2nd Lieut Kenneth Glenfield Collin

• Age: 19
• From: Birkenhead, Cheshire
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Warlencourt Brit Cem
  Panel Ref: V.B.19

Kenneth Glenfield Collin was born in Birkenhead in the first quarter of 1897, the son of James Wilson Collin and his wife Nettie Lee Todhunter who were married in 1896 in Toxteth, Liverpool.  

The 1901 Census finds the family living at 20 Milton Road, Birkenhead. His father is aged 30, a joiner born in Liverpool in 1871 whilst his mother is aged 25, born in 1876 in Neston. Kenneth, aged 4, is the eldest of 3 sons. His siblings are Roy b.1899 and Henry b.1901. There is also a servant present in the household.    

By 1911 the family are living at 25 Milton Road. His father is aged 40, a shop fitter, whilst his mother is aged 38. They have been married for 15 years and have had 5 children, all of whom have survived. Kenneth is now 14, Roy 12 and Henry 10. They have been joined by siblings Eileen Mary b.1905 and James Angus b.1907. There is a servant present also.   

His brother Roy John Collin drowned at sea on 26th October 1914, aged 16. 
 
Kenneth enlisted in Liverpool joining the 6th Battalion (Rifles) of The King's Liverpool Regiment. He was commissioned with the 3rd Battalion and served with the 12th Battalion. On 31st July 1916 he was shell shocked and lightly wounded by a high explosive shell and after hospital treatment was transferred to ‘B’ Company of the 17th Battalion, on 14th August 1916, although his transfer does not seem to have been officially recorded.

Kenneth's wounded status was reported in the Birkenhead News on 12^th August 1916 

SECOND LIEUTENANT COLLIN WOUNDED 

A PERILOUS EXPERIENCE 

Councillor J. W. Collin, of 25, Milton-road, Birkenhead, has received news that his son, Second-Lieut. Kenneth Liverpool Rifles, was wounded on July 31st, and has been under treatment in hospital in France. Second-Lieut. Collin joined the Liverpool Rifles August 14th, 1914, when he was still six months reaching 19 years of age. He was gazetted to his commission on April 2^nd, 1915, and went out to France on April 28th of this year. When he was wounded on the 31st ult. he got shellshock as well, and he passed through a startling experience, and had a really miraculous escape from more serious injury. A shrapnel shell fell at a point where trenches intersected one another, and injured a Company Sergeant-Major to Lieut. Collin to whom he had just been speaking. Lieut. Collin ran into a transverse trench to get ambulance help, when another shell fell there. He was compelled to turn back into another branch of the trenches when a high explosive shell fell only two yards off him, doing a lot of damage, and bringing a heap of earth down on him. It is a wonder he escaped with his life. In a letter dated August 5th which Mr. and Mrs. Collin have received from their son the latter said he hoped to be out of hospital "in a few days”. 

Kenneth was killed in action during the fighting at Warlencourt, near Flers, on 12th October 1916, aged 19.

On that day the objectives were the German front line trenches near Flers, which were attacked by the 89th Brigade. The 2nd Battalion of the Bedfordshire Regiment was on the right, the 17th Battalion was on the left, and the 20th Battalion was in support. The 19th Battalion was in reserve. The attack was in two waves, and as the attackers left their trenches they were met with heavy machine gun fire, along with a fierce Germany bombardment on the front, support and assembly trenches.

17^th Bn War Diary:  Battle of Transloy Ridge –                                               

11-10-16 - Gird Trench/Gird Support – Battalion in front line and support trenches. British bombardment of enemy front line system commenced about midday.  Hostile shelling was intermittent throughout the day.

12-10-16  - Our bombardment continued. Enemy reply weak.  2.5 p.m. Zero hour. Attack on German front line system commenced.  Enemy wire was found to be uncut and attack was unsuccessful.  Hostile machine gun fire was very heavy and caused many casualties. Battalion H.Q. and Support Trench were heavily shelled throughout afternoon and evening. […] During this action all communication had to be carried out by runners and carrier pigeons as all wires were being continually cut by enemy shelling.

Casualties: 5 officers killed,  5 officers wounded, 38 OR killed, about 225 OR wounded/missing etc.

Graham Maddocks, in “Liverpool Pals” page 40, adds:

“As the whistle blew, the 17^th Battalion left its trenches to move forward.  […]  As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them, and at the same time, the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire.  […]  Although their numbers had been depleted by the British bombardment, they were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire.  As such, it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them.   The 17^th Battalion, on the left, was particularly badly hit, as its portion of No Man’s Land contained a slight rise in the ground, and as the troops emerged onto it they were silhouetted against the sky and became easy targets.  Those on the left of the attack, who managed to avoid the hail of bullets and make it to the German wire, then found that it was totally uncut, and thus trapped, they too became easy targets, to be picked off almost at the enemy’s will.  It was hardly surprising that, seeing the first waves being wiped out, some of the following waves turned back and made for their start lines. These lines were now packed with other waves of troops, however, and the fleeing men added to the congestion already there, and became easy prey for the German gunners.  There is some evidence also, to suggest that at this stage, the British trenches were also being hit by their own heavy artillery shells which were falling short.” 

His status as Missing, believed Killed was reported in the Liverpool Daily Post on 19^th October 1916: 

SECOND-LIEUTENANT K. G. COLLIN.  

Second Lieutenant Kenneth G. Collin, K.L.R., aged 19 and a half, is reported missing, believed to be killed. joined the K.L.R. as a private five days after war was declared, when only 171/2 of age. In April, 1915, he was offered a commission in service battalion his own regiment. He went to France in April of this year. He was reported suffering from shell shock early in August, but recovered. Lieutenant Coilin was in civilian life apprenticed to the wholesale timber trade with Messrs. Williams and Davies. He resided with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson Collin, at “Cilcen,” Milton-road, Birkenhead. He was their eldest son. Their second son was lost at sea two years ago under circumstances indirectly due to the war. 

His father, received a letter from Kenneth's Captain W H Pierce, dated Sunday 15th October 1916 as follows:

Dear Mr Collin,

It is my unfortunate duty to have to acquaint you with the news of your son's death in action on the 12th inst. More words at a time like this are quite inadequate to convey one's feelings. I can only say how much I sorrow with you in your great bereavement.

Your son joined my company about the middle of August last and had charge of No.5 Platoon which he led into action last Thursday with great skill and bravery. His men thought the world of him and it would be a comfort to you to read the letters they send describing their sorrow at his loss. Your son's death was quite instantaneous, he was shot through the heart whilst at the head of his Platoon trying with great courage to get them round a German position which stood in the way of our advance. 

Your son, Mr Collin, died like a gallant English gentleman and I, as his company commander feel his loss very terribly. 

If I can give you any further information please let me know and I will do my best, though at present I cannot say definitely where he is buried. 

I feel your son's death as a personal loss because although I have known him only a short time it does not take long out here to learn a man's true worth, which is not to be judged by age or experience, but by greatness of heart.

Believe me Mr Collin,

Yours  very sincerely 

W H Pierce 

Capt.        

Kenneth now rests at Warlencourt British Cemetery where his headstone bears the epitaph:

"TILL THE DAY DAWNS AND THE SHADOWS FLEE AWAY"

Warlencourt Cemetery is entirely a concentration cemetery, begun late in 1919 when graves were brought in from small cemeteries and the battlefields of Warlencourt and Le Sars.  

The Graves Registration form shows graves from “Le Sars 6/1, 6/2, Hexham Road, Seven Elms”.

Graves were brought in from the original cemeteries at Hexham Road (Le Sars), and Seven Elms (Flers), as well as over 3,000 British graves due to the fighting which took place around the Butte de Warlencourt from the autumn of 1916 to the spring of 1917, and again in the German advance and retreat of 1918.  The cemetery now contains 3,505 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War, 1,823 of which are unidentified.

His death was confirmed in the Birkenhead News on 21^st October 1916: 

BIRKENHEAD COUNCILLOR’S BEREAVEMENT 

SECOND-LIEUTENANT K. G. COLLIN KILLED IN ACTION 

All classes of people in Birkenhead and district will, we are sure, learn with deep regret that Second-Lieut. Kenneth G. Collin. K.L.R., eldest son of Councillor and Mrs. J. W. Collin, 25, Milton-road, has been killed in action. On Tuesday night Mr.- Collin received a communication from the War Office to the effect that his son, was "missing, believed killed:" He has since received confirmation of what it was feared had actually occurred—that the young lieutenant had indeed lost his life. He was killed in the fighting on the 12th October. Second-Lieut. Collin was 191/2 years old, and joined the K.L.R. as a private, five days after the outbreak of war, he then being only 171/2 years of age. In April. 1915 he was offered a commission in a service battalion of his own regiment, and in April of this year he went to France. On the 31st July (as recorded in the "News" at the time) he was wounded, and also suffered from shell-shock. His experience on that occasion was startling, and he miraculously escaped more serious injury. A shrapnel shell, falling at a point where trenches intersected one another, wounded a company sergeant-major to whom Lieut. Collin had just been speaking. Lieut. Collin ran into a transverse trench for ambulance aid, but through the fall of another shell he was compelled to turn into another branch of the trenches, when a high explosive shell fell only two yards from him, doing a lot of damage and bringing a heap of earth down on him. The wonder was that he escaped with his life. In civilian life Lieut. Collin was apprenticed to the wholesale timber trade with Messrs. Williams and Davies. He had been educated at the Higher Elementary School, where he was very popular, taking a prominent part in the school sports. Much sympathy is extended to Mr. and Mrs. Collin, whose second son was lost at sea two years ago under circumstances indirectly due to the war. 

Soldiers Effects to father James Wilson, no Pension record has been found. 

Kenneth's nature was one of good humour, he was a optimist, always ready to respond to advice. He was a devoted leader, and won a reputation for courage and honesty. 

A Memorial service was held for him at Wilmer Road Presbyterian Church, Birkenhead, on 29th October 1916

He is also remembered on the family headstone in Hooton Parish Church, which records his father's death on 04th November 1938 aged 68, and reads:- 

James Wilson Collin  

Died November 4th 1938 aged 68 years  

Also  

Kenneth Glenfield Collin  

(2nd Lieut.) 

Eldest Son of the above  

Killed in action October 12th 1916  

Aged 19 1/2 years  

Interred in the British Cemetery  

Warlenlcourt France  

Also  

Roy John Collin 

Second Son of the above  

Drowned at Sea October 26th 1914  

Aged 16 1/2 years 

Kenneth is also commemorated on the following Memorials:

Birkenhead Civic Memorial

Hall of Remembrance, Liverpool Town Hall, Panel 11 Right

His mother Nettie, died, aged 91, in York in 1968.  

Grateful thanks are extended to Graham Collin for permission to reproduce the letter sent by Captain W H Pierce in the above biography of Kenneth.

The passage below was taken from the Liverpool Scroll of Fame:

Nobody could be failed to be touched by the spirit which actuated Second-Lieutenant Kenneth Glenfield Collin whilst in the Army. "Well Dad, I hope I come back, but most of all I won't let my men down--they are such grand fellows!" With these words he bade his father "good-bye." Collin did not let his men down, but he won from them a name as a devoted leader, ever cheerful in manner, ever courageous in action, ever true and upright in his standard of living.

In his nature were blended many laudable qualities. Strong in body and spirit, he had yet a tender and loving disposition towards the aged and the helpless, and into the intimacies of the domestic circle he brought all the instincts of a generous-hearted youth. He was as quick to confess a fault as he was to resent a wrong. So open and sunny a nature made him loved by everyone. In his outlook on life he was an optimist, and there were also implanted in him deeply religious sentiments, which gave him an assurance of the ultimate destruction of every kind of injustice. It was this believe that inspired him throughout all the hardships of his military service.

So noble-minded a lad was bound to be responsive when the martial note broke over Europe. Four days after the declaration of hostilities -- then a lad of seventeen he enlisted with the Liverpool Rifles.From this Teritorial Battalion he went in the following April to take up a commission with the 3rd King's. Exactly a year later he went on active service with the 12th Battalion, and at the time of his lamented death, which occurred on La Butte de Warlencourt on the 12th October, 1916, he was attached to the 17th Battalion, one of the units of the heroic Pals Brigades.

Collin was the son of Councillor and Mrs. J. W. Collin, of Beechwood, Oxton. he had been apprenticed to the wholesale timber trade, and a promising career would have been before him, for he was gifted with energy and business aptitude. But in the country's hour of need, as we have already shown, he sacrificed all these prospects immediately. Life had a new and sterner mission for him, and he entered upon it with a boyish ardour, though with a seriousness of purpose almost sublime.

From the time he became an officer--and none was better fitted for a commission or justified it more speedily-- he set out to win the confidence of those committed to his charge. In this he succeeded whole-heartedly. "Kenneth was absolutely worshipped by his men," wrote his company commander to his parents, and he was paying no merely formal compliment. "If only you could have seen the letters written home by his platoon it would have made you prouder of him than ever. Every single man has mentioned his courage and coolness, and the details of his actions, when I can tell you them, will make you glad your son so gallantly played the man in the most awful test I have ever known."

Sec-Lieutenant Collin died in action facing the enemy. It appeared that, with a number of others, he was temporarily taking cover in a shell-hole, and his intention was apparently to get his platoon round a German position that was interrupting our advance on the Somme. For this purpose he rose to take observation when a sniper shot him through the heart with a machine-gun bullet, his death being instantaneous.

In a letter of condolence his Colonel testified to the coolness and sense of leadership of " a very gallant officer" adding to this the comment "I can truly say he died magnificently."   

We have also this sincere homage from the chaplain:-

"He was so brave, so fearless, so cheery, always smiling, and so beloved, that we shall miss him ever so greatly."
In this sentence is epitomised is the qualities that made Kenneth Collin so soldier-like a servanyt of his King.
"It does not take long out here to learn a man's true worth, which is not to be judged by age or experience, but by greatness of heart." So wrote his Captain-- and what could be a more fitting epitaph. Under the severest task a man could possibly undergo he was not found wanting. Both as a private and an officer he acquitted himself in a manner which his friends who knew him best would have expected, and, as we have seen, his conduct throughout was worthy of the best traditions of the British nation. He died young, but e has left a legacy which must be an inspiration to those who had the pleasure of being associated with him either in military or civil life.

The peace of is theirs
That lift their swords
In such a just and charitable war   

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