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Wartime Heritage
ASSOCIATION
Remembering World War I
Yarmouth Connections
Keith Dalston Withycombe
Article from the Cambridge Chronicle newspaper,
Cambridge, Massachusetts November 23, 1918
Sunday
morning;
Mrs.
George
A.
Littlefield,
of
2062
Massachusetts
Avenue,
received
a
cablegram
from
the
London
War
Office
announcing
that
her
son,
Private
Keith
D.
Withycombe,
had
been
killed
in
action
October 22nd.
Private
Withycombe
was
born
In
Yarmouth,
Nova
Scotia,
27
years
ago.
He
came
to
this
city
in
infancy
and
lived
here
up
to
January,
1916.
He
was
for
some
years
employed
as
driver
by
the
Fresh
Pond
Ice
Co.
He
attended
the
Shepard
School.
In
July,
1915,
he
enlisted
in
England
in
the
Royal
Field
artillery,
and
drove
a
truck
in
the
ammunition
train.
During
the
six
months
prior
to
his
enlistment
Private
Withycombe
was
engaged
in
the
trans-Atlantic
merchant
marine
service,
making
one
trip
as
a
hostler
on
a
horse
transport,
and
three
trips
as
a
seaman.
During
his
trips
across
he
had
some
exciting
experiences
in
dodging
submarines,
and
on
one
occasion
a
near-by
sister
transport
was
torpedoed.
During
his
39
months
of
active
service
in
France
he
received
a
shell-shock
wound
in
the
eyes
which
entitled
him
to
the
wounded
shoulder
service
strap
which
will
be
noted
in
the
picture.
He
was
a
member
of
Mt.
Sinai
lodge,
I.
O.
O.
F.,
where
he
was
very
popular.
His
brother
Odd
Fellows
sent
him
a
Christmas
box
last
year.
A
box
from
his
mother
Is
now
en
route
in
the
mails,
and
at
the
moment
of
receiving
the
cablegram
announcing
his
death
she
was
in
the
act
of
putting
a
favorite
fruit
cake
in
the
oven that was intended for the boy overseas.
Beside
his
mother,
Private
Withycombe
is
survived
by
two
brothers.
Hadley,
who
is
attached
to
the
Engineers
Corps
in
the
American
Expeditionary
Force,
and
William
Withycombe
who
is
a
third
mate
in
the merchant marine service.
Name:
Keith Dalston Withycombe
Service Number:
L/35497
Rank:
Driver
Service
United Kingdom
Royal Field Artillery “D” Battery 51st Brigade
Date of Enlistment:
July, 1915
Date of Birth:
May 11, 1891
Place of Birth:
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Date of Death:
October 22, 1918
Age at Death:
27
Cemetery:
Harlebeke New British Cemetery, Belgium
Grave Reference:
Section IX, Row B, Grave 10
Not Commemorated on the Yarmouth War Memorial
Not currently commemorated in the First World War Book of Remembrance
Keith was the son of Mathilda (Chafe) Withycombe (b. 1857), and William Robert Withycombe (1855-1900),
and the brother of Hadley Edward Withycombe and William Withycombe.
Keith’s mother’s middle name is recorded as Maria, Maud, and other names elsewhere. She is also listed as
Mary on later censuses.
His father, William, was born September 26, 1855 in Ferryland, Newfoundland and died in Cambridge Mass.,
September 8, 1900. After William’s death, Keith’s mother remarried George A. Littlefield.
Keith served as a Driver with “D” Battery of the 51st Brigade Artillery in the Royal Field Artillery.
On November 19, 1918, the Boston Globe in Boston, Massachusetts reported that Keith Withycombe was
killed a month earlier, on October 22, 1918. He is interred at the Harlebeke New British Cemetery in
Belgium.
