Stratford Herald - Friday 12th October 1917
DEATH WHILE PRISONER OF WAR - SERGEANT R. C. KEMP

The news has just reached Stratford of the death while a prisoner of war of Sergeant Richard Charles Kemp of the 1st Battalion Kings Royal Rifles. He was well known locally and had the bad luck to be captured by the Germans in November 1914.

A chum, writing to his widow from Alten-Grabow Camp sent particulars of his illness, adding that while in hospital he lacked nothing. It was on August 16th after a long period of unconsciousness that he peacefully passed away.

Every Britisher in the camp was very sorry to hear of poor Dick's death. He had expected it for quite a while. Your husband had a soldier's funeral and a soldier's grave. British all through and then we left him in the little graveyard surrounded by pine trees and open to the sky. Sergeant Dixon carefully removed from the wreath the colours for you and intends that at some near future date to hand these and other personal souvenirs of poor old Dick to you personally. All that now remains for us to do is to convey to you and your little one our truest and deepest sympathy from every Britisher in Alten Grabow camp.

Our Headquarters until daylight remained in same dug out about 80 yds behind the firing line, but just before daylight they moved back with the wood near long near some dug outs occupied by our Reserve Coy.

On 2nd Battalion had occupied, until our arrival, the trenches taken over by the Berks and after handing over they moved back in the direction of Hooge after staying for a time in the dugouts. Willan, Miller and I moved into the basement of the Chateau in the wood.

About 11am we received a message from Christie Miller who commanded the Coldstream Battalion on our left saying that he believed that the other part of his line north of the wood had broken as he was being enfiladed from his left flank. This message Capt. Bullen sent on to Major Finch (Berks) immediately asking him to help in any way he could.

Major Finch sent back a message to say he was sending up two platoons at once to help on the north side of the main road. Capt. Willan then went out on to the main road himself and up to towards the crossroads where he saw the Berks lying across the road and the Germans facing them.

‘A’ Company (reserve) was then sent up also along the north side of the road to re-enforce the Berks and an orderly was sent back towards Hooge and 1st Division for further help.

The 2nd Bn. KRRC was sent up by them to help on both sides of the main road and they were followed up by several other weak battalions, Welsh Regiment, South Wales Borderers, Loyal N. Lancs and Gloucesters and the gap in the line was thus filled, the line being withdrawn about 300 yards until it was approximately along the eastern edge of the wood. The Germans however still occupied the trenches taken from the Coldstreams.

The pressure on the north side of the road had also been relieved very considerably by the fact that the French had to make an advance on Gheluvelt from the north and their right right reached the neighbourhood of Veldhoek just at the critical moment. We ( Battalion HQ) were quite in ignorance of what had happened to our own three companies ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ who were in the trenches on the right of the Coldstreams as our HQ’s were with the reserve company ‘A’ back in the wood from the front edge of which even it was impossible for the trenches owing to the latter being down on a forward slope.

Casualties: A Coy 3 Rfmn killed & 9 wounded (including 2nd Lt Collins)

Other Coys: 9 officers, 437 other ranks missing.