You are here: Home > The Men > Harold Kitchener

Harold Kitchener (1904-1979)

Soldier
Service No:7876473
Rank:Corporal
Squadron:HQ
Service:Enlisted in the Royal Tank Corps, 24 Feb 1924
Civilian
Occupation:Cafe Proprietor
Residence:Central Cafe, New Lane, Lydd, Kent (1938),
2 Grisbrook, Lydd (1945),
3 Lichfield House, Bishops Walk, Wendover Road, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire (1979)
Birth:24 Jun 1904 in Loftus, North Yorkshire
Death:21 May 1979 in Aylesbury
Cremation:Chilterns Crematorium, Amersham, Buckinghamshire
Marriage:to Alice Mary Sheppard registered Mar 1930 in Romney Marsh, Kent
Children:1 son, 1 daughter
Press:[Whitstable Times, 9 Apr 1927]
Parents
John KitchenerMary Shippey
Ironstone Miner.
13 New Cottage, Boulby, Easington, North Yorkshire (1911).
Birth 13 Feb 1866 in Guisborough, North Yorkshire.
Baptism 25 Mar 1866 at The Parish Church, Guisborough.
Death registered Dec 1918 in Guisborough.
8 Hartington Street, Loftus, North Yorkshire (1939).
Birth 07 Dec 1867 in Staithes, North Yorkshire.
Death registered Mar 1943 in Cleveland, North Yorkshire.
Marriage registered Dec 1888 in Whitby, North Yorkshire.

Notes

"I was born on 29 May 1933 in number 4 Providence Cottage at Lydd, Kent.

Some of my early childhood years were spent in accommodation above a cafe run by my father and mother in Park Road.

Since my father was posted to numerous Army camps in various parts of England prior to departure for France on 18 June 1944, I was subjected to a somewhat nomadic school career, attending 15 primary and junior establishments and culminating with my entry to Ashford (Kent) Grammar school in September 1944.

Our first billet, in late 1939, was at Ludgershall in Wiltshire, where our living quarters were one end of a Quonset Hut.

The harsh winter of that year found us on a smallholding at Penkridge in Staffordshire; the 4 members of the Kitchener family having to share a bed was hardship enough but it was also the place where my sister contracted impetigo.

In 1941, the Outhwaite family were our hosts at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, where one of my father's superior officers was Lord George Scott, brother of the Duchess of Gloucester.

Later that year we moved to Langdale Terrace in Whitby where Miss Hooper, the house owner, though stone deaf, looked after us extremely well. Whilst there I suffered from very sore heels, - I can't remember the cause - and was treated by the Regimental Doctor Captain Mitchell. My fathers "boss" was Major Garcia, who bore a very strong resemblance to Joe Loss.

From Whitby we travelled south to Plumpton in Sussex early in 1942 and were billeted in a cottage close by the national hunt racecourse.

Later in the year we went back to Yorkshire, this time to Nawton, a village between Pickering and Kirby Moorside. Spending only a relatively short time here we moved to Bridlington and, during an intervening rail journey, my mother, sister and I had to change trains at York. Enduring a considerable delay we were privileged to be looked after by soldiers in the station guard room where we enjoyed bot "buttered" toast in front of a blazing fire.

In 1943 we were accommodated in 2 properties, the first belonging to Mrs Mallinson and the second to Mrs. Mottram. Bridlington was where the famous black bull of the 7th [sic] Armoured division first appeared on Military vehicles and one day I saw Field Marshal Montgomery riding on a Churchill tank during a parade through the town.

As I contracted mumps I was only allowed outside the house as far as the front gate, but I remember watching, with undisguised pleasure, the passage of some fellow pupils on their way to school. During the approximately 9 months we spent at Bridlington we were privileged to be able to attend some ENSA concerts, among the 'stars' being Dorothy Squires and Vera Lynn.

Chippenham in Cambridgeshire. in 1944 was our next stop and the family name was Smalley, the head of which ran a barber's shop. Taking the train north on a visit to relations in Yorkshire I remember it being halted at Peterborough for about an hour whilst an air raid took place.

I spent about a month with my grandparents at Lydd during the time the remainder of my family were located at Thetford in Norfolk. During this period German Aircraft made several raids on Kent and, one day, a lone Dornier 17 cannon-shelled the wooden fence and the bottom of their garden."

John Kitchener, Harold's son

Harold is on the list of those who attended the 23H reunion in 1959.