Joe was born and raised in Dolgellau, Merionethshire and lived in South Street. Records show that he worked on the Nannau Estate, near Dolgellau. He enlisted in the 2nd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers in Caernarfon at the outbreak of the war.  It is likely that he was the first from Dolgellau to die in the First World War. 
The action in which Joe was killed appears not to be documented. However, there is some information in two letters, both from a friend, Pte DJ Edwards, who was in the same Battalion, which casts some light on the the circumstances of his death.  Pte Edwards, also from Dolgellau was also to die, in 1918. 
The first letter is to his sister, dated 7 November 1914, written from hospital where he was recovering from a wounded arm. He wrote:
"I suppose you have heard about Joe Kynaston getting killed before now. I was very sorry to hear myself."   
The second is to his friend William Williams in Dolgellau, dated 17 November 1914. He  wrote:
"........You would be surprised to see how brave they are in the British Army. They fight odds at times of about 7 to 1 and pull through it. We have had very hard times in the trenches because it has been raining all the time; and the Germans have been trying to take advantage of the rain by attacking us four or five times in one night.......... I suppose my sister told you about Joe Kynaston. Poor old Joe! He fought bravely and took four of the brutes to master him. He was too far from us to go and give him a hand but we had our own back by setting the farm on fire where the Germans stopped; about 50 of them were killed, so we never had any more trouble with them".
Joe is commemorated the the War Memorial in Dolgellau .
We will remember him!  

Emrys Tippett