Kenneth Roy Beeching (1916-1943)

Second World War Roll of Honour

Kenneth Roy Beeching was born on 31 July 1916, the second son of Hubert Josiah Beeching, a journalist, and Annie (née Twigg) of 100 King Edward Road, Maidstone in Kent. He was educated at All Saints’ Elementary School and Maidstone Grammar School from 1926 to 1935. He was a member of the Officer Training Corps, rising to the rank of Sergeant and Section Commander. He was a member of the Shooting VIII, representing the school from 1932 to 1935, and edited the school magazine, “The Maidstonian” from 1931 to 1934. He was a member of the 1^st Rugby XV and 1^st Cricket XI from 1932 to 1935, awarded Colours in 1934 and Captain of both in 1935. He was Captain of College House and Deputy Captain of School in his final year from 1934.

Kenneth matriculated at Downing College in 1935 studying English and represented the College at rugby and cricket, receiving his Colours for rugby in Lent 1937. After graduating in 1938, he was appointed as an Assistant Master at King Edward VI Boys Grammar School, Stafford. He was married in 1940 to Betty Vera Tooke.

Following the outbreak of war, he attended an Officer Cadet Training Unit before being commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Queen's Own (Royal West Kent Regiment) on 2 November 1940. He spent some time as an Officer Instructor training Cadets before being attached to the 6th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and was posted overseas in February 1943. At the beginning of April 1943, the 6th Battalion was near the bridge at Oued Zarga in Tunisia where they were probing enemy defences in the lead up to the planned attack by Allied forces on Tunis. At 6.30pm on the evening of 4 April, Kenneth led a patrol of sixteen men to carry out a reconnaissance in order to find a suitable route forward to the start line for the main attack, planned for 7 April. At 7.30am the following morning, the patrol returned with the news that they had run into an enemy booby trap made from a teller mine which had killed Kenneth Beeching and two other ranks and wounded a further three members of the patrol.

Captain Beeching was killed in action on 5 April 1943, aged 26. He is buried at Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery and also commemorated on the war memorial at Maidstone Grammar School.

Sources

Maidstone Grammar School Archives

TNA 6th Royal Inniskilling Regiment War Diaries

Image

Downing Cricket XI, 1935-36 (DCPH/2/3/4/3) – K. R. Beeching is centre of the back row (courtesy of Lafayette Photography Ltd)