De Ruvignys Roll of Honour
Ford, Kenneth George Haslam, Lieutenant and Machine Gun Officer, 11th (Service) Battn. The Cheshire Regiment, eldest survived son of the Venerable Archdeacon George Adam Ford, M. A., Rector of Babington, co. Chester, formerly Senior Chaplain H. M. Indian Ecclesiastical Establishment and Arcdeacon and Commissary of Lucknow, by his wife, Ellen Isabella, daughter of the late Rev. Canon J. M. Barrett, M. A.; born St. Margaret's Vicarage, Lincoln, 12 November 1895; educated South Lodge School, Lowestoft, and Marlborough College; was for some time a Private in the Inns of Court O. T. C. (1913); enlisted in the R. F. A. 6 August 1914, on the outbreak of war, but was given a commission aa 2nd Lieutenant in the Cheshire Regiment. 22 September 1914, and promoted Lieutenant 24 November 1914, being appointed C. 0. Machine Gun Section the same month; went to France 25 September 1915, and died in No. 2 Casualty Clearing Station, Bailieul, 30 November following, from wounds received in action earlier in the day, while making a machine gun reconnaissance in Ploegsteert. Buried in Bailleul Cemetery [Grave No. 1805].
His first Commanding Officer, Colonel J. R. Dyas, wrote: "Your gallant son was one of the most promising officers of my late battalion, the 11th Cheshires. He had served with me for nearly a year, when, to my great regret, I was moved to another battalion, and I looked forward to seeing his early promotion. I know that he never would lose an opportunity of distinguishing himself. He will be a great loss to his regiment." and his second Commanding Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel R. L. Aspinall, D. S. O.:
"Up to the time of my meeting with an accident and breaking my leg on 24 October I was in command of the 11th Battn. the Cheshire Regiment, and I hope you will allow me to express my very deep sympathy at the loss of your gallant son, the news of which, in last Sunday's paper, affected me deeply. 1 am sure that my successor, Sir Henry Lennard, will have written to you his appreciation of your boy, but I think you would like to hear from another pen what a really splendid young soldier he was, and what a sad gap he will leave in the battalion. The very fact of his having been selected as Machine Gun Officer is a proof of his ability, and I can assure you, without disparagement to others, he was the smartest subaltern in the battalion, in spite of his being, to the best of my belief, the voungest. While we were on our line in Ploegsteert Wood I saw a great deal of him, both from the nature of his duties and from the fact of his being a member of our headquarters' mess. I so well remember his reappearance at meals, just before I came away, after eighteen consecutive days in the trenches with his machine guns. You can imagine that this was a pretty wearing experience; but his courage, keenness and good humour never failed him, nor was there with him the least suspicion of a grumble."
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Henry Lennard also wrote: "I need not say how much we shall all feel his loss. His machine-gun men were devoted to him, and he was very popular with all ranks. I have only been with the regiment myself for a short time, but in that time I had learnt to like your son very much. He was always cheery, plucky, and made light of everything, and was a very promising officer. All his brother officers feel it very much, and wish their sincere sympathy to be conveyed to you. He laid down his life like a gallant gentleman for his country, doing his duty cheerfully and well to the last minute."
and Captain Graham Satow, Brigade Machine Gun Officer: "He was the keenest Machine Gun Officer in the Brigade, and, indeed, his keenness has lost us his services for ever. He was conducting a reconnaissance in the front line of our trenches, trying to locate a German emplacement. He died through carrying out a dangerous duty, like the fearless lad he was. All honour to you and him for it."    Unm.