Humphrey Courtenay Gilbert KEMPE

Humphrey Courtenay Gilbert KEMPE Update Details

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KEMPE, Humphrey Courtenay Gilbert

Service Number:	627
Enlisted:	24 October 1914, Morphettville, South Australia
Last Rank:	Sergeant
Last Unit:	1st Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Squadron
Born:	Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 25 February 1897
Home Town:	Somerton Park, South Australia
Schooling:	Adelaide High School, South Australia, Australia
Occupation:	Clerk
Died:	Natural causes, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, 7 September 1986, aged 89 years
Cemetery:	Centennial Park Cemetery, South Australia Queen Adelaide, Walk Rose 28, Position 1
Memorials:	Adelaide High School Great War Honour Board, Glenelg and District WW1 & WW2 Honour Board

World War 1 Service

24 Oct 1914:	Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 627, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Morphettville, South Australia
21 Dec 1914:	Involvement Private, 627, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '1' embarkation_place: Newcastle embarkation_ship: HMAT Thirty-Six embarkation_ship_number: A36 public_note: ''
21 Dec 1914:	Embarked Private, 627, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, HMAT Thirty-Six, Newcastle
15 May 1915:	Involvement AIF WW1, Private, 627, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, ANZAC / Gallipoli, At Quinns Post, with 529 Private E.H. Kernot rescued two badly wounded 3rd Light Horse soldiers, 701 Corporal E. Butler and 625 Private H.L. Houlgrave from a trench during a heavy Turkish bombing raid. Butler shortly after died from his wounds.
9 Aug 1916:	Wounded AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 627, 3rd Light Horse Regiment, Battle of Romani, GSW wrist
24 Dec 1916:	Transferred AIF WW1, Lance Corporal, 1st Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Squadron
5 Dec 1917:	Promoted AIF WW1, Corporal, 1st Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Squadron
1 Jul 1918:	Promoted AIF WW1, Sergeant, 1st Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Squadron
11 Nov 1918:	Involvement Sergeant, 627
23 Feb 1919:	Discharged AIF WW1, Sergeant, 627, 1st Light Horse Brigade Machine Gun Squadron

One of my Legacy widow’s father in WW1 by L/ Peter Scott

Merridy Henderson Howie (nee Kempe) became a Legacy widow when her husband, Herbert James Howie, died in 2002. Herbert has served in the 2/3 MG Battalion in Syria and Java where he was captured and became a POW of the Japanese in Thailand. Merridy had herself served in the RAAF for nearly three years in WW2 and became a sergeant in the 55 RADAR STATION.

Humphrey Courtney Gilbert Kempe, Merridy’s father, had been called up for compulsory military training in 1914 and gained a commission but ignored this rank when he enlisted for service in the First AIF on 24 October 1914, adding to his age to be 19 years (born in 1897). Allotted regimental number 627 in the 3rd Light Horse Regiment he embarked for Egypt on 21 December 1914 on the ship HMAT Boonah A 36.

Leaving their horses in Egypt, the regiment arrived at Gallipoli on 12 May 1915. Based on Pope’s Hill, Kempe’s was to experience many periods at Quinn’ Post. At other times he was engaged in carrying tasks from the beach to various units up Shrapnel Gully and Monash Valley to the Cheeseboard beyond Pope’s Hill.
The unit withdrew from Gallipoli in December 1915 and after marrying up with their horses Kempe was transferred to the 1st Machine Gun Battalion. After two years in the Sinai Peninsula, Palestine and Jordan he returned to Adelaide, on 18 November 1918.

That is what I call a military family.

Biography

Humphrey Courtney Gilbert Kempe had been called up for compulsory military training in 1914 and gained a commission but ignored this rank when he enlisted for service in the First AIF on 24 October 1914, adding to his age to be 19 years (born in 1897). Allotted regimental number 627 in the 3rd Light Horse Regiment he embarked for Egypt on 21 December 1914 on the ship HMAT Boonah A 36.

Leaving their horses in Egypt, the regiment arrived at Gallipoli on 12 May 1915. Based on Pope’s Hill, Kempe was to experience many periods at Quinn’ Post. At other times he was engaged in carrying tasks from the beach to various units up Shrapnel Gully and Monash Valley to the Cheeseboard beyond Pope’s Hill.

The unit withdrew from Gallipoli in December 1915 and after marrying up with their horses Kempe was transferred to the 1st Machine Gun Battalion. After two years in the Sinai Peninsula, Palestine and Jordan he returned to Adelaide, on 18 November 1918.

L/ Peter Scott

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