Name & Rank: 2Lt. Kenneth Theodore Dunbar Wilcox
Regimental Number: EF/8/649
Birth Date & Location
December 14, 1884 in Clapham, London
Second Lieutenant Kenneth Theodore Dunbar Wilcox (HU 127475) CWGC has age at death given as 20. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205390767
Parents
Reverend Alfred G. Wilcox, M.A., C.F., and Mrs. Harriet L. Wilcox
Family Profile
Kenneth Theodore Dunbar Wilcox was born to Reverend Alfred G. Wilcox and Mrs. Harriet Lyle Wilcox (née Nichols) in on December 14, 1884 in Clapham, London and was their only child. Reverend Wilcox was acting Senior Chaplain of the XV Scottish Division and the Highland Division during the war, and formerly the Vicar of St. George’s in Battersea Park, London. The family was fairly well off financially, and consistently employed several domestic servants throughout Kenneth Wilcox’s life. Wilcox attended the Westminster School as a member of Homeboarders house (now Wren’s House) starting in 1905, and officially sat the admissions Challenge in June 1909, when he was elected as a King’s Scholar. He was elected to a position at Christ Church, Oxford in July 1913 but left the school to enlist in the Public Schools Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment. In October of 1914, he received a commission to the 8th Queen’s Battalion
Service Profile
After enlisting in the Public Schools Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, Wilcox was commissioned as an officer in the 8th Queen’s Battalion. He embarked for the Western Front on October 9, 1915, and joined the Battalion four days later. Less than one month after arriving at the front, however, Wilcox was killed in action outside Reninghelst, Belgium on November 8, 1915. The battalion had only been in the trenches for a few days after relieving the 9th Battalion East Surrey Regiment on the 5th. After a few quiet days at the front, the 9th East Surrey’s relieved the 8th Queen’s, who then returned to camp at Reninghelst. However, on his march back to camp with the rest of A Company, 2Lt. Wilcox was killed by a stray bullet.
Death & Memorialization
Two days after Wilcox’s death, his father left his position with the XV Scottish Division and officiated his son’s burial at Reninghelst Church Cemetery in Belgium. His headstone bears the inscription “Faithful Unto Death.” Wilcox’s death was reported in local papers in the weeks following his November 10th burial. He is also memorialized on a 1921 plaque in the Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford, alongside Christ Church alumni who were lost during the war.
Link to CWGA Entry:
Link to OA Records Accessed:
https://www.surreyinthegreatwar.org.uk/collections/getrecord/SHMEM_W_M_4492
https://www.ww1cemeteries.com/reninghelst-churchyard-extension.html
