Notes
All extra details are based on information supplied by the College Archivist (see Additional Information). This included the following biographical details: '(1909) Born 19 July 1889, 3 Albion Villas, Alperton, Middlesex; son of William Rattray Gardiner, Merchant, and Edith Ann Bull. Subject(s): Engineering. Tutor(s): L H K Bushe-Fox. Educ: School of the Reformed Churches, St Petersburg; Eastbourne College; Crystal Palace Engineering School. Career: Engineer, Norton Griffiths and Co, Baku, South Russia; Town Surveyor, Bloemfontein, South Africa; Public Works Division, Nairobi, Kenya; Lieutenant, RE (Tunnelling Company), then Captain, King's African Rifles 1915-1917. Died 1 February 1917 (died of dysentery on HM Hospital Ship).' Another biographical source (see References) states 'Kenneth Gardiner lived in Russia as a child, and before coming up to St. John’s he worked as an assistant to an English surveyor in St. Petersburg. He read engineering then after graduating worked for a firm constructing the water supply for the Russian city of Baku. He then worked in Australia and Rhodesia before getting a job in the Public Works Department in Nairobi, capital of British East Africa. In the course of his work he undertook many surveying expeditions ‘with only native labour to assist him’ to areas ‘that had not been traversed by a white man for very many years’. He served in France at the end of 1915 and was invalided home. His experience in East Africa and his medical condition led him to be attached to the King’s African Rifles to serve in a warmer climate. One of his many abilities was an aptitude to learn foreign languages. Furthermore, as a comrade noted, ‘his facility for managing men was evidenced by the invariable loyalty of the men and natives who served under him’. While the fighting in East Africa was sporadic, disease was a constant threat, and Gardiner died of dysentery on a hospital ship.'