Name
Cecil King
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
30/10/1914
25
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Trooper
1636
Royal Horse Guards
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
YPRES (MENIN GATE) MEMORIAL
Panel 3
Belgium
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
St Albans Citizens Memorial, Town Hall (old) Memorial, St Albans, St Saviour's Church Memorial, St Albans, Not on the Essendon memorials, Not on the Hatfield memorials
Pre War
Born in 1889 in Essendon, Herts. Son of Alfred Henry King an Evangelist and Eliza King. 1891 census shows Cecil aged 1 living with his Parents and 3 Brothers at Brickgram, Essendon, Herts. and the 1901 census shows Cecil aged 11 living with his Parents, 4 Brothers and 1 Sister at 4 Hambury Cottages, Essendon, Herts.
On the 10th March 1905 aged 17years & 10months Cecil signed his Attestation papers for the Militia joining the 4th Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment, with the service number 5311. He was then living at 4 Hambury Cottages, Essendon, Herts. At the time he was employed as a gardener at the Rectory. He was discharged from the Militia on the 2nd April 1906, on the payment of £1.
On the 11th September 1907 aged 18years he signed his Attestation papers for the Household Cavalry and Cavalry of the Line, Royal Horse Guards, at the Combermere Barracks, Windsor, Berkshire, with the service number 1276. His occupation prior to enlisting was a gardener.
He was stationed at, Windsor 11th September 1907 to 28th April 1908; London 29th April 1908 to 3rd May 1910, then Windsor 4th May 1910 to his discharge on the 18th June 1912.
The 1911 Census shows Cecil aged 21 as a Trooper in the Royal Horse Guards, stationed at The Cambermere Barracks, St Leonards Road, Winsor, Berkshire.
Address given as later as 42 Warwick Road, St Albans.
Wartime Service
1914 on the outbreak of WW1 Cecil aged 25 years & 4 months re-joined his old Battalion the Royal Horse Guards, signing his attestation papers on the 6th August 1914 with the service number 1636, at the Regents Park Barrack, London.
He disembarked in Zeebrugee, Belgium, with his Battalion on the 7th October 1914.
On the 30th October 1914 Cecil was reported missing in action presumed killed. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial.
Additional Information
Son of Alfred and Eliza King, of 42 Warwick Road, St Albans, Herts. His Brother Harold was killed on the 22nd September 1918. Aged 20 years. Commemorated on the gravestone of his Father Alfred, in the Churchyard of St Mary the Virgin, Essendon, Herts. British War Medal & Victory Medal - His Medal Card shows he was awarded a Clasp only, no 1914 Star was awarded?
Acknowledgments
Gareth Hughes, Stuart Osborne
