Norman Kingsley Street was born in Birmingham on the 13th of August 1881 to parents Thomas Richard Street and Marian Street (nee Klosz). Norman’s father was a milliner and draper who’d married his mother Marian in Fulham, London in 1880.

Marian was from Germanic stock (her mother was a Kidderminster girl who’d travelled south to London, where she married a German baker named Henry).

In 1885, Thomas and Marian gave Norman a baby sister, named Gladys.

At the age of 10, the National Census of 1891, confirms that Norman was living on the Bristol Road in Edgbaston, Birmingham. The family house was clearly a large property, and the family were well-heeled, enjoying the services of both a housemaid and a live-in cook.

In 1891, Norman shared his parent’s house with his sister, two of his father’s cousins (one of whom helped run his father’s business as a ‘draper’s manageress’, the other being a school governess), his maternal grandmother Mary Klosz, and two temporary lodgers.

Norman attended Bromsgrove School between the years 1896 and 1900, proving himself to be not only academically gifted, but also a first-choice on the sports field, where he played for the school’s first XV at rugby and captained the cricket team (he was an extremely capable, right-handed batsman).

The 1901 Census shows him residing at Sandhurst, Easthampstead in Berkshire and his occupation as a ‘Gentleman Cadet’. He entered the Worcestershire Regiment as a Second Lieutenant in May 1901 and was promoted to Lieutenant in March 1903.

In 1906, Norman’s sporting prowess came to the fore once again, as reported by the Birmingham Gazette and Express, on October the 23rd:

“Norman K Street who will be playing for Moseley against Oxford University tomorrow is a Lieutenant in the fourth Worcestershire Regiment. It was the Battalion that was ordered to Egypt during the recent trouble with Turkey. He was formerly at Broms-grove School and got his colours for both cricket and football, as he did at Sandhurst. He has found his skill of the games of great assistance to him in his profession and will always be grateful for the cricket wrinkles he learnt as a boy from William Quaife, when that great little cricketer used to coach him.”

So adept was he with the bat, that in 1908, Norman was selected to play for Warwickshire County Cricket Club. However, in his nine first-class innings, he only managed to average around 4 runs as an opening-bat, with a top score of 14. 

Back with the Worcester’s, Norman was promoted to Captain and ‘got his company’ in June 1911.

Also in 1911, he was seconded to the West Africa Frontier Force in north Nigeria, only returning to Europe on the outbreak of war on the 28th of July 1914.

By late 1914, any hopes of significant strategic advances on the Western Front had been quashed. The static nature of attritional trench warfare was beginning to bite and some Allied leaders were urging for the opening of new battlefronts to help break the deadlock in Flanders and Picardie.

Consequently, Great Britain and France attempted to take control of the Dardanelles - a narrow 60-mile-long strip of water that divided Europe from Asia - with the ultimate aim of attacking Constantinople, the capital city of the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), Germany’s new allies in the war.

As ridiculous as it may seem today, one of the suggested benefits that were offered-up to gain all-party support this new campaign, was the theory that it might help slow down the horrendous losses that were being suffered on the Western Front. 

So, like many brave men serving with the Worcestershire Regiment, Norman was sent to the Dardanelles to teach the Turks a lesson...

…and like so many brave Worcestershire Regiment men, he never returned.

The battle of Sari Bair was part of an offensive designed by British High Command to finally take control of the Gallipoli peninsula and hopefully, breathe new life into the stuttering campaign by capturing the Sari Bair ridge (a prominent strip of high ground which dominated the landing grounds of the Gallipoli peninsula).

The commander of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force, General Sir Ian Hamilton, was provided with three British New Army divisions for the planned offensive – one of which was the 13th (Western) Division, which included Norman’s 9th Battalion of the Worcestershire Regiment.

During the battle, Norman fell whilst rallying his men who’d rushed forward to re-take a position that had previously been overrun by the Turks. The men had faltered under withering defensive fire from the Turks and their charge had faltered, so Norman took it on himself to race forward to them in their shell-scrapes, raise their spirits, and then lead them onwards to the Turkish defensive line.

This he did, but tragically he fell at the very point of success, on the pulpit of the Turk trenches as his men cleared the position.

Captain Norman Kingsley Street was killed in this action on the 10th of August 1915. On the very same day, the Turks, led from the front by Colonel Mustafa Kemal, counter-attacked and regained control of the entire Sari Bair ridge.

The British High Command's plan to take final control of the Gallipoli peninsula failed - and failed at a great cost in terms of fallen soldiers.

Captain Norman Kingsley Street was ‘Mentioned in Dispatches’ for his gallant actions in the Battle of Sari Bair (being ‘mentioned in dispatches’ means that his name was included in an official report written by a superior officer and submitted to High Command. In this report, Norman’s gallant and meritorious actions in the face of the enemy would have been fully described, with recognition and praise for his bravery and dedication to those soldiers serving under him during the battle).

Captain Norman Kingsley Street has no known grave; because of the chaos and confusion caused by the Turk counterattack through the Sari Bair gullies and the horrendous conditions on the Sari Bair ridge, his body was never recovered. 

His name, however, is proudly commemorated on the Helles Memorial which serves the dual function of:

~ Being a Commonwealth battle memorial for the whole Gallipoli campaign, and

~ A place of commemoration for many of those Commonwealth servicemen (like Norman) who died there and have no known grave.

Over 20,000 names are commemorated on this memorial – of these, 835 are Worcestershire Regiment men.

Back in Blighty, Norman is commemorated on the following U.K. Memorials:

~ St. Augustine's Church, Edgbaston, West Midlands

~ Bromsgrove School War Memorial

~ St John the Baptist Church War Memorial, Kidderminster (the family had moved from their house in Edgbaston to Lea Croft in Kidderminster, his mother Marian's home town)

~ Kidderminster War Memorial

In addition, the family also added Norman's name to their private memorial which can be found within the churchyard of St John the Baptist Church in Kidderminster.

On Saturday August the 21st 1915, the Bromsgrove, Droitwich and Redditch Weekly Messenger reported:

“Captain Norman Kingsley Street, who was killed in action at the Dardanelles on August 10th was the only son of Mr. T.R. Street, Lea Croft, Kidderminster, and formerly of Edgbaston, Birmingham. The deceased officer, who served in the Worcestershire Regiment, was 34 years of age…

“Whilst at Bromsgrove School, he was prominent in athletics, being a member of the cricket and football teams 1897-1900”

As an indication of the impact that the Great War had on the country in less-often considered areas, the Warwickshire County Cricket Club posted the following report in the Birmingham Gazette on the 22nd of April 1916:

 “The annual report of the Warwickshire County Cricket Club refers in sympathetic terms to the death of Captain Norman K. Street and Lieut. H.G. Nevile. Players and members of the committee serving with the colours include eight officers and nine non-commissioned officers and men, whilst most of the other players are aiding the output of munitions…”

In alignment with the British Armed Forces First World War ‘Disability and Retirement Payments for Officers and Nurses’ Norman’s mother Marian, received £40. 0s. 0d per annum in recompense for her lost son.

Rest In Peace Norman Kingsley Street – a wonderful sportsman and a wonderful soldier. You will be remembered For Evermore.

Acknowledgments: Sandra Taylor’s wonderful web-platform: ‘Remember the Fallen’  www.rememberthefallen.co.uk