Biography:
William Miles Kington was born 25 April 1876, the son of Lieutenant-Colonel William Miles Napier Kington (formerly of 4th Hussars), of Wroxall, Somerset and Sophia Kington, nee Baker.
He came to Winchester College from Messrs. Blackburn and Freeman's school in September 1889 and was in D House, Fearon's. He left early in the summer of 1890 on account of ill-health.
After recovering from his illness, he attended Glenalmond before passing into Sandhurst, being gazetted the following year to the Royal Welch Fusiliers. He served with much distinction in the South African War and was present at the Relief of Ladysmith. He received the D.S.O. in 1902 and being four times mentioned in Despatches. In 1902, he undertook temporary service with the Constabulary and later served as Adjutant to Volunteer and Territorial battalions.
In August 1914 he re-joined the Welch Fusiliers and accompanied them to France in October with the 7th Division to cover the retreat of the Belgian Army and the British Naval Brigade from Antwerp; they travelled by train to Ghent where they ensured the Belgian Army was secure on 11 October. Towards the end of that month they were engaged in the heavy fighting near Roulers, which preceded the First Battle of Ypres. At 8 a.m. on 20 October, the 22nd Infantry Brigade (of which his Battalion formed a part) attacked the German position near Zonnebeke, which was found to be unexpectedly strong. In the retirement that ensued Captain Kington was struck by a shell and killed instantly. He is buried at Tyne Cot Cemetery, Plot 19, Row B, Grave 24 and is also commemorated on Panel 22 of the Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres.
His double commemoration is unusual--until 2019, his bural place was unknown and, consequently, his name was inscribed on the Menin Gate. In 2019, however, three researchers in the UK and Belgium, simultaneously but independently were able to use previously unnoticed information from the records of post-war battlefield clearance to identify a previously unknown burial as that of Captain Kington. At the time of his death, Kington had been buried by his men on the battlefield. Over the course of the war, the grave, in an area which saw intense subsequent fighting, was lost. In 1921, parties clearing the battlefield and moving bodies to nearby Tyne Cot Cemetery found the body, identifiable by buttons and pips as a Captain of the Royal Welch Fusiliers, and it was under this partial identification that Kington lay buried for nearly a century. Closer scrutiny of the records, now easily available online, revealed that, found with the body were also medal ribbons for the South African War and the DSO. With this additional information, identification was relatively straightforward: there was only one Captain in the Royal Welch Fusiliers who had served in South Africa and been awarded the DSO who was recorded as having died in this area. As a result, a new headstone, made by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, was dedicated in the presence of representatives of Captain Kington's regiment, his family and Winchester College, on 19 June 2019.
Another Wykehamist of 22 Brigade, Lieutenant Gerald Sclater Ingram (I 1904-1907) Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment, was killed at Zonnebeke on the same day (see individual entry).