Benjamin "Ben" Kitchen (1890-1962)
Rotherham coal miner served with 15th DLI won DCM during '100 Days Offensive'
Benjamin Kitchen (known in the army as Ben), the son of William and Sarah Ann Kitchen, was born in Thorpe Hesley, Rotherham, Yorkshire, on 29 November 1890. He had two brothers and three sisters and, apart from his military service, he appears to lived all his life in the Rotherham area. He was a coal miner when he enlisted in the 15th Battalion Durham Light Infantry (DLI) and he landed in France on 9 October 1915. He rose to the rank of sergeant and on 24 October 1918, during the ‘100 Days Offensive, he won the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM). After demobilisation he married Doris Evelyn Clarke in Sheffield early in 1920 and they had one son.
His award of the DCM was gazetted on 11 March 1920 and the citation reads:
“At Poix du Nord on 24th October, 1918, he performed exceptionally good work. When the officers of his company became casualties, he at once assumed command of the company and led them forward successfully to their objective under heavy machine-gun fire”.
Birth date: 29-Nov-1890
Death date: 1962
Armed force/civilian: Army
Residence: Hesley Lane, Ecclesfield, Rotherham (1891 census)
149 Meadow Hall Road, Kimberworth, Rotherham (1901 census)
4 Grattan Street, Kimberworth, Rotherham (1911 census)
28 Herbert Street, Rotherham (1939 Register)
Employment: Coal miner (1911 census)
Iron & steel rolling warehouseman (1939 Register)
Family: Father: William Kitchen
Mother: Sarah Ann Kitchen (nee Thompson)
Siblings: Mary J, George Edward, Emily, Drucilla & Charles William
Kitchen
Wife: Doris Evelyn Kitchen (nee Clarke)
Son: Keith R Kitchen
Military service:
15th Battalion Durham Light Infantry
Regimental number: 22359
Sergeant
Medal(s): Distinguished Conduct Medal
1914-1915 Star
British War Medal
Victory Medal
Gender: Male
Contributed by John Edwards