ROSE, Kenneth


No. 412631, 2nd Lieutenant, Kenneth Stewart ROSE


1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders
Killed in Action on Sunday, 17th February 1952
Aged 20


Kenneth Stewart ROSE was born on 21st February 1931 (Downham Q1-1931 4B:421) the son of Clifford and Mary ROSE (née STEWART).
His father, born Hilgay, was a farmer and had served in the 8th Bn, Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in WW1, being wounded close to the end and in Red Cross Hospital, Finsbury Square for the Armistice.

In the 1939 register Kenneth's home address was Hawthorne House, Ten Mile Bank, Downham, Norfolk where there were his parents ( father a farmer and Air Raid Warden) and one servant

His brother John Stewart was killed serving in Italy in the Gordon Highlanders in 1943. see here





Culford 1947 1st XV rugger team from The Culfordian - Autumn 1947 p67





The Culfordian for Spring 1952 carried the following In Memoriam entry

LIEUT. KENNETH S.ROSE, 1st Btn, Gordon Highlanders.
What follows is a sad but proud story.
On February 17th, 1952, Kenneth Rose, serving in Malaya as a Lieutenant in the Gordon Highlanders, was killed in action. He was on patrol with his lance corporal and five men and all made the supreme sacrifice. For his parents and his brother Billy (serving with the Royal Naval Air Service as a Lieutenant) and for all of us, it was a bitter blow: all the more so since his brother, Stewart, serving with the 1st London Scottish, was killed in action in Italy in October, 1943.

Kenneth, (known and beloved at Culford as "Bunny") would have enjoyed his twenty-first birthday four days after the day of his death. Like his brother Stewart he was determined to join a famous Scottish regiment, and he was proud - I know this from his letter to me - to belong to the Gordons, the regiment which for so many years has been so closely linked with the Suffolks. And such was his worth, he was soon offered a regular commission in the regiment.

In so many ways Kenneth resembled his gallant brother: he was ever kind and gentle, modest and reserved; he was a splendid leader in the School as a sub-prefect; a perfect lion on the rugger field. Stewart was probably the best ever boxer at Culford, and Kenneth as a member of the XV was described thus:"Though small in build, his falling and tackling were fearless, and he inspired the forwards with his dash and vigour."); in fact Kenneth was as fine a character as one has ever known at Culford. The best of men in all ages have always been fearless and gentle; and Kenneth - and Stewart - were of the company of the very best, a shining example to all - old as well as young.

Our hearts go out in specially affectionate sympathy to Kenneth's sorrowing parents and brother, and to all the members of their family. We share their sorrow. We share their pride. The names of their gallant sons will ever be remembered by the School they so deeply loved. They will be inscribed on the hearts of all their Culford friends. And - let me be permitted to say - especially on my own.
J.W.SKINNER

and from the Summer 1952 Culfordian, tributes to Kenneth ROSE:

IN MEMORIAM
LIEUT. KENNETH ROSE


Since the sad news that Kenneth Rose was killed in action on February 17th in Malaya, his parents, Mr and Mrs Clifford Rose (Fairholme Farm, Markbeech, Edenbridge, Kent), have received moving tributes to their gallant son.

Lieut-Col. W.D.H. Duke, commanding the 1st Gordons, wrote: "Ken had shown himself such a splendid leader on many occasions and he may have told you that I was about to recommend his application for a regular commission. He was much loved by his men who had great confidence in him and would have followed him anywhere."

Brigadier V.D.G. Campbell, D.S.O., O.B.E. wrote: "Ken, as you know, joined the Regiment while I was still commanding the battalion and from the very beginning he showed himself to be not only a very promising, keen and efficient young officer but also a very likeable boy. I know how keen he was to get a regular commission and from what I had seen of him and what I had since heard about how well he was doing, I had little doubt but that he would have been successful."

Lieut. Derek Findaly, of "A" Company, wrote: "He was a very fine friend and the finest of leaders and he was esteemed by all of us. He set a first-class example to his men who loved and respected him tremendously."

Mrs. Mcleod, of Penryn wrote:""My son returned from Malaya on Saturday, and when he learned what had happened he was shocked with grief, as he had been a forward scout with your son's patrol, and spent many long vigils with him in the jungle. He could not praise your son too highly, and said the men would follow him anywhere."

Such are some of the tributes to a very gallant Culfordian, worthy of his peers whose names are inscribed on our Memorials; one who, like them, showed us all by his personal life and his personal sacrifice what our School Motto really means. To his country he vowed, and he gave, the service of his love, entire and whole and perfect."
J.W.S.


His medal was for sale by Dix, Noonan, Webb in July 2016 (estimate £600-800). Their catalogue had the following statement:

G.S.M. clasp, Malaya, (GV1)...Lt. K. S. Rose. Gordons.
Kenneth Stewart Rose was born at Downham Market, Norfolk in 1931, was educated at Culford School, Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk. Appointed to a Short Service Commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the 1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders in August 1950.
As a Lieutenant, served in Malaya from early 1951, he was killed in action in an ambush in Perak State on 17 February 1952, the incident report states:
Six men of the 1st Battalion, Gordon Highlanders, led by 2nd Lieutenant Rose, were ambushed and all killed by Communist guerrillas today in Perak State. The Reds stripped the bodies, removing uniforms and even underclothes, as well as all weapons and ammunition. The Gordons were patrolling the Narborough rubber estate, near Sungkai, 50 miles south of Ipoh, when 20 guerrillas fired on them from slit trenches. They were going down a narrow estate track a mile from the bungalow of the manager, Mr. Ronald Boxall, of West Dulwich. It is believed the guerrillas had waited overnight. They had dug their trenches in the darkness on the hillsides overlooking the track. All the Gordons were killed outright in the first bursts of fire from the Reds who waited until the soldiers were in the middle of the ambush positions, stretching about 150 yards. Mr. Boxall heard firing just after 7 a.m. and immediately went out in an armoured car. When he found the naked bodies of two Gordons at a turn in the estate track, he about-turned and telephoned the police. The guerrillas have been trying for months to intimidate labourers on about 15 estates in this district and the Gordons killed today were posted to Narborough estate only last Wednesday. Police believe about 200 well-armed Communists are now operating in this district, the largest gang exceeding 100.
Rose and his men were buried with full military honours in Taiping Civil Cemetery, Perak; photocopied images of the funeral are included with accompanying copied research, including official letters to the recipient's mother.



cemetery photos: O.C. Ted Flaxman 2013



Kenneth Rose is buried in Taiping, (Kamunting Road) Christian Cemetery, Malaysia
and also commemorated on the Armed Forces memorial at the National Arboretum, Staffordshire.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission charter is for only the World Wars
but they do attend to many other cemeteries and graves of British servicemen



click here to go to the Veterans UK website for full cemetery/memorial details


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