Kenneth was the tenth child of Arthur and Sibbella Baggs of Bristol. He was educated at Wells Cathedral School. He joined the Royal Navy Medical Branch aged 18 in 1937. He trained as a male Nurse in the Sick Berth Branch and was then drafted to the Royal Navy Hospital in Hong Kong in February 1939.

In 1996, following the 50th VE/VJ Day celebrations the year before, Ken wrote of how a poem, John Masefield's 'The West Wind', helped him keep his sanity through the horrific years as a Japanese prisoner of war in Hong Kong and then in Japan.

"I cannot say when I first came across the poem "The West Wind" by John Masefield but the poem came to play a large and important place in my life.

Having joined the Royal Navy in 1937, I trained as a male Nurse in the Sick Berth Branch and eventually I was drafted to the Royal Navy Hospital in Hong Kong in February 1939. There I remained in Hong Kong until the Japanese Forces captured Hong Kong on Christmas Day 1941 and I became a "Far East Prisoner-of-War" (FEPOW).

As you can image, life soon became very arduous and painful. The Naval Hospital was closed and life in prison camps began. The quality of life deteriorated very quickly as did food and medical supplies.

In August 1942 a number of FEPOWS were selected to join the Japanese cargo ship "Lisbon Maru" for transfer to Japan in most unpleasant and unhealthy conditions. To cap it all, many of the FEPOWs were killed when the ship was torpedoed by a United States submarine off the coast of Shanghai.

From that day onwards life became more and more difficult to sustain. Medical supplies were of poor quality, quantity, and, sometimes none at all. Food – rice, with weird additions occasionally. Work was excessive and strenuous. Nursing care under these circumstances was mentally shattering.

It would have been easy to "call-it-a-day" at any time. But one had a duty to perform and one way I found to help me stay alive was to keep my brain active. I found a FEPOW who recalled John Masefield's poem "The West Wind". You will see that this particular poem was extremely apt for us in our surroundings and I set to learn this poem by heart.

As often as I could I took exercise by walking up and down a small patch by the boundary wall. There was little else one could do. Care of our sick patients – often as many as 100 at a time – filled most of each day. And so, back and forth, back and forth, whenever possible, I began to learn this poem from a scribbled piece of paper – "It's a warm wind, the west wind..."

Eventually I was word perfect. Still I kept on repeating this beautiful poem, beautiful to me in my circumstances. But as time went on I found myself singing the poem. First a note or two, then a bar or two, more and more – I was finding a tune to cover the whole poem. It was not a tune related to any other music I had heard – I was apparently making it up myself! Surprise! Surprise!

And so life went on and after some four years we were, or all that was left of us, were returned to the UK, and my lovely tune, and John Masefield's beautiful poem, gradually retired to the back of my mind as I tried to forget those horrible days in Japan. Fifty years or so passed by and I never, ever, forgot that tune. I told no one – what was the point?

Then, for no special reason, the poem, and the tune, started to come more and more into my daily thoughts. I loved that tune – I loved that poem. I began to think that it would be a shame not to tell anyone about it – I am now 79 years of age. The tune is only a one-line piece of music- I am not a musician. I can only think of one person who could have put this music into my mind.

It was decided then that this melody should be developed and, after many hours, the work was complete. It was exciting to see it grow and I will be eternally grateful to my brother Donald for undertaking this task and for so much advice and so many suggestions.

The music was finally performed and recorded by students of Wells Cathedral School in 2002, with the permission of the John Masefield Estate".

After liberation on 2 September 1945, and having been mentioned in dispatches, Kenneth continued his naval career, serving in Hong Kong, Royal Navy Hospital Stonehouse (Plymouth) and on HMS Blake, retiring from the service in the mid 1960s. He was awarded a British Empire Medal.

Also after the war he met and married his first wife Joan with whom he had a son, Peter, born 10 February 1949. Peter and wife Valerie would go on to have three children: Martin, Suzanne and Jonathan.

On leaving the Navy, Kenneth joined the National Health Service, commencing as Head Porter at Greenbank/Freedom Fields Hospitals, finally retiring in 1983 as District Domestic Administrator.

Following his divorce from Joan, Ken married his second wife Betty in 1973, and became step-father to her son, Phillip. They lived in Bittaford near Ivybridge, Devon.

Kenneth passed away on 19 August 2004 survived by his wife Betty, son Peter, daughter in law Valerie and grand children Martin, Suzanne and Jonathan. He is buried in Ugborough near Ivybridge, Devon.