In the early hours of Sunday the 5th of August 1917, the 19th Battalion were making their way from Fosse 10 to the Laurent sector of the front line. Troops were often at their most vulnerable when on the move and so it proved on this night. At some point along their route, a shell landed by the side of the road along which they were marching. The casualty message for the day reported: Sick – Nil; Killed – 1 Other Ranks; Wounded – 7 Other Ranks; and Wounded at Duty – Lieut F H Cantlon.
In a war of the scale and horror of this particular war, these figures may not seem all that remarkable. However, this do not mean that the results are any less devastating for the men involved or for their parents, wives and children. The devastating significance for our story is that the one other rank killed had a name: Wilfred Kibble. The official report of Wilfred’s death states that he was killed instantly. Whilst letters written to Wilfred’s mother in the weeks after the event aren’t unanimous on this point, they do agree that he didn’t suffer for long.
As I look into Wilfred’s young eyes staring out at me from his In Memoriam card above, I think of those verses from Laurence Binyon’s poem “For the Fallen”:
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Until I looked it up this morning, I hadn’t realised that these words (published in The Times on the 21st of September 1914) were written so early in the war. They shall grow not old. Contrary to the current cult of youth, young adults are not a finished product, destined only to be wearied by age, decline in wisdom, be marginalised by society and become bitter like a cheap table wine. They are people who have reached the starting line of life, who have the opportunity to mature as they age like a fine wine by growing in wisdom, developing in understanding and then offering back what they have learned to society. That is what being human is about. Wilfred, and millions more like him from this war and so many other wars, have been robbed of this opportunity. Not by a shell fired by a German soldier, but by our collective unwillingness to listen to the past and learn how to live in peace with one another. That’s the real tragedy of war.
We must remember them.
Seeking the Truth; Guided by Love 
I found this very thoughtful, eloquent and moving and it made me take notice of a great uncle I had never thought about before. I particularly liked the combination of the factual with the personal – well done, David, you have brought the memory of Wilfred to the notice of the family, and made sure that he will be remembered in the future.
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