Kenneth John MacAskill was born in 1913, the youngest child of Kenneth MacAskill and Lexy MacKillop of 4 Ruisgarry (Tarraloch). He started attending Berneray School in 1919, and was re-admitted in 1926, having attended Northton School in the interim.

During the Second World War, Kenneth John served as a boatswain in the Merchant Navy on SS Rothermere, a British cargo steamer. Kenneth John was one of 22 crew lost during a torpedo attack on 20th May 1941. He is remembered on the Tower Hill Memorial.