Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Geoffrey Kiddle

Who died from illness in the Basra Hospital, Persian Gulf, on 29th July 1916 was the only son of the late Mr William Kiddle of Walbundrie Station, Albury. He was born in 1882 and was at the Preparatory School in 1890 and then went to Cumloden. At the commencement of the war Captain Kiddle went to France with the first Expeditionary Force from India as Lieutenant in the Royal Field Artillery and was wounded three times. The last time he was hit by shrapnel and lost the sight of one eye, but not the eye itself. He was several times Mentioned in Despatches and promoted to Captain of the 7th Battery Royal Field Artillery. After fighting in France for about 16 months he was sent with his battery to Mesopotamia to join the relief column to relieve Kut-el-Amara, where he went through strenuous times of departure fighting and excessive heat. On one occasion, when he was leading his horse to water at the Tigris he was shot at by a sniper. The horse was shot dead and fell into the river with all his accoutrements. Geoff Kiddle was well known in Victoria, and in India he gained the reputation of being a fearless sportsman. He became ill from the extreme heat, disease and hard living which were experienced in the Mesopotamian campaign in its initial stage, and was one of the victims of the lack of medical organisations and comforts for the relief of the sick and wounded then prevailing.

Source : War Services Old Melburnians 1914 – 1918