KELLY, ERNEST CHARLES
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:
Rank:
Service No:
Date of Death:
Age:
Regiment/Service:
Grave Reference:
Text on stone:
Private
5342613
17/09/1944
24
Devonshire Regiment 2nd Bn.
II. A. 14.
Never shall his memory fade from his loving dad, brother, sisters and Vera
Additional Information:
Son of James Patrick Kelly and Esther May Kelly, of Islington, London.
William Dare served with the 2nd Battalion Devons. On the 17th of September 1944 his unit was part of an operation called “Market Garden”. The Devons were clearing the flanks for the Irish Guards during their race to reach Arnhem. Next to the road from Lommel, Belgium, toward Valkenswaard, William Dare was killed.
Ernest his brother served as a chaufeur for the commander of the Iris Guards and was very near when Ernest got killed.
From the service records of Ernest Charles Kelly, the following account can be reconstructed.
Ernest Charles Kelly was born on 23 December 1919 in Woolwich, London. Before the war he worked as a barman. He was unmarried. His physical description notes that he was 5 feet 8½ inches tall, with brown eyes and brown hair.
He enlisted in the Royal Berkshire Regiment on 5 April 1940. Ernest embarked for North-West Europe on 2 June 1944 and disembarked on 6 June 1944, taking part in the opening phase of the Normandy campaign. On 31 August 1944, he was transferred to the Devonshire Regiment.
Ernest Charles Kelly was killed in action on 17 September 1944, during the heavy fighting in North-West Europe.
In Memory of a Soldier
I write this in the memory
Of a brother born and bred
For whom many a heart is aching
For whom many a tear is shed
He did not gain a medal
He’s no reward to his name
He was no Duke or Lord’s son
But he’s remembered just the same
But no – he would not be beaten
No – not against his will
And I know that somewhere, someplace,
He is living and laughing still
Even in his childhood
The kind things he has done
Made everybody love him,
He was loved by everyone.
But we have one consolation
We know where he is best
He’s out of that roaring battle
In a place where there is rest
I remember you, dear brother,
As we strolled that leafy lane
And I know that sometime darling,
We will be together again
Written by I.G. Beattie
For my brother Ernie killed in action
Original gravesite along the road from Belgium towards Valkenswaard.
Ernest Charles Kelly his family visit the grave.
Original grave marker for Ernest Charles Kelly.
Ernest Charles Kelly.