BORN HULL 1881. SON OF JOHN B & EMILY KIRKBY. WIFE ANNIE KIRKBY, OF 3 CARLTON STREET, HESSLE ROAD, HULL (CWGC ADDRESS). A HOUSE PAINTER. ENLISTED HULL.
Hull Pals Memorial Post. PRIVATE JOHN WILLIAM KIRKBY 33030. Born 1881, the third of eight children, and eldest son, of John and Emily Kirkby. John was a House Painter by trade and husband to Betsy Ann, with two sons of his own, Horace and Arthur, who were in their early teens when their father went to war. He was fatally injured during the German Spring Offensive and died of wounds at the hospital camp on the outskirts of Etaples on 9th April 1918. When the dreaded telegram was delivered to 3 Carlton Street, Hessle Road, Hull his sons will have been old enough to comprehend its meaning. That must have been some weight to bear at that vulnerable age, losing their father and knowing responsibility for putting food on the table now lay with them. John is buried at Etaples Military Cemetery. He was 37 years old.
