CAPTAIN AUSTIN KIRK SHENTON
ROYAL ENGINEERS
26TH JULY 1918 AGE 22
BURIED: CROUY BRITISH CEMETERY, CROUY-SUR-SOMME, FRANCE
Memorial Plaque
All Saints' Church Husband's Bosworth, Leicestershire
Quirquid notuit ferit quirquid habuit dedit is qui plus potest praeredit
To the Glory of God
And in memory of
John Shenton
Captain of Cavalry in the Royalist army
Who fought at Naseby (1645) & Worcester (1651)
And is buried at Barwell
1612-1699
His sword rests here
Also of
Austin Kirk Shenton MC
Of the IXth generation from the above
Captain his His Majesty's Corps of Engineers
Who fought at Loss (1915) The Somme (1916)
Arras (1917) Cambrai (1917) Montdidier (1918)
And is buried at Grovy near Amiens
1895-1918
His sword rests here
To all who knew him, most loving and beloved
As a soldier, his fellow-soldiers write from the field
"A most gallant"
"He lived a
Splendid life"
"He didn't know
What fear was"
"His company was
In splendid order"
The Newsman 17 August 1918
Capt Austin Kirk MC RE whose death as the result of a riding accident took place on the Amiens front, was the eldest surviving son of the Rev GD Shenton rector of St Anthony's, Stepney and for some time vicar of Elmstead. He gained his MC for exceptionally good work in command of a cable section during the battle of Arras, and was gazetted Captain after gallantly establishing and maintaining a forward telephone post across the Cambrai Canal during the attack on Nov 23-30 1917. His last post was on the Head-Quarters Staff. His fellow-soldiers describe him as "one of the coolest men under fire and one of those who don't know what fear is. He has done good work for us in many unpleasant places, and his services were invaluable, but we valued him most for his cherry good nature. One of the finest characters we have ever known. He has played the game all through."
I have not seen the memorial in All Saints' Husband Bosworth but it must be worth a visit - for a start it would be good to see the Latin inscription as there's a suspicion that it has been incorrectly copied for the Imperial War Museum's online record since it's virtually untranslatable. But it would also be very interesting to see the two swords and the two cannon balls which are also part of the memorial and which apparently came from the Battle of Naseby (1645). In addition, Shenton's Military Cross is reported to be part of the memorial.