Name
Frank Stanley Hills
Conflict
First World War
Date of Death / Age
06/11/1918
26
Rank, Service Number & Service Details
Private
265438
Kent Cyclist Bn.
1st/1st
Awards: Service Medals/Honour Awards
Not Yet Researched
Cemetery/Memorial: Name/Reference/Country
RAWALPINDI WAR CEMETERY
4. B. 25.
Pakistan
Headstone Inscription
Not Researched
UK & Other Memorials
Not on the Bushey memorials
Pre War
Born in Ramsgate, Kent in 1893, Frank Stanley Hills was the third son in a family of six children. His father, Edwin Arthur Hills, was a grocer. His mother, Phoebe (née Fletcher), was born in Bushey and grew up with her family on Chalk Hill. She went into domestic service and married Edwin Hills in 1888 in East Ashford, Kent.
His parents settled in Ramsgate at 4 Flora Road, St Laurence, Ramsgate, where Edwin ran his own grocery business. At the 1901 Census, Frank was 8 years old and had three brothers; Edwin (Jnr.), Sydney and Aubrey. Their ages were 11, 10 and 5 respectively and those of his father and mother were 38 and 36. The birthplaces are given as Brabourne, Kent for Edwin (Snr.), Watford, Herts for Phoebe, and Ramsgate, Kent for all of the children.
By 1911 Edwin (Snr.) and Phoebe are now 48 and 46 years old and had moved to a seven-roomed house at 36 Dane Road, Ramsgate. Edwin (Jnr.) has moved away, but five children are still living at home; Sidney George, Frank Stanley, Aubrey Brian, Gladys Phoebe and Reginald Gordon. Their ages are 20, 18, 15, 9 and 1 respectively. Edwin (Snr.) is now a grocer shopkeeper and both Sidney and Frank are working as shop assistants in the grocery business.
Wartime Service
Frank enlisted at Ramsgate in the 1st Kent Army Cyclist Corps and served as Lance Corporal 265438. He died in India on 6 November 1918, aged 26, and was buried at Rawalpindi War Cemetery, Punjab, Pakistan.
Frank Stanley Hills never lived in Bushey but his mother had close family ties with the village and this was mentioned in the information given to the War Graves Commission.
The 1st Kent Army Cyclist Corp was originally raised in 1908 as a bicycle infantry battalion of the British Army's Territorial Force and was initially designated as the 6th (Cyclist) Battalion, Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment). It was separated from the regiment in 1910 and re-designated as the independent Kent Cyclist Battalion in order to encourage recruitment from the eastern part of the county.
The Territorial Force was intended to be a home defence force for service during wartime and members could not be compelled to serve outside the country. However, on the outbreak of war, many members volunteered for Imperial Service and units were split into 1st Line (liable for overseas service) and 2nd Line (home service for those unable or unwilling to serve overseas) units.
The battalion was mobilised on 4 August 1914 and moved to its war station at Canterbury. During 1915, it served on coast defences between Swale and Rye, with a detachment in the Medway Defences. The battalion sailed to India on 8 February 1916 landing at Bombay on 3 March. It then served in various locations, earning its first battle honour on the North West Frontier in 1917 and continuing there throughout 1918.
Additional Information
Information provided with the kind permission of Bushey First World War Commemoration Project – Please visit www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk.
Acknowledgments
Andrew Palmer
Dianne Payne - www.busheyworldwarone.org.uk, Jonty Wild
