“Waltr Keeble” as listed on the British Legion Roll. Walter worked at “chemical manure factory” in 1911 and he appears as “Walter Keeble” on the Packard factory Roll of Service. Fortunately, his service record has survived which gives us details of his service.
Walter was called up on 3rd May 1916 as Private No G15011 in the Royal West Kent Regiment. He was 5ft 9ins tall and weighed 129 pounds on enlistment. After training he joined the British Expeditionary Force on 31st August 1916. It mentions in his record that he was wounded in the left forearm on 21st July 1917. He returned back to Britain on 1st October 1917. While in the UK he was transferred to the Essex Regiment, as No 54652, and he served again in the BEF from the 6th May 1918 having been given a period of furlough from the 19th to the 28th January 1918. He was finally discharged on the 4th March 1919 having been assessed as having 20% disablement as a result of his wound.
No evidence of a marriage has been found and it appears that he died in 1931 aged about 43.
A “wound stripe” entitlement report appears from 23rd November 1916 but is not found in his service records. This would indicate another, perhaps more minor, injury or even gassing but no further details have been found. This record is a transcript only and the original source has not been checked.
None of the Keeble family photographs show a man in the Royal West Kent or Essex Regiments.
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