Edward James Kirby was my great uncle on my mother’s side of the family. He was born in 1896 at the Eagle Inn,  Merthyr Tydfil his father was the landlord. By 1915 they had moved to the village of Cefn Coed, Breconshire, where he enlisted,  he did his basic training in North Wales, he  embarked for the Western Front on the 30th November 1915 where he joined the 1st Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers on the 10th December 1915. Sometime between then and July 1916 he was transferred into the 2nd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers as a signaler.

On the 20th July 1916 at the Battle of High Wood, the Somme at 5.20 in the afternoon  the 2nd Battalion Royal Welch Fusiliers in the action to the right of the wood came under heavy artillery fire, Edward was hit by shrapnel and suffered a fractured skull. He was taken to the 21st Field Aid Post, then by ambulance to Heilly station to await transportation to Rouen. He was placed on Ambulance Train 26 where he died of his wound on the 22nd July 1916. He is buried  at .A.36.5. St Sever Cemetery, Rouen, France.

Brian Roberts