Add New Content


Please log in or register to add new content.

Login

Report Inaccuracies


Frederick Overend Kitching (1886-1918)


Olympian and Conscientious Objector


Frederick represented Great Britain at the London Olympics of 1908. He participated in the Standing Broad Jump, an event that only lasted as an Olympic discipline until 1912. As the name of the event suggests, the competitors had to jump as far as they could from a standing start. Both feet had to be on the floor or they were disqualified. Records show that Frederick was unplaced in the event.

As a Quaker, Frederick appealed for Absolute Exemption from military duties. However, he was given exemption on the condition that he joined the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU), which he did in April 1916. On arriving in France in July 1916, Frederick went to motor school, presumably to learn how to drive ambulances. Most of the time when in France Frederick is listed on his FAU record card as having served as an orderly, although he also undertook farming duties in August 1916. On August 11 1918, Frederick was killed by an enemy air raid on the Hotel Pyl, the headquarters of the FAU in Dunkirk.

Sources:
http://fau.quaker.org.uk/search-view?forename=&surname=kitching

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/features/columnists/mikeamos/backtrack/11393957.Wartime_Olympian_standing_tall/

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/11009463/Ultimate-sacrifice-of-the-oft-forgotten-young-Olympians-who-gave-their-lives-for-Britain-during-World-War-One.html

Civil Parish: Darlington

Birth date: 1886-Jul-4

Death date: 1918-Aug-11

Armed force/civilian: Civilian

Residence: Branksome Hall, Darlington (Friends Ambulance Unit record card)
Oaklands, Kingston Hill, Surrey (1911 census)

Religion: Society of Friends

Organisation membership: 1908 Olympic Team (http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1908/1908.pdf)

Employment: Solicitor (1911 census)

Family: Parents: John Kitching, Annie Elizabeth Kitching (1911 census)
Siblings: John Kitching junior, Alfred Kitching, Arthur Ernest Kitching, William Henry Kitching, Herbert Kitching, Beatrice Madeline Kitching, Ronald Cecil Kitching, Gerald Kitching (1901 census)

Military service:

April 1916 - joined Friends Ambulance Unit
July 1916 - arrived in France

Medal(s): British and Victory Medals

Memorial(s): War Memorial Hospital plaque, Hollyhurst Road, Darlington
Dunkirk Town Cemetery

Gender: Male

Contributed by Durham County Record Office | Cyril Pearce | Lorna Wilkinson |