George Kenyon lived in Ware and worked as a solicitor. By 1937, he had joined the 1st Hertfordshire Regiment Territorials and was a 2nd Lieutenant. When the 1st Battalion were sent to Gibraltar in 1943, George had risen to the rank of Major and was leading the gruelling marches over the Rock. He took many photographs of the Regiment in Gibraltar which he compiled into a scrapbook. These images, carefully labelled, form the greatest record we have of the 1st Battalion’s time there.
At the end of July, 1944, Major Kenyon and the 1st Battalion sailed to Italy for active service. In early September, No. 1 Company, of which George was CO, along with No. 2 Company took the town of Fiesole using out flanking tactics, incurring casualties from land mines all the way. The following day they pressed on towards Borgo San Lorenzo but were met with the German elite 4th Parachute Division. The Battalion won out, but Major Kenyon was shot and stretchered out of the war.
When the war ended, George returned to Ware and married his sweetheart Josephine, the happy couple walking out of church through a salute from his Battalion. George began working with the Army Cadet Force, rising to the rank of Colonel as County Commandant. He was awarded the Military CBE in 1956 for his services to the ACF.
Colonel Kenyon died in 1990, aged 75, and Hertford Museum holds a wealth of his images and uniforms, donated after the death of his wife.
