Lt Richard Barrett Talbot Kelly (1896 - 1971)

T.K., as he was known to his friends, was born in Birkenhead on the 20th August 1896. His grandfather, R. G. Kelly, and his father, R. G. Talbot Kelly, were both artists. At the age of 6, the family moved to London, where he attended the Hall Prep School in Hampstead, and then went to Public School at Rugby. From there, in November 1914, he entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich via the special entry scheme for boys from Public Schools, was commissioned on the 22nd April 1915, and joined the 52nd Brigade, Royal Field Artillery, in May. The Brigade was then serving in France as part of the Divisional Artillery of 9th (Scottish) Division - this was the first Territorial Division to go to France. He served with the 52nd Division for the next two and a quarter years during which time the 9th Division spent long periods in the trenches and Kelly found himself at the battles of Festubert, Loos, 2nd Ypres and the Somme in 1916. A