Name
Oliver John Newton(John) Kingsley
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Army Veterinary Corps
126th Brigade
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Pirton School Memorial
Biography
John appears on the School War Memorial, confirming that he attended the school. Census records suggest only one man of this name who could have served. He was born late 1895 or early 1896, the son of George and Sarah Ann Kingsley. Census records list four children but by 1911 one had died. At this time only three can be identified with certainty and they are James Griffin (b c1889), Edward George (b c1891) and Oliver John Newton.
In 1911, the family was living in Rose Cottage, possibly in Royal Oak Lane, formerly Dead Horse Lane. This must have been a divided property, as three other people lived there in what appear to be separated dwellings. He was still living there in March 1st 1916 when, aged twenty, he went to Hitchin to enlist. On January 15th 1917, he was posted to the 8th Reserve Brigade, Royal Horse Artillery and then to the Army Veterinary Corps, 126th Brigade on May 23rd 1917. He went to France on June 21st and was very fortunate to receive two weeks home leave on July 12th 1918.
Stan Ashton, Frank Ashton's son, believes that John joined up at the same time as Frank – who also survived, and that, after the war, John worked at Elm Tree Farm for Alan Walker. A monument inscription in St. Mary’s churchyard, which also records his parents as George and Sarah, records that John died October 4th 1963, aged sixty-eight.
Acknowledgments
Text from the book ‘The Pride of Pirton’ by Jonty Wild, Tony French & Chris Ryan used with author's permission.
