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War
Memorials Elsewhere, - Keele (Staffs) |
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The War Memorial for Keele (Staffs) at the entrance to the Church of St John
the Baptist
Photo : 28th61st
The Keele (Staffs) War Memorial is situated at the entrance to the Church of St. John the Baptist at Church Bank, Keele. The names of 16 men who lost their lives in the First World War are commemorated on the memorial, including that of Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Edward Dawson Kent of the Yorkshire Regiment. Four names are commemorated for those who lost their lives in the Second World War.
28th61st of MilitaryImages.Net has provided a transcription of all the names on the memorial, together with brief biographical details.
Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Edward Dawson Kent. 4th Battalion the Yorkshire
Regiment. Husband of Alice Dawson-Kent, of Oak Dene, Ferndown, Dorset. Killed
27 May 1918. Aged 39.
Commemorated on the SOISSONS MEMORIAL.
(Ralph Edward Dawson Kent's birth was registered in nearby Newcastle-under-Lyme in Q2, 1879. He was the son of Daniel and Lucy Kent. In the 1891 Census the family was living in No 33 Workhouse Lane, Keele. Daniel Kent was a Plumber and Painter, and Ralph Edward Kent was shown as having been born in Keele.)
Lieutenant Colonel Kent is well known in the history of the Yorkshire Regiment
for his part in the actions of the 7th Battalion at Fricourt on 1st July 1916.
The following brief biography istaken from Robert
Coulson's work on this website;-
Major Ralph Kent was in charge during one of the most curious episodes in
the Yorkshire regiment’s Great War history.
With the 7th Battalion facing Fricourt when the Battle of the Somme opened
on July 1st 1916 the battalion were under orders to wait in their trenches
for an attack later in the day. Devastating fire was being brought on the
West Yorkshires from a
machine gun post at Wing Corner and Major Kent against orders led “A”
company into an assault on this position. They met intense fire and officers
and men were “mown down” resulting in over one hundred casualties
and a badly wounded Major
Kent and two other officers lying in front of the wire being fired on. It
was only after dark that they were able to be brought in.
The regimental history makes little of this episode and Major Kent seems to
have avoided censure for his part.
Once recovered from his wounds he joined with the 4th battalion in April of
1918 at Bethune. By now promoted to Lt Col, Ralph Kent was in action with
the 4th at the Battle of the Lys from April 9th onwards after which they were
moved to a “quiet area” on the Chemin des Dames ridge. It was
here on May 26th that a “totally unexpected” heavy German attack
resulted in the battalion suffering heavy losses with many killed and wounded
and even more taken prisoner.
Lt Col Ralph Edward Dawson Kent was killed in this action on May 27th 1918.
His body was never found. He is remembered today on the Soissons Memorial
one mile north of the centre on the eastern side of the River Aisne.
Lt Col Kent was the husband of Alice Dawson Kent of Oak Dene, Ferndown in
Dorset.
Lieut Col Kent's Name on the Keele (Staffs) War Memorial
Photo : Robin and Angela Studd
The Dedication on the Keele (Staffs) War Memorial
Photo : 28th61st
The Church of St. John the Baptist, Keele
Photo © Copyright M
Holland and licensed for reuse under this Creative
Commons Licence.
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