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Robert Francis Kent

 Robert Francis Kent

Person details

Forename(s) Robert Francis
Surname Kent
Rank
Regiment Johore Volunteer Engineers
Age 27
Death Died as a POW in Japanese hands
Place of Death Far East > Thailand
Date of Death 01/10/1943
Year of Entry 1930
House Letter D
School Notes -
Comments
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Link https://www.cwgc.org/find-record...
Unit
Prefect -
Military Decorations
Album Number 22
Battle
Previous Regiment Straits Settlements Volunteer Force
Burial or Cemetery Thailand > Kanchanaburi
Citations
Archives Correspondence file in OR files in Radley Archives
Post School Caius College, Cambridge - Modern and Medieval Languages & History; Malaya Rubber Estates
Prep School West Hill Park, Titchfield
Prisoner of War Captured in Malaya
Radlein Obituary June 14 1942. Recorded as missing
November 21 1943. Recorded as prisoner of war
November 25 1945. Died as a prisoner of war in Japanese hands on October 1st, 1943. Robert Francis Kent, Sapper, Johore Volunteer Engineers (Stevenson's, D, 1930-34). On leaving Radley he went to Caius College, Cambridge, taking his degree in Modern and Medieval Languages (in which he got a second class) and in History. He went out to the Malaya Rubber Estates in 1939. A friend writes;- "Right now I can hear Robert chuckling happily to himself; the idea that anyone should make a fuss of him at any time, especially now. But that's the sort of person Robert was. He'd be the last to expect the 'old school' to remember him in this way, and yet he'd be the very first to be proud that it had. And Robert's chuckles were as inane as they were original. A great many things amused him, and if a chuckle was inadequate there was always an infectious, loud, and long laugh to back it up. He enjoyed life because, along with an intrinsic sense of humour, there went an acute sense of the ridiculous, and the unimportant fell aptly and neatly into its logical perspective. I remember how our golf rounds of 75 pleased him. The scores sounded so professional; it was quite irrelevant that ours was only a nine-hole course. He never took sport very seriously, he wasn't particularly good at it, but he enjoyed it, and I know he was secretly proud that he was playing rugger for Johore State immediately before the war. To many people Robert seemed older than his years; to some he appeared wiser than his seniors. He was a good conversationalist and had a natural aptitude for forming accurate opinions. Naturally he wasn't always right, but one could be sure of intelligent talk and interesting ideas from him. He had read wisely rather than widely, and he spoke languages fluently. Finally, one remembers him for a very charming disposition. It brought him friends easily and quickly both in England and on the Continent, to which he loved to travel. He was extremely kind, and there was no one more courteous. If necessary, of course. he could be as firm as any of us. It was odd that he should take up rubber planting; an open air life wasn't what he seemed built for; but latest reports showed that he was fast making a success of it. One remembers he was academic; one forgets that his interests and enjoyments were infinitely more far-reaching. He was the best friend a man could ever hope for, and that's what he was to me."
Service Number 951
Place of Birth