Royal Field Artillery
Sydney Kilby was born in 1885, son of John Kilby (1847-1904), a colliery check weigh man, and Matilda (née Aston) (1851-1901) of Five Acres, near Coleford. Examination of the 1891 and 1901 Census indicates that the couple had eleven children, eight boys (all of whom ended up working in one of the local coal mines) and three girls (or whom two died in early infancy).
He began his working life in one of the local coal mines as a boy but later moved to the coal mines of Abertillery. He enlisted at Newport, Monmouthshire as Driver 13307, in the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) at the outbreak of the Great War.
Sydney Kilby landed in France on 18 July 1915 and served as a Gunner with ‘D’ Battery, 86 Brigade RFA, which was part of 19th (Western) Division. The Division’s first significant encounter with the enemy was in September 1915, as part of the action at Pietre, designed to divert German troops from the Battle of Loos.
After being seriously wounded in the early stages of the Battle of the Somme, most likely when the Division captured La Boiselle on 3/4 July 1916, he was invalided back to the UK and died of his wounds at Leicester Northern Hospital on 6 August 1916 aged 31 years. His remains were returned to his home for burial in Forest of Dean (Christ Church) Cemetery, where a standard CWGC headstone marks his grave.
At the time of his death it was reported that six of his brothers had, at one time, served in the Army.
Researched by Eric Nicholls 22 December 2019