Kenneth Kerr was born in Edinburgh in 1918. He joined the Army serving with the Highland Light Infantry as a 2^nd Lieutenant before transferring to the 1^st SBS as a Commando.

He volunteered for ‘Special Service’ with the Navy and was sent to HMS VARBEL where he trained as a charioteer No. 1 Crewman. Kenneth Kerr’s No. 2 Crewman has not been identified, but a night training attack on the battleship HMS HOWE was successful, although they did accidentally hit the seabed, and they were able to place their charge under the rudder of HMS HOWE and return undetected to the Depot Ship.

Kenneth Kerr and his No. 2 Crewman were selected for a team of charioteers formed for an operation to attack Italian shipping at the port of La Maddelena. The team was embarked in HMS P311 for the operation with three chariots – Nos. X, XVIII & one other. P311 had completed the passage through the Sicilian Channel – reported at 0130 on 31 December 1942 – but no further reports were received from the submarine and P311 was presumed lost with all hands in a minefield near La Maddelena on or about 2 January 1943. Also lost were the three chariots, the three chariot crews and the team of four dressers – ten personnel in all. The date of the loss of P311, her crew and her chariot passengers was assumed to have been 8 January 1943 which is the date that the submarine was due to arrive back at Malta.

Kenneth Kerr was the husband of Mary Niven Barker McEwan of 47, Forrest Road, Edinburgh. They had been married in 1939. He is commemorated on the Brookwood Memorial in Surrey on Panel No. 8 Column No. 3 and on the 12th Submarine Flotilla memorials at Rothesay on the Isle of Bute and at Kylesku.

Note:  The Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry shows his regiment as “Royal Scots”