Born on 17 January 1898 in Derby, England - son of Mrs. Edith B. Astle, Paris, Ontario - attestation form notes present address in Paris, Ontario, trade as knitter, single, currently a member of the 25th Brant Dragoons, no previous military service, height of 5 feet 7 inches, chest of 35 inches, ruddy complexion, blue eyes, fair hair, Church of England.Joined the 215th Canadian Infantry Battalion on 9 June 1916 (number 270411) - taken on the strength of the 38th Battalion in France on 27 or 28 March 1918 - died on 1 September 1918 of wounds received that day - buried in Faubourg D'Amiens Cemetery, France.
(updated with an image of Pte Astle's headstone, taken by me, August 2012).
(sources: Library and Archives Canada (www.collectionscanada.gc.ca), online attestation papers; Canadian War Museum, 19740281-001, Manu 58F 2 3, 207th Canadian Infantry Battalion and 38th Canadian Infantry Battalion, Nominal Roll; The Cameron Highlanders of Ottawa Regimental Museum, A400-0007, Master Personnel List for the 38th Canadian Infantry Battalion, Canadian Expeditionary Force; Commonwealth War Graves Commission, "Debt of Honour" register, www.cwgc.org)
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Ken Astle was selected to attend the Hastings Street Higher Standard School for Boys in Derby when it opened on the 17th of January 1910 - his twelfth birthday.
He is commemorated on the school's own WW1 memorial tablet as well as the marble obelisk that forms the War Memorial at St. Paul's Church on Chester Green in Derby.
His cousin Cedric was also an old boy of the school and later taught there for many years. He always led the school's Remembrance Day Assembly as a mark of respect for Ken - and the other fallen 'Old Centaurs'.
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