Colonel Kenneth Comyn
MRCS (Eng) LRCP (Lond 1909) BCh (1909) MD (1913) DPH (1921) DTM (Camb 1921)
25 Aug 1885 [Richmond Surrey] – 30 Sep 1972
RAMC Aldershot December 1909
Colonel Kenneth Comyn was educated at Cambridge and King's College Hospital. He was commissioned Lieutenant in the Royal Army Medical Corps on 31 July 1909.
He passed the examination held in London for commissions in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Fifty-four candidates competed but only twenty were selected. Dr Gilbert Henry Dive MRCS LRCP of St Bartholomew's Hospital scored the highest mark of 632; Dr Robert Gale MB BCh (Glas) of Glasgow University scored the lowest mark of 505. Dr K Comyn came sixth with 542 marks.
Colonel Kenneth Comyn was a Specialist in Hygiene. He served in both World Wars and was Deputy Director of Pathology and Hygiene.
Service Record
31 July 1909 Appointed Lieutenant RAMC on probation. Confirmed in rank in February 1910. Posted to Woolwich.
May 1911 Passed the Examination for Promotion of Majors of the Royal Army Medical Corps in Technical Subjects, Part I, Appendix XIV, King's Regulations.
Nov 1911 Change of Station from Woolwich to Dover.
May 1912 Change of Station from Shorncliffe to Eastbourne.
July 1912 Change of Station from Eastbourne to Brighton.
Aug 1912 Change of Station from Brighton to Shorncliffe.
31 Jan 1913 Promoted Captain RAMC.
Mar 1913 Change of Station from Shorncliffe to Gibraltar.
1913–1914 Served in Gibraltar.
5 Oct 1914–5 Nov 1914 Served with the British Expeditionary Force in Belgium. Was wounded in action and invalided.
1916 Served in India, Afghanistan, and the North West Frontier.
16 Aug 1917–30 Sep 1917 Served in British, German and Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia.
15 Jan 1918–23 Feb 1918 Served in British, German and Portuguese East Africa, Nyasaland and Northern Rhodesia.
6 May 1919–11 Aug 1919 Acting Lieutenant Colonel whilst in command of 12 Combined Field Ambulance.
31 July 1921 Promoted Major RAMC.
May 1922–June 1924 Deputy Assistant Director of Hygiene Portsmouth.
1924–1926 Served in Egypt.
1929–1930 Served in India.
1931–1933 Deputy Assistant Director of Hygiene (DADH) HQ Salisbury Plain and South Midland Areas.
12 May 1933 Arrived from England.
4 Feb 1934 Arrived in England from Malta.
1 May 1934 Promoted Lieutenant Colonel RAMC.
1936–1939 Served in India.
28 Mar 1936–9 Oct 1936 Deputy Assistant Director of Hygiene HQ Lahore District.
10 Oct 1936–18 Oct 1937 Assistant Director of Hygiene and Pathology India.
Nov 1936 Appointed officiating Assistant Director of Hygiene and Pathology, Eastern Command Headquarters, India, in place of Lt Col James Joseph Dillon Roche, who vacated his appointment.
9 Nov 1937 Promoted Colonel L/RAMC.
Dec 1937 Lt Col K Comyn vacated his appointment as Assistant Director of Hygiene and Pathology in India.
1937–1939 Commanding Officer BMH Meerut. On six weeks short leave in England in April–May 1939. Returned on duty in Meerut, India on 13 May 1939, travelling by rail to Paris and Rome and thence by Imperial Airways to Karachi.
1939–1940 Served with the British Expeditionary Force France as Commanding Officer 6 General Hospital.
Mar-June 1940 Deputy Director of Medical Services Lines of Communications South District.
1940–1941 Assistant Director of Medical Services HQ Portsmouth District.
1941–1942 Commanding Officer Mostyn Hall Military Hospital, Chester.
Nov 1941 Colonel K Comyn retired on retired pay but remained employed.
1942 Assistant Director of Medical Services HQ North Wales District.
1942–1943 Commanding Officer Military Hospital Chester.
Dec 1944 Reverted to retired pay on ceasing to be employed on account of disability.
Bibliography
- Entry No: 707. Drew R. 1968. Commissioned Officers in the Medical Services of the British Army 1690–1960. Vol. II. Roll of Officers in the Royal Army Medical Corps 1898–1960, London: Wellcome Historical Medical Library.
- Succession Books Vol XXIII, Returns of statement of service of RAMC Officers.
- Comyn K., Anti-malaria work at Moascar, Egypt, in 1925 and 1926, and the results compared with the previous two years. J R Army Med Corps (1927); 49:14-26.
- Comyn K., Margarine. J R Army Med Corps (1939); 72:250.
- Comyn K., Travel From Rome to Karachi by air. J R Army Med Corps (1939); 72:55.