Hugh Latimer – Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), 3rd (Reserve) Battalion attached 6th (Service) Battalion

Second Lieutenant Hugh Latimer – Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), 3^rd (Reserve) Battalion attached 6^th  (Service) Battalion

Family Background

Hugh Latimer

Henry Arthur Latimer and Anne Katherine James
marriage certificate
Chapel of Ease of St. James

Hugh Latimer was born in 1897 in Swansea, the son of Henry Arthur Latimer and Anne Katherine James, who were married in 1879 at the Chapel of Ease of St. James.

1901 Census

At the time of the 1901 Census, the Latimer family were residing at 202 St. Helen’s Road, Swansea. Henry (51), born in Plymouth, was a surgeon, and his wife Anne Katherine (45) managed the household. Their only child was Hugh, aged four. Also present were Anne’s sister, Eleanor A. James (36), and three servants: Martha Jenkins (23), Martha Evans (42), and Catherine John (58).

1911 Census

By the 1911 Census, Hugh, aged fourteen, was a pupil at Rugby School, reflecting his family’s professional standing and educational background.

Military Service

During the First World War, Hugh was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Queen’s Own (Royal West Kent Regiment), 3^rd (Reserve) Battalion, and was later attached to the 6^th (Service) Battalion for active service on the Western Front.

On 3^rd July 1916, the battalion was engaged in the opening phase of the Battle of the Somme, which had begun two days earlier. Despite a massive preliminary bombardment, many German defensive positions remained intact. The 6^th Battalion took part in renewed assaults and efforts to consolidate captured trenches against determined machine-gun and artillery fire.

The battlefield was shattered by shellfire, filled with craters, broken wire, and ruined trench systems. Movement across open ground was slow and exposed, and casualties among junior officers were particularly heavy as they led their men forward under intense fire. Fighting during these early days of the Somme was costly and yielded only limited gains.

Death and Commemoration

It was during this intense fighting on 3^rd July 1916 that Hugh was killed in action. Owing to the scale of destruction and repeated fighting over the same ground, he has no known grave.

He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France, which honours those who fell in the Somme sector and whose resting place remains unknown