KENNETH SPURLING MAYHEW
Born: 7th July 1893, at Hillside, Sproughton, Suffolk.
Baptised on the 4th August 1893, at St. Matthew’s Church, Ipswich – family home at Hillside, Sproughton.
Died: 4th December 1917; age 24; KiA by a shell when bringing in the wounded under fire at Bourlon Wood, France.
Evening Star – Wednesday, 12th December 1917 – MR. KENNETH S. MAYHEW KILLED IN ACTION – Mr. and Mrs. E. Edgar Mayhew have received news that their youngest son, Kenneth Spurling Mayhew, Private, of the 6th London Field Ambulance, was killed in action on the 4th December, whilst bringing in wounded under fire. A shell burst close to him, and death was immediate. Kenneth Mayhew was educated at Framlingham College, and was about to take his final examination for the Institute of Chartered Accountants when the war began. He was a keen cricketer, and was a member of the Ipswich Cricket and Hockey Clubs. He joined the Army in August 1914, and was sent to France early in February 1915. His Captain, writing of him, says: “My relations with your son were rather different to the ordinary relations between officer and man, and in the last three years I had got frightfully fond of him. He and I have been together on the line, and out of it – at cricket, hockey – in danger, and out of it. It has absolutely stunned me, and you have my deepest sympathy. Poor Kenneth was the life and soul of the unit, and quite the most popular man we had. He volunteered on every possible occasion for the line, and despite his physique, stuck it every time. I can’t tell you what it means to me, never to see his cheerful face in the orderly room – never to arrange cricket or footer matches. I’m not writing this officially, but as a man who has lost one of the few friends he has made in this war. I can assure you that I am voicing the opinions of every officer and man of this unit when I say we have suffered an irreparable loss.
Residence: 3, Rushmere Road, Ipswich.
Occupation: Articled Clerk.
Enlistment Location: Chelsea, London.
Kenneth was preparing to take his final examination for the Institute of Chartered Accountants when the war began, and he volunteered for overseas service. He succeeded in joining the R.A.M.C. in August 1914, after being rejected many times for the loss of one eye. Ipswich School magazine March 1918
Date of Entry Therein: 15th March 1915 – France.
Rank: Private; Service Number: 538258
Regiment: Royal Army Medical Corps, 6th London Field Ambulance.
Medals Awarded: Victory, British War & 1915 Star.
Grave Reference:
I.D.12.
France.
Relatives Notified & Address: Youngest son of Thomas Edgar & Amelia Turner Mayhew, of Rushmere Road, Ipswich.
CENSUS
1901 93, London Road, Ipswich.
Kenneth was 7 years old and living with his parents & siblings.
Thomas Edgar Mayhew, 46, a Chartered Accountant – employer, born Weybread, Suffolk.
Amelia Turner Mayhew (nee Rainer), 45, born Ipswich.
Basil Edgar Mayhew, 17, an Articled Clerk, born Ipswich.
Geoffrey Mayhew, 13, born Ipswich.
Gladys Mayhew, 11, born Ipswich.
Evelyn Winifred Mayhew, 6, born Sproughton, Suffolk.
Phyllis Helen Mayhew, 4, born Sproughton.
1 general servant.
1911 16, Ashmere Grove, Ipswich.
Kenneth was 17 years old, an Articled Clerk. He was living with his parents & siblings.
Thomas, 56, a Chartered Accountant – employer.
Minnie, 55.
Gladys, 21.
Evelyn, 16.
Phyllis, 14.
1 general servant.
On the 6th November 1913, Kenneth travelled 1st Class, from Madeira to the port of Liverpool, on the S.S. Tamele (of 2419 tonnage) of the British & African Steam Navigation Company. Ltd. – Master – J.E. Williams. He was 20 years old, an Articled Clerk and travelling with 23 year old, A. Edgar Sylvester, a Chartered Accountant.
On the 31st January 1914, Kenneth travelled 1st Class, from Liverpool to Tenerife, on the S.S. Nigeria (bound for West Africa) of the African S.S. Co – Master J.H. Watson. He was 20 years old, an Articled Clerk and travelling with 23 year old, A. Edgar Sylvester, a Chartered Accountant.
Kenneth was educated at Ipswich School, entered 1905, and Framlingham College, 1907 – 1909. He was a Queen Victoria Scholar & Sub. Prefect.
Kenneth was a member of Ipswich Cricket Club and Ipswich Hockey Club.
Soldiers’ Effects to Thomas Edgar Mayhew – father.
Kenneth is also remembered on the Chapel war memorial at Ipswich School, and on the war memorial at St. Matthew’s Church, Ipswich, and at Northgate High School. Formerly Ipswich Grammar School for Boys.
A prie-dieu was presented to the Talbot House museum at Poperinge in memory of Kenneth and William Wellings Locke, of Balham, London, ranked a Private for the Royal Army Medical Corps, 133rd Field Ambulance, KiA, 25th July 1917, age 23. He was laid to rest at Gwalia Cemetery, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium.
The Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) is part of the British Army providing medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace. Together with the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, the Royal Army Dental Corps and Queen Alexandra’s Royal Army Nursing Corps, the RAMC forms the British Army’s essential Army Medical Services. In combat, the men followed the troops over the top into no man’s land, suffering losses of 743 officers and 6130 soldiers killed, while delivering medical care to wounded exposed to enemy fire.
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