Kenneth Aitken

Kenneth Aitken was born on 6th March 1905 (at 8.30am) at 21 Falkland Mansions (now Falkland Street) in Hyndland.

He was the second son of Hugh Wallace Aitken and of Jessie Eva Aitken (nee Robertson) and had three brothers: Wallace (born 1904), Malcolm (born 26 September 1907 was Captain in the HLI), and Douglas (born 20^th April 1911).

His father, Hugh, was an engineer who specialised in the design and construction of machinery for refining sugar for sale to colonial markets.  His company was called HW Aitken Company Limited.  He would often have been away, in the countries where the machinery was used, promoting the brand and giving consultancy advice.

Kenneth attended Glasgow Academy where he was a talented sportsman and a prefect, leaving in 1923 and entering a career as an engineer, probably in his father's firm.

We catch glimpses of him playing golf in his spare time:

and

A golfing expert tells me that he must have been quite a good golfer because he entered for the Newlands Trophy (still a competition today) which has a handicap limit - although he will have been disappointed with his round of 86.  Note the best score of the day was by Jimmy Adams, brother of Hubert who featured in another post on this site (click).  From the clipping he seems to have been a member of Bearsden Golf Club (for non-golfers this is the one at the western end of Thorn Road).

We also have a glimpse of him attending a friend's wedding:

In 1935 the family suffered a tragedy when the youngest son, Douglas, died aged 24 of acute lobar pneumonia.  He was a medical student and died at his parents' home.

His parents had moved to Torburn, 27 Ledcameroch Road, Bearsden between 1920 and 1925.  (This property was inherited by the High School of Glasgow in 1971):

Kenneth seems to have lived there until the outbreak of the war.

He was commissioned (made an officer) the day before war was formally declared:  

His time in the OTC (Officer Training Corps) at Glasgow Academy seems to hvae still been valid 16 years later!

One source says he was evacuated at Dunkirk and while this is possible, I can't find any supporting evidence.  

He was in the Royal Artillery, 304 Battery of 127 Field Regiment.  Each battery was assigned to support one infantry battalion, and in this case it was the 5th Black Watch; co-operation was so close that the infantrymen knew the gunners by their first names.

Arriving in Egypt in August 1942, they acclimatised and joined the front line shortly before the pivotal Battle of El Alamein two months later.  He served in Egypt and Libya then Tunisia and the invasion of Sicily.

During this time he was awarded the Military Cross: 

If the font size is a little challenging to read, my summary is as follows.  Over a 30-day period, Kenneth was under continuous shell-fire and in many dangerous places.  On the night of 24th-25th March 1943 A Company of the battalion reached its objective on a feature nicknamed "Carrier Hill" and Kenneth went forward under heavy enemy gunfire to establish communication with supporting artillery of his battery (his role was a Forward Observation Officer, FOO, and the place he established himself was called an OP for Observation Post).  He remained there until the troops were driven out by a heavy counter-attack.  The citation concludes, "His personal courage was outstanding and was an inspiration to the Infantry whom he was supporting."

This took place in the battle to break through the Mareth Line in Tunisia:

Locating the exact position is very difficult but with a lot of help of Richard Lewis, a specialist in maps from WW2, I think this represents the general area (from Google Earth):

While the land looks flat, studying it a little more closely shows differences in shading that (at ground level) would be important tactical features.  Of course, none of these had names so the troops invented their own, hence "Carrier Hill".  We expect to see a well-defined hill, but it could be a relatively gentle ridge.

By 1944 he had the rank of major in the same regiment.  They had been taken by ship back to England for the invasion of France, D-Day.  They were based at High Wycombe and had time to go on leave, so he may have been home for Christmas 1943.  Training for the invasion in France then began in early 1944

While not in the first wave to land on the beaches, 51st Highland Division were ashore on the evening of 6th June on Juno Beach and then faced fighting the Germans field by field to drive them back.  Artillery support was central to everything the British achieved, whether supporting an attack with a 'creeping barrage' or breaking up a German counter-attack.  127 Field Regiment had 24 quick-firing 25-pounder guns similar to the ones in the photo below from another regiment:

Kenneth would have been the senior man in a team of officers from the battery who spotted for the guns, i.e. directly observing where the shells were landing and making small adjustments or swapping targets.  Over the next ten weeks he would have been in action whenever the battalion was in the front line.  The fighting was nearly continuous, referred to as a battle of attrition as the Allies used their superior numbers and firepower to wear the German army down.

The BBC website twenty years ago allowed veterans to record their memories and we have a few glimpses of Kenneth from a signaller in his regiment click here and here.  There is a fuller account of the fighting at Colombelles from the second BBC link here.  This photo is of the chimneys at Colombelles:

By 18th August 1944, the frontline was beginning to break-up and the British and their allies were able to advance with more confidence.  51st Highland Division was advancing east from Caen towards Lisieux:

The 153 Brigade was advancing towards the River Vie at Grandchamp-le-Chateau:

Another battalion, the 5/7th Gordon Highlanders, attacked Grandchamp itself, establishing a bridgehead over the River Vie.  The 5th Black Watch (and Kenneth's battery) would then cross, with the objective of taking a steep hill at La Butte.

This is the view of Granchamp from Google Earth, the tiny village itself marked by the Mairie (bottom right).  The river is shown by the line of bushes with the chateau beyond in its grounds.  I believe the La Butte feature is just off the top of the photo.

The battalion's leading companies advanced at 1am on the 19th and the HQ staff were preparing to follow at 2am when the immediate area was hit by at least eight shells.  Kenneth was killed, alongside several other men (two are named in the battalion history).  His driver and signaller were wounded.  My guess is they would have been by the road junction just before the village (bottom right in the phot above) - but this is just a guess.

Kenneth was buried about eight miles away, at in the churchyard at Bretteville-sur-Dives (possible location click here); the best match from Google Earth is as follows:

The church and the field that best matches the description of where he was buried are marked in red.  His was probably brought here because the 127th Field Regiment HQ was located here at the time.

CWGC records that on 25th September 1945 his body was taken to Ranville to the permanent CWGC cemetery.

From The Scotsman of the 30th August 1944:

The other men killed alongside Kenneth were:

Captain Arthur Hill ("Angus") Forfar, Signals Officer

Captain John Derek Horne, S Company Commander

Colonel Bradford and Captain Alex Fraser, Intelligence Officer, were wounded.