King’s Royal Rifle Corps 18th Battalion, Service no. C/6710
Killed in action 10th October 1916, Battle of the Somme, aged 35
Story
Born in Leeds in 1881, Thomas was brought to live in Kippax from a young age. He was raised by Paul Firth and his wife Mary Ann (née Butterfield). When Paul Firth passed away in 1901, his widow moved in with her married daughter Rhoda, at Hopewell Terrace, and Thomas lodged there too. Mary Ann Firth featured in the newspaper, knitting blankets for soldiers (below) on the 10th April 1915. She passed away 12th July 1916 aged 81, three months before Thomas was killed.
Thomas was called TAL for short, and is listed as Thomas Lowe on the Kippax War memorial. He had been a coal miner for 15 years, and married Martha Varley in Kippax on 25th November 1911. His father was listed on his marriage certificate as Thomas Edwin Lowe, but the Reverend Emil Broughton Smith crossed this out.
Thomas enlisted as a Rifleman, and advanced to Lance Corporal before he was killed at the Battle of the Somme. Thomas’ widow Martha received £2 12s 6d from the army after her husband’s death on 10th March 1917, and a further £4 10s on 1st October 1919.
18th (Arts and Crafts) Battalion, King’s Royal Rifle Corps
The Battalion was raised in London on the 4th June 1915. They joined 122nd Brigade, 41st Division at Witley, under which future Prime Minister Anthony Eden also served. They landed at Le Havre, France on the 3rd May 1916, and fought at the Battle of Flers-Courcelette, and the Battle of the Transloy Ridges, Somme, where Thomas was killed.
Kippax Roll of Honour 