Photo of some men from 1st/6th Battalion. Devon Regiment ca.1914/15 and some info on one of them

Kingdon, Ernest: #1833 & 3265375, Lance Corporal, 1/6th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment; 1914-1920 WO 372/11, WW1;

 Notes: The Regimental Number of #1833 would indicate enlistment around 10.01.1914 for WW1 & Overseas Service; This young soldier also served as #265375 in the 1/6th Battalion the Devonshire Regiment, the 6 figure number being given when the Territorial Force renumbered in 1917; This is Ernest William Francis Brayley Kingdon the son of Mary Ellen (Nellie) Kingdon b.1881 South Molton (she later married Arthur Percy Herbert in 1907 in Lutterworth); Ernest William F B Kingdon was born on 01.02.1898 in South Molton, Devon & lived with his Grandparents, Edwin (Ned) Kingdon b.1858 Kings Nympton & Mary Jane Gregory in the 1901 Census at #10, Cooks Cross, South Molton, Devon & in the 1911 Census at #14, Cooks Cross; Ernest W F Kingdon Married Annie Bellew from Meshaw, Devon, on 21.05.1921 in South Molton; Research of Colonel Flick’s Diary reveals that #265375 Lance Corporal E. Kingdon served with ‘D’ Company, 1/6th Battalion the Devonshire Regiment; I believe that this soldier served in Mesopotamia & India also; The 1st Battalion, 6th Devonshire Regiment was supposed to have been posted to France but their orders were changed on 17.09.1914 & they were sent to India on ‘HMS Galeka’, sailing from Southampton to Karachi, arriving there on 03.01.1915; The 1/6th Battalion served in India until 30.12.1915 when they embarked on the ‘HT Elephanta’, sailing from Karachi to Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq), reaching Shat El Arab Port of Basra on 03.01.1916; He is recorded on the Spring 1919 Absent Voters List for #14 Cooks Cross, South Molton, Devon; The British War & Victory Medal Roll indicates that he was Disembodied on 16.06.1919; Ernest William Francis Kingdon Died on 16.06.1951 at #18, Barnstaple Street, South Molton, North Devon, Aged 53; Medals Card on file, Awarded the Victory & British War Medals, (Mutt & Jeff); (He was the Nephew of Kingdon, Albert E: 1/6th Battalion, Devonshire Regiment No: 2711 & No: 266049 Rank: Sergeant 1914-1920 WO 372/11, WW1);