John Kipling | |
|---|---|
 John Kipling in the uniform of theIrish Guards, 1915 | |
| Born | (1897-08-17)17 August 1897 Rottingdean, Sussex, England |
| Died | 27 September 1915(1915-09-27) (aged 18) Loos-en-Gohelle, France |
| Buried | St Mary's ADS Cemetery,Haisnes |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Service years | 1914–1915 |
| Rank | Second lieutenant |
| Unit | Irish Guards |
| Conflicts | First World War |
| Relations | Rudyard Kipling (father) Caroline Starr Balestier (mother) Elsie Bambridge (sister) |
Second LieutenantJohn Kipling (17 August 1897 – 27 September 1915) was aBritish Army officer. The only son of English authorRudyard Kipling, duringWorld War I, his father used his influence to gain Kipling a commission in the British army despite being rejected for poor eyesight. Kipling's death at theBattle of Loos caused his family immense grief.
Born in 1897, Kipling was the youngest of three children of the authorRudyard Kipling and his American wifeCaroline Starr Balestier. He was born at North End House,Rottingdean in Sussex.[1] He was educated atSt. Aubyn's, Rottingdean, andWellington College, Berkshire.
Kipling was 16 when theFirst World War broke out in August 1914. His father, a keen imperialist and patriot, was soon writing propaganda on behalf of the British government.[2] Rudyard sought to get his son a commission, but John was rejected by theRoyal Navy due to severeshort-sightedness. He was also initially rejected by thearmy for the same reason.[3]
However, Rudyard Kipling was friends withFrederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, a formerCommander-in-Chief of the British Army, andColonel of theIrish Guards, and through this influence, John Kipling wascommissioned as asecond lieutenant into the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards on 15 August 1914, two days before his seventeenth birthday.[4] After reports of theRape of Belgium and the sinking of theRMSLusitania in 1915, Rudyard Kipling came to see the war as a crusade for civilisation against barbarism,[5] and was even more keen that his son should see active service.
After completing his training John Kipling was sent to France in August along with the rest of the battalion, which was part of the2nd Guards Brigade of theGuards Division.[6][7] His father was already there on a visit, serving as a war correspondent.[8]
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Kipling was reported injured andmissing in action in September 1915 during theBattle of Loos. There remains no definite evidence relating to the cause of his death, but credible reporting indicates he was last seen attacking a German position, possibly with a head injury. With fighting continuing, his body was not identified. However, in 1992, a mistake was discovered in the paperwork and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission identified his grave changing an inscription on the gravestone of an unknown soldier to read John Kipling.[9]
His parents searched vainly for him in field hospitals and interviewed comrades to try to identify what had happened. A notice was published inThe Times on 7 October 1915 confirming the known facts that he was "wounded and missing".[citation needed]
The death of John inspired Rudyard Kipling to become involved with theCommonwealth War Graves Commission and write a wartime history of the Irish Guards.[citation needed] He also wrote as anepitaph “If any question why we died, / Tell them, because our fathers lied.”[10] However, contrary to popular belief,[citation needed] the poem "My Boy Jack" does not allude to the wartime loss of his son, rather it was probably written about the death ofJack Cornwell, the youngest sailor killed at theBattle of Jutland.[11] He also wrote the short verse "A Son": "My son was killed while laughing at some jest. I would I knew/What it was, and it might serve me in a time when jests are few."[12]
The grave of John Kipling was identified by military historian Norm Christie, then Records Officer of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, in 1992, and Kipling was officially listed as buried in St Mary's ADS Cemetery inHaisnes.[13] In 2002, research by military historiansTonie and Valmai Holt suggested that this grave was not that of Kipling but of another officer, Arthur Jacob of theLondon Irish Rifles.[14][15] In January 2016, however, further research by Graham Parker and Joanna Legg demonstrated that the grave attribution to John Kipling is correct. A spokesman for theCommonwealth War Graves Commission stated that it "welcomed the latest research which supports the identification of the grave of John Kipling".[16]
The playMy Boy Jack was written in 1997 byDavid Haig. In 2007, it was adapted intoa film of the same name, withDaniel Radcliffe as John Kipling.
