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Do you think Captain Kilby deserves a memorial in the town of his birth? Share your view here.

TIMOTHY WARD
My grand grandmother was born in cheltenham, England1877 Nina Hubert- cousin of lord badden -powell. Is she related to the this family?

C Roberts
Yes he should have a memorial in Cheltenham,a very brave man.

Colin Cornes
I too am related to this hero, so of course I am all for a memorial in Cheltenham even though he already has 2 memorials in York and a gravestone in France. Capt Arthur Forbes Gordon Kilby 1885-1915 was born in Cheltenham, the only son of Sandford James Kilby of the Bengal Customs Service 1847-1922. Sandford James Kilby was the youngest child of George Kilby merchant Calcutta. George came from a distinguished family from York. Two of his ancestors were mayors of York which is presumably why York has claimed Capt AFG Kilby VC MC. He has a particularly fine memorial in York Minster itself. But as you can see, his connection with York was very remote. He was born in Cheltenham because his maternal grandmother Mary Ann Scott (nee Kilby)1821-96 was principal of her own girls school at East Hayes, Pitville Circus Rd, Cheltenham. Mary Ann started this school by 1871 after the death of her husband Henry Emanuel Scott a Scottish civil engineer born in India. The school seems to have been a success and I would love to know more about it. The Victoria Cross is of course the highest award of the British Forces Inscribed For Valour the VC is only given for exceptional bravery in the face of the enemy. Of the 1353 recipients since 1856, 627 were given the award for exceptional bravery in WW1. That is a tiny number 5 million (ignoring Commonwealth forces) served in the British Army during WW1, that is to say almost exactly a quarter of the adult male population. The casualty rate was 50%, namely 800,000 killed and 1.65m wounded (of whom 1.5m permanently wounded) Against these huge numbers 627 VCs(including Commonwealth soldiers) is a tiny handful. Other heroes may well have been unrecognised, but the VCs represent the heroism of the rest. Unlike other military awards of the time, the VCs were of all ranks, privates, NCOs and officers. Cheltenham should be rightly proud of their WW1 hero born in a girls school there.

Roger Lewis
I have reason to believe that cpt.Kilby was my Mother in Law's uncle (possibly great uncle). He and all others that have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country shoul be properly recognised.Even though Aurthur's deeds are commerated in York minster it is a great shame that he has no memorial in his home town.

SUE RICHARDS
Yes he deserves to be remembered for the hero he was.My grandfather Arthur Kilby was born in Winchcombe (1878 - 1960) after his marriage in 1904 he had 6 daughters & one son (born 1910)also named Arthur but he died in 1918.Unfortunately I don't know if my grandfather was related to this Arthur Kilby, but it does seem that Arthur is quite a strong family name in this area.

llizzie
I have letters from a soldier in the British Expeditionary Forces of 1918/1919. His name was Sgt Percy S Cauper and the letters were written to my husband's mother before she married his father in 1920. Now I have tried hard to find any family of this man and it seems he did not exist, though I know he did. I think he had something to do with entertainment as he describes dressing up as a woman in a play. He was in France and Germany and I thought that perhaps anyone reading this site might have heard of him. He was nicknamed 'the scamp' and I believe he survived the war and worked at Blackpool entertainment. I do not know how old he was or whether he fought in WW2 as well. His letters were addressed to Packwood living in Brierley hill and the letters and envelopes are stamped British Expeditonary Forces.

Claire "Kilbey" Dotson
Yes, my ancestors came from Cheltenham and This may help us here in the USA trace the puzzle of our genealogy.Thank You for the memories of those heros gone before us and but never forgotten.

phil
yes he does. every name should never be forgotten and every brave deed never taken for granted.