Kemp, EA
(1897 - 1917)
Key Facts
DATE OF BIRTH:
25th August 1897
YEARS ATTENDED THE COLLEGE:
1910 - 1914
HOME ADDRESS WHEN AT THE COLLEGE:
Withrington, Worcester Gardens, Sutton
REGIMENT
7th Battalion, East Surrey Regiment
FINAL RANK:
2nd Lieutenant
DATE OF DEATH:
30th November 1917
AGE AT DEATH:
20
WHERE HE DIED (or was wounded)
Cambrai
LOCATION OF GRAVE OR MEMORIAL:
Grevillers British Cemetery. XII E 3
2nd Lieutenant Eric Arthur Kemp
Eric was born on August 25th 1897, the eldest child of Arthur Kemp, who worked in the timber trade, and his wife, Florence. He came to the College in the summer of 1910, around the time of his thirteenth birthday, and remained at Dulwich for just over four years. In the summer of 1914 he passed the entrance examinations for the City & Guilds Institute, where he was intending to study engineering.
Shortly after this, however, the war was declared, as a result Eric left the College in October 1914 and, rather than take up his place, enlisted in the Life Guards, despite being aged just seventeen. Not long afterwards he qualified as a signaller and proceeded to France for the first time in August 1915. The following year he obtained a commission in the East Surrey Regiment and was for a time afterwards attached to Divisional Headquarters. After returning to the front line he was serving at the Battle of Cambrai when he was killed while leading an assault on November 30th 1917.
