Herbert Edward Kidd

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KIDD, Herbert Edward

Service no: 28783 [1]

Place of birth: Lucknow, 1882

Address: 13 Thomas Street, Redfern

Occupation: Blacksmith

Next of kin: Maud Amelia Winkler (sister), 13 Thomas Street, Redfern

Date of enlistment: 26 April 1916

Place of enlistment: Sydney

Age at enlistment: 33

Fate: Proceeded to Dubbo camp 27 April 1916. Transferred to 4th Battalion, Liverpool, 15 June 1916. Assigned as gunner to 1st Heavy Trench Mortar Battery 5 July 1916. Embarked HMAT A47 Mashobra, Sydney, 14 September 1916. Admitted to ship’s hospital 29 September 1916. Discharged from ship’s hospital 21 October 1916. Disembarked Plymouth 2 November 1916. Proceeded to France 20 March 1917. Taken on strength 4th Division Ammunition Column 24 March 1917. Hospitalised France 9 November 1917. Transferred to England 18 January 1918. Returned to Australia 16 June 1918. Discharged from AIF due to medical unfitness 31 October 1918.

Date of death: 30 January 1929, Orange Hospital, aged 46

Buried: Orange Cemetery


By all accounts Herbert Edward Kidd enjoyed the nomadic life; his obituary in the Leader claimed: “He commenced his roving at an early age [and] seldom remained in any one centre for more than a few months”.*

Born in Lucknow in 1882, Herbert was the fourth of five children of blacksmith William Kidd and his wife Mary (nee Hennessey). Herbert enlisted for war service in April 1916 and entered Dubbo training camp. In June he was transferred to Liverpool and in July was assigned as a gunner to the 1st Heavy Trench Mortar Battery.

Herbert embarked for overseas duty in September 1916, arriving in Plymouth in early November. He served initially in England; in March 1917 he joined the 4th Division Ammunition Column in France.

Gunner Kidd was hospitalised on several occasions during his service. He was transferred to England in January 1918 and returned to Australia in June. He was discharged from the AIF in October 1918 due to ill-health.

In 1918 Herbert married Mary Follington in Sydney. Their marriage lasted barely a year; Herbert became a widower following Mary’s death in 1919.

On New Year’s Eve in 1928 Herbert was crossing Summer Street in Orange when he was struck by a car. He was taken to hospital suffering a fractured skull and several broken bones. Herbert passed away from his injuries on 30 January 1929, aged 46. He is buried in Orange Cemetery.


  • Leader, 1 February 1929, p. 6.
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