Cecil was born on 27 April 1898
At the age of 16 he had passed the civil service exams and was working for the Inland Revenue.
On 14 February 1917 Cecil joined the 15th London Regiment. He was 18 years and 9 months old.
His call-up had been deferred by nine months because of his work as a tax inspector.
The Territorial Army was formed in 1908 and the 15th London was just one of the many London volunteer regiments which emerged at that time.
In 1916 all of the London TA Regiments were posted to various regular battalions. The 15th was posted to the 2nd Kings Royal Rifle Corps.
Cecil was part of B company and was at Nieuport in Belgium in July 1917.
CFK and Comrades
He survived the war and in 1919 wrote a personal account of his experiences of the battle of the Dunes and beyond. These are his experiences of the battle from the beginning of July and his further experiences through to end of the war, in his own words.
You will see from his writings that he was a very plucky young man with an incredible sense of humour which saw him through some extremely difficult times.
A lot of the pictures are generic scenes of the time but there are some that are actual places. A few are treasured family photos of CFK and his comrades.
You will see from his writings that he was a very plucky young man with an incredible sense of humour which saw him through some extremely difficult times.
A lot of the pictures are generic scenes of the time but there are some that are actual places. A few are treasured family photos of CFK and his comrades.