Roll of Honour (Kilner - Lake)

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Albert Kirkland was the second youngest of 9 children born to William Kirkland, an agricultural labourer, and his wife Emma (nee Woof). He was baptised at St Patrick's Church, Patterdale on the 22^nd April 1888. His parents had met when they were both working as servants for Mrs. Dowson at Matterdale End in the early 1870s but had moved to Hesket Newmarket by the time they married in Caldbeck on the 23^rd of August 1873. Their time there was short and the family moved back to Matterdale in 1874 and then on to Patterdale around 1885. By the time Albert was born in 1888, they were living at Beckstones Farm. Albert's father died in September 1896 and is buried in the graveyard at St Patrick's Church. By 1901, Albert was living at Deepdale Bridge with his widowed mother, his younger brother Frederick and nephew Percy (the illegitimate son of their sister Mary Ann), who would have been attending Patterdale School.

At some point Albert left the Dale and by 1911 we find him working as a Chauffeur to a Widow in Bebington, Cheshire. It was whilst there that he met and married, on the 1^st November 1911, Ethel White Edwards, the daughter of John Edwards. We know that Albert and Ethel had three children; Alfred E, born about May 1912 but who sadly died around July 1914, George born on the 10^th September 1913 and Frank also born on the 10^th September in 1915. (Alfred's discharge papers record both the 10^th September dates).

Albert enlisted at Birkenhead on the 11^th December 1915 almost certainly under the Derby Scheme (which promised deferral for older and married volunteers, prior to conscription being introduced). He stated that he was married with two children, worked as a “motor mechanic” and lived at number 70, The Woodlands, Birkenhead. He was therefore placed on the Reserve list. when. He was eventually mobilised in the Army Service Corps on the 9^th December 1916 and sent to their main depot at Grove Park and within days passed his 'Learners Test' which qualified him as a Military Transport Driver. We believe he was posted to Egypt in February 1917 where he was assigned to various Motor Transport (MT) Companies. His conduct was generally assessed as 'Good' but one Major, in 347 MT Coy, noted that Albert 'Never did a stroke of work'! Whilst serving in Egypt, Alfred would have received word that his brother Frederick had died in Flanders on the 31^st March 1918. Albert was discharged from the Army on the 30^th August 1919 and qualified for a 'Disablement' Class 5 pension, as he had contracted Malaria during his time in Egypt. Both the June 1921 Census and 1939 National Register, record him still at the the Woodlands address and working as a Self Employed Taxi-Cab Owner/Driver.

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Census Records Service Records Medal Card Parish Registers

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Frederick Kirkland was born on the 13^th July 1892, in Hartsop, he was the youngest of 9 children born to William Kirkland, an agricultural labourer, and his wife Emma (nee Woof). His parents had met when they were both working as servants for Mrs. Dowson at Matterdale End in the early 1870s but had moved to Hesket Newmarket by the time they married in Caldbeck on the 23^rd of August 1873. Their time there was short and the family moved back to Matterdale in 1874 and then on to Patterdale around 1885. By the time Frederick was born in 1892, they were living in Hartsop. Fred's father died in September 1896 and is buried in the graveyard at St Patrick's Church, Patterdale. By 1901, Fred, his older brother Albert and nephew Percy (the illegitimate son of their sister Mary Ann) were living at Deepdale Bridge with their widowed mother and attending Patterdale School.

Fred had left home by 1911 and was working as a Horseman at Wreay Farm, Watermillock but later, before the outbreak of war, he got a job driving the mail motor bus which Messrs Taylor Motors Ltd ran between Penrith and Patterdale, so may well have been living with his mother who by then had moved to 25 Duke Street in Penrith.

Fred enlisted early in the war and with his pre-war experience of driving a motor-bus, joined the Mechanical Transport section of the Army Service Corps. He arrived in France on the 16^th July 1915. We know that before he died he was an ambulance driver, presumably motorised, with the 43^rd Field Ambulance (Royal Army Medical Corps.) who were attached to the 14^th (Light) Division. This would have been quite a specialist role at the time as there was still a great reliance on horse drawn wagons.

We know very little about the circumstances of his wounding or where he died and sadly this was probably the same for his mother (unless she received any unpublished letter from his unit). However, we do know that the 14^th (Light) Division were involved in the Battle of St Quentin, part of he German Spring offensive which began on the 21^st March 1918. The Division suffered very severe casualties in this battle, losing almost 6,000 troops and the Artillery Brigades lost all of their guns. Ambulances and medics must have been very busy and it seems likely that Fred was wounded whilst transporting casualties from the front line. He died from his wounds on the 31^st March 1931 and is buried in the St. Sever Cemetery Extension in Rouen.

Fred had spent over two and a half years in France and as an ambulance driver must have seen some terrible things. His medal card shows that he was posthumously awarded the Victory Medal, British War Medal and the 1915 Star.

For Research Documents and a more detailed biography, see his War Memorial Page Click Here

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Born around May 1889 in the Parish of Patterdale, Ernest Lake was the eldest son of John and Christiana Lake (nee Oglethorpe and daughter of a Mining Agent). His father had been born in Devon but came with his parents to Glenridding around 1870 to work as Lead Miners at the Greenside Mine. John and Christiana lived in Glenridding, so Ernest would have attended school in Patterdale. By 1911, aged 21 years, Ernest was working as an Ore Dresser, so becoming the third generation of Lakes to work at Greenside. His mother, a widow since March 1906, was running a boarding house at Bridge House in Glenridding. Prior to joining the army, Ernest had left Glenridding and was working as a miner in Scotland. However, he must have stayed in contact with his pals in the village because, in early December 1915, both he and George Cooper enlisted together in the 2^nd Battalion of the Coldstream Guards (Ernest’s service number of 17524 comes just after that of George 17523).

Ernest would have received his basic training at the Battalion’s barracks in Windsor before being posted to the front in the spring of 1916. During the latter part of July 1917 the 2^nd Battalion were billeted close to Herzeele (about 20 miles west of Ypres), where they underwent training for their part in a major allied offensive planned to begin on the 31^st July that would later become known as the Battle of Passchendaele. Their objective was to cross the Yser Canal and then the Steenbeek Stream to take the Pilkem ridge thereby eliminating the Ypres Salient, the vulnerable bulge of allied-held ground that was surrounded on three sides by German forces. At dawn, on the 31^st July, the Battalion advanced and crossed the Yser Canal using improvised bridges. As they advanced closer to their objective, the shell fire became heavier and machine guns started to inflict casualties. The attack was going to plan with the 2^nd Coldstreams joining up with the 2^nd Grenadiers and beginning to consolidate their position. Unfortunately at this point a German airman flew very low (100ft) over the Battalion in a captured English plane with a black cross painted very indistinctly. There position was therefore given away and a very accurate artillery fire soon followed causing many casualties. Ernest was acting as a stretcher bearer when he was wounded. He was taken to the Casualty Clearing Station at Dozingham but sadly died of his wounds two days later on the 2^nd August 1917. He is buried at Dozinghem Military Cemetery in Belgium.

Ernest had served with The Coldstream Guards in Flanders for around one and a half years and his medal card³ shows that he was posthumously awarded the Victory Medal and the British War Medal.

For Research Documents and a more detailed biography, see his War Memorial Page Click Here

Herbert Lake was a son of Richard Lake, a Miner at Greenside, and Eve (nee Pattinson) who lived at 3 High Rake, Glenridding. Both his parents were born in Glenridding. Richard was the brother of John Lake (father of Ernest Lake above), and Eve was the cousin of Abraham Pattinson. Richard worked at the Greenside Mine like his brother and father. Herbert was one of 7 children; alongside his older sister Sarah Jane (born 1890), older brother John Joseph (1891), younger sister Marian (1895), and younger brothers William (1897), Edward (1902), and Thomas Alfred (1907). The children would all have attended Patterdale School.

Their father Richard died in 1910, at the age of 50, and was buried in St Patrick's Churchyard on the 11^th October. When the census was taken in April 1911, Eve was still living in Glenridding at 3 High Rake with John Joseph and 17 year old Herbert - who were both working as Lead Miners at Greenside, whilst Marian, William, Edward and Thomas were still at school. Eldest daughter Sarah Jane had moved away and was living as a boarder in Darwen Lancashire.

We know that Herbert served in the war as his name is listed on the Glenridding Roll of Honour but for some reason there is no regiment listed against his name. There are twelve medal cards for servicemen with that name, so we cannot be sure which would be 'our' Herbert. By 1917 most of the family had moved to Whitehaven, where his mother Eve remarried. It would have been here that Herbert met Elizabeth Gates, who he married in Whitehaven around May 1920. When the June 1921 Census was taken Herbert and Elizabeth were living in Bowness on Windermere, where he was working as a Police Constable. He had risen to the rank of Police Sergeant and had moved to Maryport in Cumberland when the National Register was taken in September 1939.

Research Documents:

Census Records Wesleyan Baptism Register for Patterdale

William Lake was a son of Richard Lake, a Miner at Greenside, and Eve (nee Pattinson) who lived at 3 High Rake, Glenridding. Both his parents were born in Glenridding. Richard was the brother of John Lake (father of Ernest Lake above), and Eve was the cousin of Abraham Pattinson. Richard worked at the Greenside Mine like his brother and father. William was one of 7 children; alongside his older sisters Sarah Jane (born 1890) and Marian (1895), older brothers John Joseph (1891) and Herbert (1893), and younger brothers Edward (1902), and Thomas Alfred (1907). William was baptised at the Methodist Chapel in Patterdale, on 19^th September 1897. The children would all have attended Patterdale School.

We know from the Glenridding Roll of Honour that he joined the Lancashire Fusiliers and from his medal card that he was awarded the Victory Medal and British War Medal. As he did not qualify for the 1914 or 1915 Star, we know that he didn't enter a theatre of war in either of those years, so he probably enlisted during 1915 and mobilised in 1916. We do not know which Battalion he joined but as the Lancashire Fusiliers had eleven Battalions in the Battle of the Somme (Jul - Nov 1916), it seems very likely that William saw action on the Western Front. His medal card shows that he was transferred at some point into the Labour Corps. The Labour Corps was formed in January 1917 to carry out vital work in support of the regular infantry battalions and many of the men had previously been wounded in action. Unfortunately, without details of William's service record we have no way of knowing where he served or why he ended up in the Labour Corps.

After the war, William moved to Blackburn in Lancashire (his older sister Sarah Jane had gone there in 1911 and his younger brother Thomas Alfred married there in 1936, so there was a family link with that area). William married Lydia Ethel Barker in Blackburn in June 1924. The 1939 National Register shows that William had achieved the rank of Police Inspector with the Blackburn police force. They were still living there when Lydia died (aged 77) around February 1971. William died in Blackpool around May 1989 at the grand age of 91.

Research Documents:

Census Records Medal Card Wesleyan Baptism Register for Patterdale