Name
Bert (Bertie) Kingston
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
12/10/1916
26
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
14126
Bedfordshire Regiment
2nd Bn.
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
1914 /15 Star, British War and Victory medals
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
THIEPVAL MEMORIAL
Pier and Face 2 C.
France
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Hertford Town Memorial Christchurch Plaque, now in Holy Trinity Church, Bengeo, Not on the Berkhamsted memorials
Pre War
Born in 1891 in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire and was baptised in Berkhamsted on 15 Apr 1891 son of George and Eliza Kingston he was one of eight, and in 1911 they were living at 65 Shrublands Avenue, Berkhampsted. His father was employed as a labourer in a market garden and Bert was a labourer in a chemical works.
So far, we have not been able to find a connection to Bengeo.
Wartime Service
Enlisted in Hertford and was sent to France on 1st May 1915, his unit fought at the Battle of Festubert on 17th May, where they attacked German lines until they reached ditches up to 4ft wide and with between 2 and 5 feet of water in them and they were forced to retire to their original positions. After this they took part in the Second Battle of Givenchy in June and at Loos in September.
The following year, after training, they fought on the Somme at Trones Wood, Montauban and Delville Wood. During this period the battalion suffered heavy casualties. On 12th October they took part in the Battle for Transloy Ridge, they attacked at 2.05pm, but again they suffered from heavy enemy fire and were forced to retire. During 12th and 13th October the battalion suffered almost 500 casualties including Bert whose body was not recovered.
Acknowledgments
Malcolm Lennox, Terry & Glenis Collins
