KITCHIN, Hedley Vernon George
| Service Number: | 517 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 17 August 1914, Enlisted at Melbourne |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 6th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Hamilton, Tasmania, 1892 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Electrian |
| Died: | Killed in Action, Gallipoli, Gallipoli, Dardanelles, Turkey, 25 April 1915 |
| Cemetery: |
No known grave - "Known Unto God" No known grave Panel 25, Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, Canakkale Province, Turkey |
| Memorials: | Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Lone Pine Memorial to the Missing |
World War 1 Service
| 17 Aug 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Corporal, 517, 6th Infantry Battalion, Enlisted at Melbourne | |
|---|---|---|
| 19 Oct 1914: | Involvement Corporal, 517, 6th Infantry Battalion, ANZAC / Gallipoli, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '8' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Hororata embarkation_ship_number: A20 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Oct 1914: | Embarked Corporal, 517, 6th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Hororata, Melbourne |
Hedley Vernon George Kitchin (Kitchin Kerr)
Religion: Roman Catholic
Occupation Electrician's assistant
Address Mitre Tavern, Bank Place, Melbourne, Victoria
Marital status Single
Age at embarkation 22
Next of kin Mrs C G Kitchin, Mitre Tavern, Bank Place, Melbourne, Victoria
Enlistment date 17 August 1914
Embarkation details Unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board Transport A20 Hororata on 19 October 1914
Rank from Nominal Roll Private
Unit from Nominal Roll 6th Battalion
Fate Killed in Action 25 April 1915
Date of death 25 April 1915
Place of burial No known grave
Commemoration details The Lone Pine Memorial (Panel 25), Gallipoli, Turkey
Hedley, a 2O-year old corporal, died while taking part in a charge in the early hours of the landing on 25 April 1915. but his death sentence had come a few days earlier when he was assigned to lead a group of wire-cutters up the slopes of the peninsula. He died about a kilometre inland.
On Saturday 24th April, 1915 he wrote in his dairy,
" A Coy. issued with the wire cutters of the Batt., about 48 all told. It strikes me that the wire cutting is the first step to the next world. Not if I know it though."
His body was never found, but his name appears on the unknown soldiers' memorial at Lone Pine, Gallipoli.
Panel number 28, Roll of Honour,
Australian War Memorial 47
Submitted 4 December 2025 by John Fleming
Biography contributed by Carol Foster
Son of Charlotte Gladstone Kitchin of Mitre Tavern, Bank Place, Melbourne, Victoria. Brother of Zoe Flannery nee Kitchin of Ivanhoe, Victoria
Medals: 1914-15 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal
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