| Surname: | Kirk |
| Initials: | R |
| Rank: | Lance Corporal |
| Army Number: | 2656638 |
| Notes: | CMP. Enlisted in the Coldstream Guards, 2/9/1939 mobilised, 7/9/1939 transferred to CMP. 27/8/46 to class Z reserve. Reginald Kirk. Extract from the Grantham Journal 31/10/1986. Reg blasted for shooting down Luftwaffe plane. When as a schoolboy Reg Kirk went into his local Woolworth's in Sheffield to buy for a few coppers a packet of postage stamps - it was no more than the usual boy's fascination for collecting. "The stamps could be tattered and torn, but if they had Queen Victoria's head on them for me they were a find." he recalls. Most youngsters go through a stamp collecting phase, Reg now 72 certainly did. DISTINCTION. But is was not untill much later in life that he was to take an interest in philately that has brought him distinction in his field, international awards and a great deal of personal satisfaction. Son of an engine driver on the then Midland Railway, Reg went to Firth Park Grammas School - principally on his ability at mathematics, geography and English. When he completed schooling at 15 he went as a clerk to the local Leyland lorry agents, found little satisfaction in that and in 1934 at 20 years of age joined the Coldstream Guards - signing up for four years. Those four years were to see Reg take his place in such splendid duties as Trooping of the Colour and guarding Buckingham and St James' Palace. A trip to Palestine in 1936 brought a painful encounter with a scorpion. he was back in civvies in August 1938 to spend a short time at Sheffield Post Office - before he was back in as a reservist in June, 1939. "I wanted to remain in the Guards but the authorities were building up the Corps of Military Police. The pay was good for Sgt. Kirk. He went to France and Belgium with the British Expeditionary Force and mad a speedy departure on a destroyer from Dunkirk. A few days before evacuation Reg acted on his own initiative and found himself in trouble. He fired his rifle at a low flying German aircraft. He his it and it crashed into the sea, but there was no commendation for Reg Kirk, he was put on a charge for discharging his rifle without permission. "fortunately the commanding officer had moved on, and the process of dealing with me simply fizzled away. Serving in Italy in 1943 he volunteered for the 2nd Independent parachute Brigade - to complete the was as a "para." Demobbed in November 1945 he returned to Sheffield Post Office to become telephone supervisor. With his sights on better things he sat and passed a Civil Service examination and almost immediately joined the Ministry of Labour. It was a career that was to see him take management posts at a number of employment exchanges - eventually to Grantham, retiring just before it became a "Jobcentre." Reg met his wife Monica at Sheffield employment exchange and they married in 1950. They have one daughter. OPPORTUNITY. During his was service Reg had found a revived interest in Stamps and the travels of a soldier gave him the opportunity to collect. He built up a good collection of Hong Kong stamps. These were sold however to be replaced by the covers, envelopes and post-cards carried by vessels of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. In September at the World Philatelic Exhibition in Stockholm he was awarded a gold medal for his display of P & O covers between 1836 and 1914. |
Decoration Record: | |
| Decoration: | General Service Medal 1918 (London Gazette: WO 100/502 Page: 33` July 20, 1940) |
| Citation: | Clasp "Palestine". Awarded as Guardsman, Coldstream Guards. |