Worse still their mother also had to suffer the loss of their father, Tom, who died between Frank and Herbert’s deaths
In a Soldier’s Will written on 13th September 1916, Herbert left “the whole of my property and effects to my mother Mrs E Kirby.” A report in the Bexleyheath Observer dated 10th November 1916 stated:
PTE. HERBERT H KIRBY
Pte. Herbert Henry Kirby is the eldest son of Mrs Kirby, 2 High Street, Welling and a brother of Pte. Frank A. Kirby, R.W.K.R. Both sons have been reported “missing.” Pte. Herbert Kirby joined the Army on May 25th of this year, entering the Rifle Brigade. He left for France on September 12th, and went up to the lines sixteen days later. In less than a week he was reported wounded and missing – on October 4th. The blow has been a hard one for his unfortunate mother.
The third brother Tom survived the war, married on the 20th June 1920 and had two children, Frank and Joyce. He took over the Bakery business which he ran until 1932 when it closed. After this he was employed at Danson Park as a Handyman and later a Park Keeper in the borough. He still plied his bakery trade as side line. His specialty was making wedding cakes which he was doing well into the 1940s.
Commemorated
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