Colonel Edwards St. George Kirke, Royal Engineers

Figure 1. Colonel Edwards St. George Kirke, D.S.O.
(Image courtesy of the Imperial War Museum)

1. INTRODUCTION

Edwards St. George Kirke was a member of a distinguished military family. His father served in the Royal Engineers during the Victorian period and he had two brothers who served in the Royal Artillery during the Great War of 1914-1918, one of whom became a General Officer after the war. E. St. G. Kirke was an accomplished individual. Besides serving in the Royal Engineers and rising to the rank of Colonel, he was a Mechanical Engineer, a Civil Engineer, a Railway Engineer and an early aeronaut. He served in the Indian Army and near the end of his military career he also served in the Royal Air Force. Kirke also was a prolific technical writer, having much of his work published in the Royal Engineers Journal.

2. FAMILY INFORMATION AND EARLY LIFE

Edwards St. George Kirke was the son of St. George Mervyn Kirke (1847-1928) and Sarah Elizabeth Werge Kirke, née Howey (1854-1936). At the time of Edwards’s birth his father was serving as a Captain in the Royal Engineers (Ordnance Survey). Captain and Mrs. Kirke already had three sons and a daughter when Edwards was born: Kenneth St. George Kirke (1875-1955), Walter Mervyn St. George Kirke (1877-1949), Mary Ivy Kirke (1878-1953) and Percy St. George Kirke (1881-1966). The Kirkes would have one more daughter following Edwards’s birth: Helen Veronica Kirke (1890-1972).[1]

Figure 2. Major St. George Mervyn Kirke, R.E.
(Image courtesy of Madelaine Kirke)

Edwards entered St. Peter’s School in York in 1896. Following his primary education he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich (R.M.A.), where he was a distinguished student. He was awarded the Pollock Memorial Medal in July 1902.[2] The Pollock Medal was a prize awarded to the best cadet of the season, in commemoration of Sir George Pollock's exploits in Afghanistan. The medal was first awarded at the East India Company's Military Seminary at Addiscombe, and later at the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich.

In addition to the Pollock Medal, Kirke also was awarded the King Edward Gold Medal.[3] This medal was awarded to the Gentleman Cadet who gained the highest score in military, practical and academic studies.

Gentleman Cadet Edwards St. George Kirke was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Royal Engineers on 31 July 1902, upon his graduation from the Royal Military Academy.[4] After commissioning he proceeded immediately to the School of Military Engineering (S.M.E.) at Chatham, Kent for further training as an engineer officer.

His military training at Chatham included courses in field fortifications, construction, surveying, telegraphy, electric lighting, submarine mining, photography, chemistry, military law and tactics. The Field Fortifications course lasted for 4 months and 23 days. This course consisted of field and siege engineering, field defence, attack of fortresses, mining, construction, demolition of railways and water supply. The Construction course was 6 months and covered building materials, engineering construction, hydraulics, construction of barracks, drainage, manufacture of iron and steel, mining, quarrying and machinery. Next came the Surveying course consisting of five months of technical training in geodesy, astronomy, meteorology, trigonometrical chain and road surveys and use of surveying instruments. One to two months of military topography followed, which included military surveying and sketching and elementary reconnaissance. In the School of Telegraphy, Electric Lighting and Submarine Mining he studied the theory of electricity, use of telegraph instruments, bracing and connecting instruments, making of batteries, firing mines and testing tubes. All of this was accomplished in two months with an additional one month devoted to electric lighting, signalling by flag, lamps and heliograph. The School of Chemistry was a short course of varying length that generally covered practical chemistry, especially relating to limes, concrete and other building materials. Finally, the School of Military Law and Tactics, also a course of varying length, consisted of special lectures in law and tactics as dictated by current military situations. This training at the S.M.E. lasted for just under 24 months.

Kirke continued his award winning scholastic achievements while at Chatham. His performance there earned him the Montgomerie Memorial Prize. This prize was originated in 1902, so Kirke was one of the first recipients. The prize consisted of books and money prizes and was awarded by the Institution of Royal Engineers in the manner that the Institution considered best for contributions on professional subjects to the Corps publications by R.E. officers. Kirke’s winning of this prize was in keeping with the prestigious awards already won by him at the R.M.A.

Kirke was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant while at Chatham.[5] He remained at Chatham until 1907 in order to complete the Machinery Course and the Mechanical Engineering Course at the Chatham Dockyard.[6] Completing these two courses while at the S.M.E. furthered his military education well beyond what most R.E. officers accomplished while at Chatham.

In 1908, following the completion of his courses at Chatham, Lieutenant Kirke was posted to India as the Garrison Engineer at Bannu in the Indian Northern Army area. Bannu was used as the base of operations for all punitive expeditions undertaken by detachments of the British Indian Army to the Tochi Valley and the Waziristan frontier. A military road led from the town of Bannu toward Dera Ismail Khan. The maintenance of this road fell within the area of Kirke’s responsibility as Garrison Engineer.[7]

Garrison Engineers at posts in India were members of the Military Works Service (M.W.S.). The M.W.S. was born when the first regular establishment of “Engineers” in India was formed in the Madras Army in 1748. On 23 March 1770, the Chief Engineer of Madras Engineers had the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. From 1776 to 1818 the Bengal Sappers and Miners existed in some form in the Bengal Army; however, on 19 February 1819 the Bengal Sappers and Miners, consisting of six companies, officially came into being. On 1 April 1862, the Bengal and Madras Engineers were amalgamated with the Royal Engineers of the British Indian Army. The Royal Engineers were thereafter employed in the Department of Public Works, or Railways, or in Survey Departments, and from 1851 the “Public Works Department” (P.W.D.) was under civil control and no separate organization was considered necessary for military works. After 1860 there was a boom in the construction of civil works. A large number of Civil Engineers were engaged and the military department began to lose proper control over military works. By 1871 the situation was so unsatisfactory that a “Special Military Works Branch” of the Public Works Department was given the responsibility for major works and ten years later the branch was placed under military control. In 1889 the “Military Works Department” took over all the military works in India. However, it was not until 1899 that this Military Works Department became entirely military in character and was officered by Royal Engineers. It was then named as the “Military Works Service” and so it remained until 1923 when it was renamed as the “Military Engineer Service” which continues till this day.[8]

As the Garrison Engineer Kirke was responsible for the military infrastructure at Bannu, to include cantonment buildings, roadways, water supply, sanitation, electric power generation and distribution, and other duties as prescribed by the District Engineer; that is, the senior engineer officer in the area. In May of 1908, while employed with these duties, Kirke also found time to participate in a Railway Traffic Course, a course that would be of great value to him in a few years in East Africa.[9]

In 1910 Kirke was transferred to Dera Ismail Khan where he took up the duties as Garrison Engineer for that cantonment.[10] The military cantonment area there was located to the southeast of the town. It consisted of an area of 44 square miles, excluding the portion known as Fort Akalgarh on the northwest side. The Derajat Brigade had its winter headquarters at Dera Ismail Khan, and the garrison consisted of a mountain battery, a regiment of Native cavalry, and three regiments of Native infantry. Detachments from these regiments helped to garrison the outposts of Drazinda, Jandola, and Jatta.[11]

Kirke spent the period from 8 April to 8 December 1910 on leave in England, after which he returned to India. On 12 December 1911 he married Ethel Jessie Longley (1882-1978) at All Saints Church at Malabar Hill in Bombay.[12]

Figure 6. All Saints Church, Malabar Hill, Bombay.
(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)

From January to April 1912 Lieutenant Kirke served as the Garrison Engineer at Jullundur-Doab in Lahore. Jullundur, or Jalandhar, a city of British India, was located 260 miles by rail to the northwest of Delhi. The city’s population (in 1901) was about 67,700. It was the headquarters of a brigade in the 3^rd Division of the Northern Army. The Royal Engineers List for 1912 shows that Kirke had passed an examination for promotion and that he was a member of the Aeronautical Society of Great Britain.[13] This society had been founded in January 1866 and is the oldest aeronautical society in the world. In 1918, the organization's name was changed to the Royal Aeronautical Society. One must assume that Kirke had been involved with balloons or heavier-than-air craft at some point early in his military career, or more likely, that he had become involved with flying on his own time while at Chatham. This connection with flying would impact on his life just prior to the Second World War when he was employed for a short period of time by the Royal Air Force.

From May to December 1912 Lieutenant Kirke was posted to the Jullundur-Doab Railway in Ferozepore.[14] This was a broad gauge (BG) line constructed, worked and maintained by the Southern Punjab Railway as part of the North Western Railway network. The first section from Jullundur opened in 1912, with direct connection to Ferozepore in 1914,[15] so Kirke must have been involved with the construction of this section.

On 31 July 1913 Kirke was promoted to the rank of Captain[16] and on 1 October 1914 he was appointed as a company officer in the Railway Corps of the Indian Sappers and Miners.[17]

On 7 November 1914 Captain Kirke landed in East Africa along with two Indian railway companies; the 25^th and the 26^th Companies.[18] It soon became apparent that the task ahead of the railway companies required more than just two companies, so in March 1915 Kirke was sent back to India to organize a depot and to recruit two additional companies for the Indian Railway Corps of the East African Expeditionary Force. In May he returned to East Africa after forming two additional companies: the 27^th and 28^th Railway Companies. Kirke returned in command of the 28^th Company. Upon the arrival of these new units the companies were formed into a Railway Battalion under the command of Lieutenant Colonel C.W. Wilkinson, R.E.[19]^,^[20]

Fecitt describes the action of two railway companies under the command of Captain Kirke fighting as infantry on 13 July 1915 in an attack on German forces at Segera Hill and Mfumbile. It appears that throughout his time in East Africa, Captain Kirke commanded the 28^th Railway Company. The following are excerpts from Harry Fecitt’s work that describe the movements of the company during its time in Africa:

“In April 1917 a branch line was constructed from Dodoma on the Central Railway southwards towards the Ruaha River. 26th, 27th and 28th Railway Companies were involved in the work which lasted until August, when railhead reached Matikira, Mile 28. The country was very difficult to cross and the lack of shipping to bring down sleepers from Kilindini caused delay. As soon as this short line was no longer needed the rails were recovered and used elsewhere.”

“By November 1917 the 25th Railway Company was medically unfit for work with its strength at less than 40 fit men, and it was returned to India in March 1918. The 26th and 27th Railway Companies were in a similar condition and in May they also returned to India. The 28th Railway Company remained in the field and all recent arrivals and returnees from leave were posted into that company.”

“In September, as the Germans in [Portuguese East Africa] were observed to be moving northwards, the Lindi line was ordered to be extended 30 kilometres to Massasi. The 28th Railway Company which was stood-by to sail for India quickly returned to Ndanda and started the work. Concurrently permission was obtained to raise an African Pioneer Company to replace the 28th Company. Suitable men were recruited from maintenance gangs on the Central Railway and from labour that had worked on the Mbagathi trolley line. The Lindi line reached Massasi in mid-November just as General von Lettow-Vorbeck, still undefeated and then in Northern Rhodesia, now Zambia, accepted the Armistice terms decided in Europe and agreed to surrender. The 28th Railway Company sailed for India.”

“The Indian Railway Corps retained responsibility for railways in East Africa until January 1919, when civilian direction and personnel replaced it. The Corps had done an excellent job, tackling the diverse and serious challenges that East Africa presented in a most professional manner. Credit for the performance of the Corps must be attributed to the support provided by the Indian Railways Board and the Corps of Royal Engineers, but above all else to the skill, adaptability and perseverance of the men of the Railway Companies, Sappers & Miners. Shabash!”

For his service in East Africa, Captain Kirke was awarded the Distinguished Service Order on 1 February 1917.[21] On 31 July 1917 he was promoted to the rank of Major and in December 1918[22] he was on a short posting to the War Office[23] before returning to India following a period of leave beginning in January 1919.

When Kirke returned to India in 1919 he was again posted to the Military Works Service. Post-war service in India was not quite a rigorous for him, so he had time to enjoy a number of matches of cricket. He was described in the Corps History (Volume VII, p. 259) as an excellent cricket player, “making 4,000 runs as a field officer.”

On 30 April 1919 Kirke was Mentioned in Despatches.[24] Early in 1920 he left his posting with the M.W.S. and returned to the headquarters of the Railway Battalion, Indian Sappers and Miners at Sialkote,[25] but by December 1921 he was serving with the 3^rd Royal Bombay Sappers and Miners,[26] perhaps as a commander of one of the field companies.

Kirk returned to England in 1922 and completed the Junior Staff College course in August.[27] By November 1922 he was back in India serving with the Locomotive Branch of the North West Railway.[28] In December 1922 he had an article published in The Royal Engineers Journal entitled Dam Construction in Tidal Creeks. This article demonstrated his knowledge of Civil Engineering and consisted of a description of dam construction to reclaim New England Island in Essex. In the article he covers subjects such as dam designs, the use of aerial cableways and pile driving in dam construction as well as sluice valves, foundation design and construction, and pier construction.

In June of 1926 Major Kirke was at Shoeburyness working on the military railway there. In November 1927 he was at the Railway Training Centre at Longmoor as a Class “Z” Instructor[29] and on 25 September 1928 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel.[30] By this time he was demonstrating his prowess as a Railway Construction Engineer. He further demonstrated this when in March 1929 he had another article published in The Royal Engineers Journal. This article was entitled Standardization of Permanent Way and it discussed the merits of standardizing railroad construction for the amalgamation of main lines in England. The article discussed the need to standardize facilities and parts, to include points and crossings, curves, gauge, track type, fish plates, fish nuts and bolts and just about anything dealing with railway construction.

Lieutenant Colonel Kirke left Longmoor Camp in about April 1929 in preparation for a posting back to India.[31] Upon his arrival in India he was posted as the Commander Royal Engineers (C.R.E.) at Quetta from January to September 1930.[32] While at Quetta he wrote another article for the R.E. Journal entitled Railway Bank Construction.[33] This article demonstrated his knowledge of both Civil and Railway Engineering and included details of earthwork, timber trestle bridges and steel tubular scaffolding used in railway embankments.

From October 1930 to July 1932 Kirke continued to serve as the C.R.E. at Quetta, but he took on the added responsibility of performing the work of the C.R.E. of the Indian Division in the Western Command, Baluchistan District.[34] On 25 September 1932 he was promoted to Colonel and he was placed on the half-pay list on the same date.[35]

Soon after his promotion, Kirke returned to England and took up residence at “Laconia,”[36] on Lowicks Road in Tilford, Surrey.[37] It appears that he planned on relaxing, enjoying visits to his club (the Junior United Services) and writing more technical articles for the R.E. Journal. Looking back on his early days with the Military Engineer Service in India, he wrote an article entitled Combined Rates in the M.E.S.[38] In this article he describes some of the problems inherent in M.E.S. and P.W.D. contracts in India and how lump sum contracting rather than pricing each part of a construction contract would be a better procedure. He claimed that relieving District and Garrison Engineers of the tedious responsibility of reviewing paperwork would enable these officers to get out into the field and better observed and supervise the actual construction.

As Japan began to exhibit more bellicosity in the Far East towards the second half of the 1930s, Colonel Kirke was called back to active service. On 16 October 1934 he was appointed Chief Engineer for British Forces in China, with headquarters in Hong Kong.[39] While in Hong Kong he served as the President of the local branch of the Royal Engineers Old Comrades Association (R.E.O.C.A.).[40] On 3 November 1937 he retired from the Army.[41] He was fortunate to leave Hong Kong when he did, as the Japanese invasion in 1941 made a prisoner of his replacement, Colonel Esmond Humphrey Miller Clifford, C.B.E., M.C. (Figure 7).

Although he had retired again after leaving Hong Kong, his military service was not yet at an end. He was a member of the Regular Army Reserve of Officers (R.A.R.O.) and as the Second World War truly got underway in Europe, he was called back to service – this time with the Royal Air Force. On 17 August 1939 Colonel Kirke was appointed a Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force Reserve, Class “CC.”[42] Although specific information regarding his service as a “Wing Commander” could not be found during this research, it may be assumed that as a Class “CC” (Civilian Component) officer, he was employed on airfield construction and maintenance projects in the General Duties Branch. This type of work would have fit in very well with his engineering experience in the Military Engineer Service in India and with his Railway Engineering experience during the Great War. In any case, his service with the R.A.F. was short-lived, and on 24 May 1940 he relinquished his commission as a Wing Commander in the Royal Air Force Reserve (see Figure 8).

Figure 8. Reserve of Air Force Officers List, June 1940.
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

The R.A.F. lost Colonel Kirke’s service in May 1940, but the Army grabbed him up again in October 1940, recalling him to active service as the Deputy Chief Engineer of the Easter Command in the U.K. This appointment was posted in the Monthly Army List of October 1940 and his rank is shown as Colonel, Indian Army, Retired. Oddly, when he supplied his information to Chatham for the publication of the Royal Engineers List for 1943, his name appears on the Retired List and Kirke listed his rank as Colonel, Wing Commander, R.A.F.

Colonel Edwards St. George Kirke, D.S.O. died in Farnham, Surrey on 12 November 1957.[43] Probate of his Will took place in London on 31 December 1957 with his effects going to Donovan Rupert Horace Levett, a solicitor. His effects amounted to £13,502, 15 shillings and 5 pence (approximately $525,100 US in 2024 currency).[44]

Kirke was awarded the Distinguished Service Order, the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal with Mention in Despatches oak leaf for his service in the Great War of 1914 to 1918. It is not known which, if any, medals he was awarded for his service during the Second World War.

Figures 9 and 10. The Distinguished Service Order and the Great War Trio.
(Images from the author’s collection)

NOTE: The medals shown above are not those of Colonel Kirke. They are presented here for illustrative purposes only. He is shown wearing his medals in Figure 1.

The awards of these medals are shown on his Medal Index Card below. The medal rolls for the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal indicate that the medals were issued to him on 29 November 1921.

Figure 11. The Great War Medal Index Card of Major E. St. George Kirke (front side)
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

Figure 12. The Great War Medal Index Card of Major E. St. George Kirke
(reverse side)
(Image courtesy of Ancestry.com)

FECITT, Harry. The Indian Railway Corps, East African Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919. April 1915.

[1] Kirke family tree by Madelaine Kirke.

[2] The Royal Engineers List, 1905.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Hart’s Annual Army List, 1908.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Wikipedia.

[9] Ibid.

[10] The Royal Engineers List, 1910.

[11] Wikipedia.

[12] Kirke family tree.

[13] The Royal Engineers List, 1912.

[14] Ibid. The list also shows him as a member of the Junior Army & Navy Club at this time.

[15] Wikipedia.

[16] The Royal Engineers List, 1930.

[17] Indian Army List, January 1919.

[18] Medal Index Card. There is some discrepancy regarding his date of disembarkation in East Africa. His Medal Index Card shows the date as 7 November 1914, but the medal roll for the 1914-15 Star shows the date as 1 October 1914.

[19] SANDES, E.W.C. The Indian Sappers and Miners.

[20] Later Colonel, C.M.G., D.S.O..

[21] The London Gazette, 3 March 1917.

[22] The Monthly Army List, December 1917.

[23] Ibid.

[24] The London Gazette, 30 April 1919.

[25] Medal Index Card.

[26] Ibid.

[27] The Monthly Army List, August 1922.

[28] SANDES, E.W.C. Military Engineer in India.

[29] The Monthly Army List, November 1927.

[30] The Royal Engineers List, 1930.

[31] The Sapper, May 1929, p. 277.

[32] The Royal Engineers List, 1930.

[33] The Royal Engineers Journal, September 1930.

[34] The Royal Engineers Lists, 1930, 1931 and 1932.

[35] The Monthly Army List, November 1934.

[36] Laconia, Lowicks Road is a freehold detached house – in 2024 it is ranked as the 2nd most expensive property* in the Rushmoor, Surrey area, with a valuation of £1390000.

[37] The Royal Engineers List, 1932.

[38] The Royal Engineers Journal, March 1933.

[39] The Monthly Army List, November 1934.

[40] The Sapper, January 1937, p. 145.

[41] The Royal Engineers List, 1943.

[42] The London Gazette, 26 September 1939.

[43] Kirke family tree by Paul Webb.

[44] 1957 Probate Calendar.


Figure 3. The Pollock Medal (Obverse)(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)	Figure 4. The Pollock Medal (Reverse)(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)