Kingsley Meredith Chatterton Fradd Abt. 1898

Kingsley Meredith Chatterton Fradd was born about 1897 in Islington, London, England to Martin Meredith and Ada Fradd [nee Chatterton].  Kingsley was the eldest of 5 children.

The outbreak of the Great War was greeted with scenes of unprecedented patriotism across the length and breadth of Britain.

Men rushed to enlist in their thousands, from all walks of life, anxious to be part of the big adventure. All Saints School in the village of Bloxham, near Banbury in Oxfordshire, was no different, and many men and boys from the school joined up.

Kingsley Meredith Chatterton Fradd



Old Bloxhamists held every rank in the British Army from Private to Brigadier General, and there was no theatre of war that they did not serve in. 

Some of them were decorated for gallantry, others fell foul of military law, but all did their bit.
Regardless of rank, age or background, the 76 Old Bloxhamists have one thing in common; none of them came home.

Kingsley was educated at Bloxham School (All Saints' School), between 1908 and 1914, where he was recorded in numerous pictures within the school archives acting in plays.  He was also a Sergeant in the school O.T.C, and received awards for this. 

On leaving the school he moved to Canada and was employed at the Bank of Nova Scotia in Cobourg, Ontario, Canada.

Kingsley sailed from Montreal  aboard the 'Sicilian' as an 18 year banker and arrived in England  in October 1915. He enlisted into the Royal Fusiliers and proceeded to France in early 1916. 

The Germans went on the offensive in 1916, launching a massive attack against the French in the east of France, centred on the strategically and psychologically important fortress town of Verdun.  The German plan to "bleed France white" almost worked, bar a supreme display of French resistance.

As the casualties ran into hundreds of thousands, the French implored the Allies to move their planned offensive forwards, to try and divert German resources away from the east.

The 56th (1st London) Division moved from Hallencourt to the Hebuterne sector, opposite Gommecourt where it would remain until the opening phase of the Battle of the Somme on 1st July 1916. On this day it was part of a diversionary attack, with the 46th (North Midland) Division on its left, to confuse the Germans as to the true location of the Somme advance.

In the days leading up to the attack it made all its preparations obvious to the enemy, and despite some expectations moved forward at Zero Hour toward Gommecourt village.
The 46th on the left had failed, and by the end of the day the London battalions had been forced back to their original lines. Casualties were 182 officers (including Kingsley Fradd) and 4,567 men killed, wounded and missing.

The battles to win ground from the German Second Army continued over four and a half months and the battle officially drew to a close on 19th November. The Allies won approximately 7 miles (12 kilometres) of ground in that time at a cost of thousands of casualties killed and wounded. The German defence was stubborn and the German Second Army also suffered heavy casualties of many thousands by the end of the battle.

Within the first hour of the attack the German defence inflicted unforeseen heavy casualties to the British attacking force, resulting in the British being unable to reach their objectives for the first day in most parts of the battlefront.

The middle day of the middle year of the First World War is remembered as the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army. As night fell on the evening of the 1st July, they had suffered 57,470 casualties, of whom 19,240 were killed or died of wounds

For many people, the first day has come to represent the futility and sacrifice of the war, with lines of infantry being mowed down by German machine guns.

While the first day marked the beginning of four and a half months of attrition, it always overshadowed the days that followed.

2nd Lt. Kingsley Meredith Chatterton Fradd

2nd London Regiment, Royal Fusiliers

Killed in action, aged 18, 1st July 1916

Buried in Hebuterne Cemetery, France

The divisional historian later concluded, “… unpleasant as it may seem, the role of the 56th Division was to induce the enemy to shoot at them with as many guns as could be gathered together.” In this, they had certainly succeeded.

Kingsley is recorded on the war memorial which stands in the entrance lobby to the banks' headquarters in Alberta, Canada. He lies buried in a beautiful cemetery in Hebuterne in France, his headstone standing at the base of a cherry tree.

‘Patriots who perished for their country's right,

Or nobly triumphed in the field of fight

There holy priests and sacred poets stood,

Who sung with all the raptures of a god

Worthies, who life by useful arts refined,

With those who leave a deathless name behind,

Friends of the world, and fathers of mankind.'