Nostalgia: My uncle was chauffeur for Edward and Mrs Simpson

It spurred him to write in with memories of his uncle.

He writes: One of the soldiers killed on August 18 at Ford was my eldest uncle, Lt Fred Kirk, pictured below.

He had served in the Army Service Corps throughout the first world war and in civilian life worked for all his life for an upmarket garage in London called Lendrum an Hartman.

In that capacity he was ‘loaned’ to King Edward VIII as his private chauffeur in 1936 when the king bought a customised Buick through the firm and the car came to be known as ‘the most romantic car in the world’.

He privately drove Edward and Mrs Simpson throughout 1936 and even accompanied the abdicated king to France on December 11, 1936. The car still exists and was sold again three or so years ago.

On the outbreak of war Fred re-enlisted with the rank of sergeant though by then he was 45 and a few short weeks before he was killed (protecting civilian workers I believe) he was commissioned as a second Lieutenant in the Royal Sussex Regiment.

He is buried under a Commonwealth war grave with a Portland stone headstone in Kingston Upon Thames cemetery in Surrey, the town in which he spent much of his life.

I never met him, not being around myself until after the war.

Having read the article on a walking tour of the area, I wonder if there is a memorial of the names of those killed.

One day I shall have to visit, although living in York it will have to be carefully planned.