Thomas Kimber

The Hambledon War Memorial records a man simply as “T. Kimber”, without rank, battalion, or date of death.
No obvious civilian record has yet been found linking a man of that name directly to the parish, and two soldiers of the Hampshire Regiment killed during the war match the initials.

These are:
Private 19203, 15th Battalion Hampshire Regiment – killed 15th September 1916
Private 18185, 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment – killed 9th August 1916
Both therefore required investigation.

Civilian connection
The soldier numbered 19203 can be traced to the Eastleigh and Preston Candover area and appears to belong firmly to another community. No clear link to Hambledon has been found.
By contrast, 18185 has almost no surviving personal background in civilian records. While this creates uncertainty, it actually matches a common pattern seen elsewhere on the Hambledon memorial – several men commemorated were labourers or short-term residents whose connection to the village survives only through local memory rather than documentation.

Military context
The distinction between the battalions is important.
The 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment was a Regular Army unit stationed at Portsmouth before the war and mobilised in August 1914. Many men with local or employment connections to the Portsmouth district served in it. The Hambledon memorial already contains a number of soldiers from regular battalions and early-war service.
The 15th Battalion Hampshire Regiment, however, was a later New Army battalion raised after the outbreak of war. Its recruits are usually traceable to the towns where it was formed and trained.
The memorial as a whole shows a strong tendency to commemorate early casualties and regular soldiers with local military ties, which fits the profile of the 2nd Battalion far more closely.

Date of death
Private 18185 died on 9th August 1916, during the Somme fighting in which the Hampshire Regiment suffered heavy losses. Early casualties were far more likely to be immediately known within villages and therefore included when memorial lists were first compiled.
Private 19203 died over a month later, and with clearer ties elsewhere, is less likely to have been adopted by Hambledon in error.

Conclusion
While absolute proof has not yet been found, the balance of probability strongly favours:
Private 18185, 2nd Battalion Hampshire Regiment, killed 9th August 1916
as the man commemorated on the Hambledon War Memorial. This identification is based on battalion type, timing of death, regional military links, and the absence of a stronger Hambledon connection for the alternative candidate.