Peace H K Lt 3rd York And Lancs Regiment
LIEUTENANT H. K. PEACE
3RD BATTALION THE YORK AND LANCASTER REGIMENT
HUBERT KIRKDY PLACE was the youngest son of Hugh Kirkby Peace, head of the firm of W. K. and C. Peace, Steel and File Manufacturers, Sheffield.
He entered the School in 1896, and left in 1899. After leaving Rugby he entered his father’s office, and when the latter died, in December, 1906, he became Managing Director of the firm. It had always been his ambition to join the Army, and he took a great interest in the Volunteers, serving for ten years in the 4th (Hallamshire) Battalion. of the York and Lancaster Regiment. He retired from the Territorial Force a year before the outbreak of War.
In August, 1914, he received a Commission as Lieutenant in the 3rd Battalion of the York and Lancaster Regiment (Reserve of Officers), and on October 3rd he was sent to the Front attached to the 1st Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment.
Ilis first action was in the attack on the village of Herlies, which ended in the complete rout of the enemy at the point of the bayonet. On October 15th our line moved forward towards the village of Aubers.
Lieut. Peace was in command of a platoon in the first line of trenches, where they were under a withering fire from machine guns and rifles, and seeing that it was imperative that the supports should be hurried up he volunteered to go back himself for this purpose. He succeeded in his object, but on his return to the firing line he was shot in the neck by a sniper from a farmhouse on the flank. He never regained consciousness and died the next morning, October 16th, 1914, on his 33rd birthday.
Both his brother Officers and his men agreed in stating that Lieut. Peace’s action in fetching up supports not only saved the platoon from being wiped out, but also turned the tide of battle in their favour, and aided in ultimately driving the Germans from their position.
Lieut. Peace married, in August, 1906, Grace Mary, daughter of C. H. Weller, of St. Leonards, and left one son, five years old.
Source : Memorials Of Rugbeians Who Fell In The Great War Vol 1
PEACE, HUBERT KIRKBY, Lieut., 3rd Battn. York and Lancaster Regt., attd. 1st Battn. Lincolnshire Regt., 3rd s. of the late Hugh Kirkby Kirkby Peace, of Springfield House, Sheffield, Steel Manufacturer, by his wife, Emmeline (Sandygate, Sheffield), dau. of James Fawcett; b. Sheffield, 16 Oct. 1881; educ. Rugby; became Managing Director of his father’s firm, W. K. & C. Peace, File Manu-facturers, Feb. 1906; joined the 1st Volunteer Battn. York and Lancaster Regt. (Doncaster Militia), afterwards the 4th (Hallamshire) Battn., and served 10 years retiring in May, 1913, but, after the outbreak of war, was given a commission in 3rd Battn. York and Lancaster Regt. as Lieut., 4 Sept. 1914, and went to France attd. to the 1st Lincolnshire Regt., on 3 Oct. 1914; and died in hospital at Aubers, on the morning of 17 Oct., of wounds received in action near Lille, the previous day. Buried there. He had gone to the rear to hurry up supports, and he succeeded in getting them, but as he was returning he was wounded in the neck by a shot fired from a farm which it was supposed had been cleared by the French. A wounded soldier in Leeds Base Hospital, belonging to the Coldstream Guards said: “He died fighting to the last in trying to save his platoon from being cut to pieces, and many will never be able to give full praise and admiration for so gallant a deed.” He m. at St. Leonards-on-Sea, 2 Aug. 1906, Grace Mary (Thurgoland, Sheffield), dau. of Charles Weller, and had a son, George Hugh Kirkby, b. 15 Dec. 1909.
Source : De Ruvigmy’s Roll Of Honour Vol 1