ONE of the last surviving veterans of World War Two was surrounded by the countless people he’s met throughout his life at a party last weekend to celebrate his 100th birthday.
At his family home in Silkstone Common last Friday, Kenneth Kingsley - who now lives at Buckingham Care Home in Penistone - met with loved ones who congratulated him on this monumental event.
Kenneth was only 18 when he joined the King’s Regiment (Liverpool) as a volunteer and was quickly shipped to Naples to fight on the front line.
Upon arrival in Italy, the battalion travelled north fighting through Rome and Umbria before reaching German-occupied San Leolino in July 1944.
The short but bloody battle in the rural hamlet 60km south of Florence saw ten British soldiers wounded and two die.
“He’s extremely lucky to be here,” Kenneth’s 57-year-old son Ian told the Chronicle.
“The story that always affected him most was that of his friend Billy.
“They were really good friends in the war and Billy’s job was to wear this big radio set - one day they were ordered to walk up this hill and they weren’t allowed to stop.
“That’s when they heard the sound of shells and everybody jumped onto the floor, but Billy had his radio set on and couldn’t move.
“He got his stomach ripped open - my dad was told he couldn’t stop to tend for him, he wasn’t allowed to do that and was ordered to keep going.”
Years later, on a holiday to Italy, Kenneth found out the fate of his friend, who was taken in by villagers and treated until he died.
“After that he was much more at peace with himself,” Ian added.
“He had carried that nervousness with him and you could see the visible difference.
“Once he found out his friend was looked after his nerves calmed, even if it was more than half-a-century later.”
Kenneth later fought with the Ghurkhas and at one point was taken prisoner in a farmhouse by the Nazis but managed to escape.
After leaving the army he trained as a teacher and ran various schools in Sheffield up to retirement.
“His time as a headmaster was really important - he only had a year of war but what he did as a headmaster was what he really achieved in his life.
“He started as a classroom teacher and got promoted to head of Angram Bank Juniors in High Green.
“Over the years he turned that school around and in the end he was told by a senior Her Majesty’s Inspector that it was one of the best schools he’d seen anywhere.”
For his birthday, Kenneth received a letter from King Charles and Queen Camilla, and another from the Ghurkhas thanking him for his service.
“He had a really good party and we had two birthday cakes, one just before and then one at the party.
“I’m proud that he’s got here, but there’s two parts to that - it’s not just the age, I’m also really proud that he survived to 95 fighting fit and in good health.
“At that age was still doing tai chi, swimming, going out to clean the car and didn’t take any tablets.”
