126 Rfm Derrick Allan Kirkpatrick Pile, 5th London Regt

126 Rifleman Derrick Allan Kirkpatrick Pile of the 5th London Regiment was killed in action on the 28th November 1914. He had joined the 5th London Regiment just a few months earlier, enlisting at Bunhill Row in the City of London on the 10th August 1914. Papers from Derrick's service record survive - unusually - in the WO 364 pension series at the National Archives.

Derrick gave his age as 18 years, eleven months and three quarters. There is no "trade or calling" noted and his address is given as 56 Wickham Road, Brockley, south east London. He was also born in Brockley. Derrick was nearly five feet nine inches tall and had a good physical development.

After less than three months in khaki, Derrick sailed for France, arriving there on the 4th November 1914. He was killed less than a month later and is buried at Lancashire Cottage Cemetery in Belgium.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.

Sources:

Ancestry.co.uk (MIC, WO 364)
Army Ancestry
Army Service Numbers 1881-1918
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in The Great War