Kitchen, Stewart Edward
Lieutenant 85736
23rd Canadian Field Battery (6th Brigade)
48th Howitzer Battery (2nd Brigade)
Background
Lieutenant Stewart Edward Kitchen was born on February 20, 1895 in Fredericton, New Brunswick to Harry Allen Kitchen and Susan Annie Porter. Harry, born in
Prince William, and Susan, born in Miramichi, were married on March 9, 1888 in Fredericton. In addition to Stewart, there were two older brothers, Gordon
and Roy, and newspapers indicate Stewart had a younger sister Pearl, however, there no records of her birth. Records indicate the Kitchens lived in the
Parish of Kingsclear outside Fredericton and that Stewart had been educated in local public schools before entering the University of New Brunswick as a
Forestry student prior to his service.
By the time he formally enlisted on December 2, 1914 with the 23rd Battery, he was 20 years old and had three years of cadet corps training ensuring he was
not completely unprepared for the harshness ahead. According to his attestation, Stewart was a relatively short young man standing five feet four and half
inches tall, weighing 130 pounds, with brown hair, blue eyes, and a “blond” complexion. Stewart belonged to the Baptist church and was unmarried when he
joined the 23rd Battery in Fredericton the winter of 1914 with a number of other university students, just a few months after war had been declared in
Canada.
Wartime Experience
According to his service record, Stewart sailed for England with his unit on February 23, 1915 where he would be held in reserve at Shorncliffe, England
until the spring. At the end of May, Stewart was drafted to France with the 2nd Brigade, Canadian Field Artillery as reinforcement in the field for almost
a year until a ten day leave of absence to England in January 1916. It may have been his first real chance to relax since arriving in
Europe.
According to his active service form on January 25, 1916, he returned from leave to the 2nd Brigade, CFA where he would stay for the next eight months
until being attached to the 1st Canadian Train, Canadian Army Service Corps on September 28, 1916 for three days before he “ceased to be attached” to his
unit October 1 only to rejoin the 2nd Brigade, 48th Howitzer Battery the same day in the Somme region near Albert, France. While questions still surround
his death during the battle of the Somme, it is believed that he was repairing a dugout nearby his position on November 6 during a lull in fighting. As he
was doing so, an enemy shell fell close to the dugout he was repairing, killing him instantly. Newspapers reveal that he was the third University of New
Brunswick student that sacrificed his life for his country and that he was one of the most popular young men in college.
Lest We Forget
Stewart is buried in the Bapaume Post Military Cemetery, located in the town of Albert, France. This cemetery was designed by Charles Henry Holden.
According to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the cemetery contains 410 burials and commemorations of First World War soldiers, 181 of them still
unidentified. This cemetery lies on two hills. At the time, they were called the Tara Hill and the Usna hill. Bapaume Post Military Cemetery is on the west
side of Tara Hill and the southwest of side of Usna Hill. These hills within the town of Albert fell into the German hands for a short period of time from
March 1916 to August 1916.
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