Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE FRED KENDREW 10/1130. Born in Sutton-on-Hull in 1894, Fred was the sixth of seven children to Henry and Mary Ann Kendrew of 14 Russell Street, Hull (CWGC Address). A Rullyman by trade, Fred enlisted at City Hall on 7th January 1914 originally joining the 10th Battalion East Yorkshire Regiment, ‘The Commercials’, 1st Hull Pals. Poor health dogged his army life, and it was an operation on his adenoids that had him declared unfit to travel to Egypt with the rest of the battalion. Bronchitis delayed his arrival in France still further, but he eventually arrived at Etaples on 3rd April 1916 where he was transferred to the 11th Battalion. Wounded in the legs during the attack on Oppy Wood, Fred was evacuated to 41st Casualty Clearing Station where he died of wounds on 8th May 1917. He is buried at Duisans British Cemetery; a young man of 22.
During the Battle of Arras, which began in April 1917, the British tried to take Oppy. The first attack was a failure. A second attack was partially successful. The third attack on 3 May, known officially as the Third Battle of the Scarpe, was again unsuccessful with significant loss of life. The troops were ordered to attack at 3.45am, rather than at dawn, and the defending Germans could easily see the line of British soldiers clearly lit by the full moon.
The British continued to attack Oppy and were finally successful the following year. The City of Hull Memorial at Oppy was unveiled in 1927 and commemorates the men of the Hull Pals who were killed on 3 and 4 May 1917.
