Sgt 16584 Alfred Kirkwood

• Age: 28
• From: Kirkdale, Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 18th Btn
• K.I.A Saturday 1st July 1916
• Commemorated at: Thiepval Memorial
  Panel Ref: P&F1D8B &8 C.

16584 Sergeant Alfred KIRKWOOD, 18^th Battalion, KLR.

Alfred was born in Kirkdale, Liverpool on 11^th February 1888 and was baptised at St Paul's Church, Kirkdale on 27th March 1888, their address 161 Brazenose Rd. He was the third of eight children and the second of four sons born to Joseph Kirkwood and his wife Margaret Anne (nee Ranworth) who had married in 1875 at St Mary’s Church, Bootle. Joseph was an engine fitter from Bootle, father Henry, whilst Margaret Anne Ranworth (her mark x) was also from Bootle, father Jacob. 

The 1891 Census shows the family living at Bedford Road, Bootle.

Alfred is aged 3 and lives with his parents and seven siblings. His father Joseph, who is aged 37, was born in Ireland in 1854 and is a dock labourer, whilst his mother, Margaret Anne, is aged 34, she was born 1857 in Liverpool and has no occupation listed. His seven siblings are listed as follows;  Mary aged 15, is at school, Samuel aged 11, Henry aged 9,  Emily aged 7,, Edward aged 5, are all at school and were born in Liverpool and John aged 1, was born in Bootle. Also listed is Margaret's mother Charlotte Ranworth aged 64, born 1827 and her brother Samuel Ranworth aged 38, born 1853 a timber labourer and both were born in Liverpool.   

Samuel who was listed in the 1891 Census as born in 1880 died on 15th February 1892, aged 12.

His grandmother Charlotte Ranworth died on 09th March 1900, aged 72. 

Alfred was educated at Daisy Street School. 

The 1901 Census shows the family living at 15, Bedford Road, Bootle.

Alfred aged 13 is living with his parents and seven siblings. His father Joseph now aged 47, is a dock labourer and showing as born in Dublin, Ireland. His wife Margaret Anne is aged 44, and has no occupation listed. Mary E. is aged 25 and is a teacher in an elementary school, Frances aged 23 has no occupation listed, Henry aged 19, is a hat finisher in a dye works, Emily aged 17, is a dressmaker, Edward aged 15 is a commercial junior clerk,  John aged 11 and Samuel aged 8, who was born in 1893 in Bootle. Samuel Ranworth now aged 48 and still employed as a timber labourer is still living at the address.

His father died, aged 54, in 1910 and was buried on the 04th February 1910 at Kirkdale Cemetery.  

The 1911 Census shows the family still living at 15, Bedford Road, Bootle. Alfred aged 23 is a clerk at a timber brokers, he lives with his widowed mother and four siblings. His mother, Margaret Anne, is now aged 54, and has no occupation listed. His siblings are listed as follows: Mary E. aged 35, is a teacher in an elementary school with Liverpool Council, Edward aged 25 is a clerk with Liverpool Saving's Bank,  John aged 21 is a shipping clerk and Samuel aged 18, is an apprentice joiner. Samuel Ranworth is still living with the family he is aged 58 and still employed as a timber labourer. 

Alfred enlisted at St George's Hall in Liverpool on 31^st August 1914, joining the 18th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 16584. He gave his age as 26 years 6 months, his occupation as clerk and his next of kin as his mother. He was described as being 5' 6" tall, weighed 126lbs, 37” chest, with a fresh complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. He stated his religion as Church of England. 

From the 23^rd September 1914 he was billeted at Hooton Park Race Course and remained there until 03^rd December 1914 when they moved into the hutted accommodation at Lord Derby’s estate at Knowsley Hall. On 30th April 1915 the 18th Battalion alongside the other three Pals battalions left Liverpool via Prescot Station for further training at Belton Park, Grantham. They remained here until September 1915 when they reached Larkhill Camp on Salisbury Plain.

On 18^th May 1915 he was appointed Unpaid L/Corporal; on 28^th June 1915 to paid L/Corporal; on 16^th October 1915 to Corporal; and on 1^st November 1915 he was promoted to Lance Sergeant. He crossed to France with his Battalion on 07th November 1915 aboard the SS Invicta. He was promoted to Sergeant in January 1916 because “Vice-Sgt Mitchell was wounded and sent back to England”.  

Alfred was killed in action on the 01^st July 1916 during the attack at Montauban. The Battalion Diary outlines the days events:  

18^th Battalion Diary

At 6.30am the artillery commenced an intensive bombardment of the enemy’s trenches. Zero Hour – 7.30 am – the battalion commenced to leave their trenches and the attack commenced. The attack was pressed with great spirit and determination in spite of heavy shelling and machine gun enfilade fire which caused casualties amounting to 2/3rds of the strength of the Battalion in action. The whole system of German trenches including the Glatz Redoubt was captured without any deviation from the scheduled programme. Consolidated positions and made strong points for defence against possible counter attacks.

Graham Maddocks provides more detail concerning the events of the day:

As the first three waves began to move forward towards the German reserve line, known as Alt Trench and then on to the Glatz Redoubt itself, they suddenly came under enfilading fire from the left. This was from a machine gun which the Germans had sited at a strong point in Alt Trench. The gun itself was protected by a party of snipers and bombers, who, hidden in a rough hedge, were dug into a position in Alt Trench, at its junction with a communication trench known as Alt Alley. These bombers and snipers were themselves protected by rifle fire from another communication trench, Train Alley which snaked back up the high ground and into Montauban itself. The machine gun fire was devastating and it is certain that nearly of the Battalion’s casualties that day were caused by that one gun.  

Lieutenant Colonel Edward Henry Trotter wrote in the conclusion of his account of the day’s action:

I cannot speak to highly of the gallantry of the Officers and men. The men amply repaid the care and kindness of their Company Officers, who have always tried to lead and not to drive. As laid down in my first lecture to the Battalion when formed, in the words of Prince Kraft:

“Men follow their Officers not from fear, but from love of the Regiment where everything had always and at all times gone well with them”.   

Joe Devereux in his book A Singular Day on the Somme gives the Casualty Breakdown for the 18^th Battalion as Killed in Action 7 Officers and 165 men and of those who died in consequence of the wounds 3 Officers and 19 men a total of 194 out of a total loss for the four Liverpool Pals Battalions of 257. 

A report in the Bootle Times in July 1916 concerning the death of Alf Kirkwood and Arthur Seanor, (Pte Frederick Arthur Seanor 16613), contained in a remarkable letter from John Kirkwood, Alf's brother and Arthur's friend:

Sergt J. Kirkwood whose brother Alfred was killed in the same action, has written to the Vicar of St. Paul’s Kirkdale, announcing the death of the two young soldiers who were fellow choristers at the church.

He say’s of Pte Seanor:

“As you are probably aware, he has been in my platoon since the commencement of the war, and I can safely say I could never hope to have a better soldier. Cheerful at all times, he was perfectly happy when I shook hands with him about three minutes before we passed on the top of the parapet, and he had not gone more than 200 yards (about the same distance as my brother Alf) when he was fatally wounded. I saw his body on the field the following day, and he, like Alf, lay with his face to the foe….

Liverpool has every reason to be proud of this battalion. They went forward as on the parade ground, not hesitating in the face of a hail of lead, and although our losses were heavy our object was attained to scheduled time. Both Alf and Arthur fell on the 1^st instant. We had partaken of Holy Communion on the previous Sunday.

I remain absolutely unscathed although in the front line, where our losses were heavy”.  

He was reported killed in action in the Liverpool Daily Post on 07th August 1916: 

The Thiepval Memorial, the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme, bears the names of more than 72,000 officers and men of the United Kingdom and South African forces who died in the Somme sector before 20 March 1918 and have no known grave. Over 90% of those commemorated died between July and November 1916.

On 01st August 1932 the Prince of Wales and the President of France inaugurated the Thiepval Memorial in Picardy. The inscription reads: “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of the British Armies who fell on the Somme battlefields between July 1915 and March 1918 but to whom the fortune of war denied the known and honoured burial given to their comrades in death.”

Both Alfred and John were remembered by their family in the Liverpool Evening Express on 08th July 1924: 

Roll of Honour. 

KIRKWOOD - In proud and loving memory of Sergt. ALFRED KIRKWOOD, killed in action, July 1, 1916, and the Company-Sergt-Major JOHN KIRKWOOD, killed in action, July 8th, 1916, both of the 18th King's Liverpool Pals (Ever remembered by mother and family.) 

Soldiers Effects to brother Samuel, the Pensions of Alfred and John to mother Margaret Anne. 

Alf is also remembered on the following Memorials:

Daisy Street School Memorial (now in Kirkdale County Primary school), Fonthill Road, Liverpool

Bootle Civic Memorial, Stanley Road, Bootle.

On the day he enlisted, Alfred was accompanied by his younger brother John, who enlisted in the 18^th Battalion with the number 16585, the next consecutive number to Alfred. John was to reach the rank of Company Sergeant Major and was posthumously “Mentioned in the Dispatches” of Sir Douglas Haig in December 1916 for gallantry and devotion to duty. He was also killed in action with the 18^th Battalion exactly a week after his brother fell, on 08th July 1916.

John is also commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme.

The loss of two sons was contained in the Liverpool Echo 17th July 1916

BOOTLE MOTHER'S DOUBLE LOSS

Mrs Kirkwood of 15 Bedford Road, Bootle has sustained a double loss by the death in France of a son, Sergeant A. Kirkwood, and of another son Co. Sergeant Major J. Kirkwood, King's Liverpool Regiment, who was killed in action on July 9th (sic).

Both brothers are commemorated in the Hall of Remembrance, Liverpool Town Hall, Panel 67.

They are also remembered on the family headstone at St Mary's Churchyard, Bootle. The church was destroyed in the Blitz on Bootle during WWII. The inscription on the headstone reads: 

Also in proud and loving memory of 
SGT ALFRED KIRKWOOD KILLED IN ACTION IN FRANCE 1ST JULY 1916, AGED 28 YEARS. 
AND C.S.M. JOHN KIRKWOOD KILLED IN ACTION IN FRANCE 8TH JULY 1916, AGED 26 YEARS.
BOTH OF THE 18TH SERVICE BATT. K.L.R.(2ND PALS)
"IN THEIR DEATH THEY WERE NOT DIVIDED"   

Liverpool Evening Express 2nd July 1926 

KIRKWOOD - In loving memory of Sergt. ALFRED KIRKWOOD and C.S.M. JOHN KIRKWOOD, both of the 18th King’s Liverpool (2nd Pals), killed in action at the Somme, July 1916. Always remembered by mother and family. 

Nearly ninety years after their deaths, Alfred and John were remembered in an In Memoriam notice in The Daily Telegraph on 1st July 2005, under the heading, “THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE”:  “KIRKWOOD - Sgt. ALFRED KIA Somme 1916 and his brother CSM JOHN KIRKWOOD KIA on 6th July, both with the Liverpool Pals KLR. Remembered by their nephew John Kirkwood.” 

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