This page contains the names of 388 men having connections to Goudhurst and/or Kilndown who served during the Great War and survived.
The information cannot claim to be comprehensive. Some names are certain to be missing altogether, and it is equally certain that the details shown for those who are included are not complete. Nevertheless, this record may be useful overall in giving an indication of how many parishioners went to war between 1914 and 1918, and the theatres of war in which they served.
Some of the men listed were born in Goudhurst or Kilndown but had moved away by the time of the Great War; some were still living here at the time; most of them had family living here. Some of those listed were born elsewhere but were living in the parish when war broke out.
To the extent that the relevant information has been traced, the list records each man’s last known rank, and the branch of the armed forces and/or unit(s) and the theatres of war in which he served.
Where it is known that a man appeared before a Military Service Tribunal before enlisting, this incidental information is indicated in the sixth column. If a man who became a prisoner of war or is known to have been wounded this has been noted. The absence of such information against an individual’s name should not be taken to mean that these circumstances did not apply to them: in many cases, such information is hard to trace.
Where possible, local residential addresses traced for each man are recorded. However, the man concerned may well have lived, on other occasions, at other addresses in the parish or elsewhere in the country.
Where it has been possible to identify them brothers are included in the list; if a brother died and is recorded on one of the war memorials, this fact is shown by “(d)”.
Abbreviations:
MST = Military Service Tribunal
POW = Prisoners of War
W = Wounded
WF = West Front
The principal sources used to compile this list are:
Records of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows, Loyal Men of Kent Lodge, 3963 (Goudhurst)
Kent & Sussex Courier
Parish Magazine for St Mary’s Church, Goudhurst
Absent Voters List 1918
The National Archives
www.ancestry.co.uk
www.findmypast.co.uk
The table below is searchable and can be sorted.