John Kipling

John Kipling
John Kipling in the uniform of the Irish Guards, 1915
Born	(1897-08-17)17 August 1897 Rottingdean, Sussex
Died	27 September 1915(1915-09-27) (aged 18) Loos-en-Gohelle, France
Buried at	St Mary's ADS Cemetery, Haisnes (disputed)
Allegiance	United Kingdom
Service/branch	British Army
Years of service	1914-1915
Rank	Second Lieutenant
Unit	2nd Battalion, Irish Guards
Battles/wars	World War I Battle of Loos †
Relations	Rudyard Kipling, father. Caroline Starr Balestier, mother.

Lt. John Kipling's official grave.

John Kipling (17 August 1897 - 27 September 1915) was the only son of the British author Rudyard Kipling. He was killed at the Battle of Loos while serving with the British Army during the First World War, six weeks after his eighteenth birthday.

He is a central character in the 1997 play My Boy Jack and its 2007 film adaptation.

Biographical notes

Born in 1897, Kipling was the youngest of three children of the author Rudyard Kipling and his American wife Caroline Starr Balestier. He was born at "The Elms" at Rottingdean in Sussex, which was the Kiplings' home between 1897 and 1902. He was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire.

World War 1

Kipling was 16 when war broke out in August 1914. His father was a keen imperialist patriot who was soon writing propaganda on behalf of the British government.^[1] He sought to get his son John a commission but John Kipling was rejected by the Royal Navy due to severe short-sightedness. He was also initially rejected by the British Army for similar reasons.^[2]

However, Rudyard Kipling was friends with Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, commander of the British Army, and Colonel of the Irish Guards, and through this influence, John Kipling was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the 2nd Battalion of the Irish Guards having just turned 17 in August 1914.^[3] After reports of the Rape of Belgium and the sinking of the RMS Lusitania in 1915, Rudyard Kipling came to see the war as a crusade for civilization against barbarism.^[4] and was even more keen that his son should see active service.

After completing his training, John Kipling was sent to France in August 1915. His father was already there on a visit, serving as a war correspondent.^[5]

The casualty rate amongst junior officers in the trenches was extremely high, much higher than NCOs or other ranks - on average, a junior officer leading from the front survived six weeks before becoming a casualty - killed or injured.^[6]

Death

Kipling was reported injured and missing in action in September 1915 during the Battle of Loos. A shell blast had apparently ripped off his face. With fighting continuing, his body was not identified.

His parents searched vainly for him in field hospitals and interviewed comrades to try to identify what had happened. A notice was published in The Times on 7 October 1915 confirming the known facts were that he was "wounded and missing".

The death of John inspired Rudyard Kipling to become involved with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and write a wartime history of the Irish Guards. The poem My Boy Jack also alludes to the wartime loss of a son, although its themes are rather nautical.

Grave

The Grave of Kipling was reportedly identified in 1992, and he is officially listed as buried in St Mary's ADS Cemetery in Haisnes ^[7] However, other research suggests that this grave may be of another officer, that of Arthur Jacob of the London Irish Rifles.^[8][9] The first biography of Kipling including this research and was published by military historians Tonie and Valmai Holt to coincide with the film (see below).

My Boy Jack

The play My Boy Jack was written in 1997 by David Haig. In 2007 it was adapted into a film of the same name, with Daniel Radcliffe as Jack Kipling.

References