Category Archives: Ireland

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal, Driver, Great War, history, illness, India, Ireland, Kent, Lance Corporal, Mesopotamia, photography, Private, Royal Engineers, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, Wales, war

Stoker 1st Class Patrick Tynan

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Stoker 1st Class Patrick Tynan

Patrick Tynan was born in Roscrea, Southern Ireland, on 9th June 1893. He was the eldest of four children to John and Anne Tynan, but sadly, there is no further information available for his early years.

Patrick’s story really picks up on 14th December 1915, when he joined the Royal Engineers as a Private. His service record states that he was living in Bangor, Gwynedd, and that he was a stall keeper at a fairground – a subsequent document noted his trade as a showman. He was noted to be 5ft 8ins (1.72m) tall, weighed 151lbs (68.5kg), and had numerous scars on his back.

Private Tynan did not stay in the UK for long. Assigned the new role of Driver, he was attached to the GHQ Signal Company and sailed from Devonport on 30th June 1916, bound for Mesopotamia. Arriving in Margil – the port connected to Basra – he was based here for more than a year, before moving north to Baghdad.

By this time, Patrick had risen to the rank of Lance Corporal, and was obviously a trustworthy member of the company. Towards the end of 1917, he had again been promoted, this time to Corporal.

During his time in modern day Iraq, Patrick was admitted to hospital a handful of times; there is little information on the conditions he suffered, but none appear to have been life threatening, as they were only for short periods. It’s also interesting to find that his service records confirm a month’s leave in May 1918, spent in India.

When the war came to a close, Corporal Tynan was still in the Middle East. Ready to be demobbed, his company moved to India and boarded the SS Chupra in Calcutta on 26th February 1919, bound for home.

Back in the UK, however, Patrick was not ready to give up the formal military life. Having returned to Gillingham in Kent, where the Royal Engineers were based, he initially found work as a tram conductor, but soon signed up for a five year term with the Royal Navy as a stoker.

He was based on HMS Pembroke II, the shore-based establishment at Chatham Dockyard, but sadly, his time in the navy was to be a short one. Admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in the town with pneumonia, he passed away form the condition on 1st October 1919. He was just 26 years old.

Patrick Tynan was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham. He had a short but full life, something his modest gravestone doesn’t begin to hint at.

accident, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Ireland, Kent, London, Officer's Steward, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Officer’s Steward Gerald Connolly

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Officer’s Steward Gerald Connolly

Gerald Sidney Connolly was born in the spring of 1899, one of eleven children to Thomas and Mary Connolly. Thomas was a retired soldier who had been born in Malta, while Mary had come from Portsmouth. The couple had lived in India for a while, but, by the time Gerald was born, had settled in Kildare, Ireland.

Retirement from the armed forces left Thomas needing to financially support his family, and so they made the move to London in 1910. According to the following year’s census, the family had settled in Manor Park, to the east of the city, where Thomas was working as a storekeeper for a local hostelry.

Military service was obviously in young Gerald’s blood and, in April 1916, he gave up work as an errand boy for a life in the Royal Navy. Initially taken on as a servant boy at HMS Pembroke and HMS President – the shore-based establishments in Chatham, Kent – he subsequently served on HMS Shannon, a cruiser that patrolled the North Sea for German warships.

It was while he was aboard the Shannon that Gerald came of age, and was given the rank of Officer’s Steward (3rd Class). During the next few years, he served short periods on five further vessels, before returning to HMS Pembroke in December 1918.

Officer’s Steward Connolly was still serving in Chatham two months later, and he kept himself active. It was while he was making use of the barracks’ swimming baths that an accident befell him. His service record confirmed that he was found drowned in the baths on 26th February 1919 and a subsequent inquest identified that no foul play was to blame. Gerald had ‘accidentally drowned whilst bathing’. He was just 19 years of age.

Gerald Sidney Connolly’s body was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, not far from the Naval Dockyard where he was based.

Able Seaman, Commonwealth War Graves, County Durham, Great War, Hertfordshire, history, illness, Ireland, Kent, London, photography, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, Royal Navy, Scotland, story, war

Able Seaman Michael Goulding

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Able Seaman Michael Goulding

Michael Joseph O’Neill Goulding was born on 5th May 1884, the oldest of six children to Michael and Ellen Goulding (née O’Neill). Michael Sr worked for the inland revenue and his job took him around most parts of the British Isles.

Michael Jr had been born in Limerick – both of his parents came from Ireland – but his subsequent three siblings (Patrick, Margaret and William) had all been born in Scotland. His second youngest sibling, Lily, was born in County Durham, the youngest back in Scotland, while, by the time of the 1901 census, the whole family were living in Forest Gate, East London.

The census also shows that Michael Jr, having left school, was working at Customs House (presumably where his father was employed), as a boy copyist on tea accounts. The inland revenue at that time was a career for life; by the next census in 1911, the family had moved to Hertford, where Michael Sr was a customs and excise supervisor, and Michael Jr was an assistant clerk at the same place of employment.

War was on its way, but Michael seems not to have enlisted immediately. While specific dates for his joining up are not available, it appears that he was still working for the Inland Revenue when he got married in Shoreditch, in April 1917. His wife was called Bridget Mary Gough (known as Bryde), and she had also been born in Ireland. The couple went on to have a daughter, Ellen (or Eileen), the following year.

By this time, Michael had definitely enlisted. He joined the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, and was based at HMS Pembroke, the shore-based establishment in Chatham, Kent. This was the location for the Navy’s main accounting base, so it is likely that he was employed for financial, rather than his military, skills.

Able Seaman Goulding served through to the end of the war and beyond, and it was while he was based in Kent that he became unwell. Admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, he succumbed to a combination of bronchitis and pneumonia on 22nd February 1919. He was 34 years of age.

Michael Joseph O’Neill Goulding was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in nearby Gillingham. His family were still in Hertford, while his widow and daughter moved back to Ireland.

Michael Joseph O’Neill Goulding
(courtesy of ancestry.co.uk)
Able Seaman, Boy, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Kent, Ordinary Seaman, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Able Seaman George Davies

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Able Seaman George Davies

George Herbert Davies was born in Rosses Point, County Sligo, Ireland on 28th September 1872. One of eight children, his parents were naval man Robert Davies and his wife Catharine.

George was obviously drawn to the sea, and enlisted in the Royal Navy in February 1888. Too young to be an active member of the crew, he was initially given the rank of Boy, before rising to Ordinary Seaman when he came of age in September 1890.

Over the duration of his initial twelve years’ service, George was assigned to a total of eight ships, with time between each spent at the shore-based establishment HMS Pembroke in Chatham, Kent. He rose to the rank of Able Seaman and, in February 1903, volunteered to continue his time in the Royal Navy.

At the start of 1914, having served for a further ten years, Able Seaman Davies was stood down to the Royal Fleet Reserve. He did not remain on reserve status for long, however, as, in August 1914, he was called again into active service as war was declared.

While primarily based on HMS Pembroke this time, George did service two tours on sea-going vessels: he spent two years on board HMS President from October 1914, and then six months on the General Greenford. By January 1917, however, he was back at HMS Pembroke.

Within a couple of months, Able Seaman Davies had been admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital in Chatham, suffering from pancreatitis. Sadly, this haemorrhaged, and he passed away on 27th March 1917; he was 44 years old.

George Herbert Davies was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham; walking distance from the Naval Dockyard that had been his base for so long.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, photography, Private, Royal Defence Corps, story, Sussex, war

Private Bertie Bridger

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Private Bertie Bridger

Bertie Charles Bridger was born in the summer of 1876, one of nine children to William and Anne. William was a carman for the railway, and the family lived close to the central station in Worthing.

When Bertie left school, he followed in his father’s trade and, by the time of the 1901 census, was working as a groom and carman alongside his father and older brother, Arthur.

Bertie came to the notice of the local court when, in February 1900 he was called up to the Petty Sessions. He was fined for ‘cruelly ill-treating a horse by working it into an unfit state’ [Sussex Agricultural Express: Friday 9th February 1900], and ordered to pay a total of 18 shillings.

In the spring of 1904, Bertie married Ethel Gray, a carpenter’s daughter from Essex, who had found employment as a parlour maid for a Worthing solicitor. The couple would go on to have two children, Bertie Jr, who as born in 1905, and Leonard, born seven years later.

By the time of the 1911 census, the young Bridger family were living near the main railway station in a two-up, two-down property, where Bertie Sr was still plying his trade as a carman at the station.

War was coming, however, and in the summer of 1915, Bertie enlisted in the Royal Defence Corps. He was assigned as a Private to the 452nd Protection Company and, while his exact duties remain unclear, it is likely that he would have been involved with horses at some level, given his experience.

Private Bridger’s service appears to have mainly been spent on home soil, although, towards the end of the conflict he was sent to Ireland. It was while he was there, that he came down with influenza, which then turned into pneumonia. He was admitted to the Military Hospital in Curragh, but he died of the conditions on 14th November 1918, three days after the Armistice was signed. He was 42 years old.

The body of Bertie Charles Bridger was brought back to Sussex, and he was laid to rest in the Broadwater Cemetery to the north of Worthing. The local newspaper commented that:

Previous to his enlistment the deceased soldier was an outside porter at the Railway Station for nearly thirty years, and the sympathy of a wide circle of friends will be extended to his widow and two children.

Worthing Gazette: Wednesday 27th November 1918
Private Bertie Bridger (from Ancestry.com)
Commonwealth War Graves, Driver, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Labour Corps, photography, Private, Royal Sussex Regiment, Royal West Kent Regiment, story, Sussex, war

Private Henry Greenfield

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Private Henry Greenfield

Henry Gordon Greenfield was born in Worthing, West Sussex, in 1890. The fourth of nine children, his parents were Edmund and Caroline. Edmund was a carter from the town, who raised his family in a small terraced house near the station.

By the early 1900s, Edmund had changed profession, becoming a plasterer, and this was employment that his son followed him into. This seems to have been more lucrative for the family, and they moved to a larger property to the north of the town.

In August 1911, Henry married Edith Tombs. Edith was a gardener’s daughter from London, who had moved to Worthing for work. When the couple married, she was employed as a domestic servant for a solicitor and his wife. The young couple would go on to have three sons.

When war broke out, Henry was quick to enlist. He initially joined the Royal Sussex Regiment, serving his time as part of the 10th Battalion. This was a reserve company, that was based on home soil. When hostilities came to an end, Henry was transferred to the Labour Corps, and was billeted in Belfast.

Little further information about Henry’s service can be confirmed; he was admitted to the Military Hospital in Belfast with pneumonia, but sadly died of the condition on 27th February 1919. He was just 28 years old.

Brought back to Worthing, Henry Gordon Greenfield lies at rest in the Broadwater Cemetery there, not far from his parents and widow.

Henry’s younger brother Frederick also served during the Great War. Joining the Royal West Kent Regiment as a horse driver, he fought on the Western Front. He was killed on 17th August 1917, and is buried at the Duisans Cemetery in northern France. He was just 21 years of age.

Commonwealth War Graves, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, Ireland, Lance Corporal, photography, Private, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, story, war

Lance Corporal Reginald Foot

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Lance Corporal Reginald Foot

Reginald Robert Foot was born at the beginning of 1888 in Shaftesbury, Dorset, the oldest of three children to Robert and Annie Foot. Robert was a tailor from the town, who brought up his young family in the comfort of well-known surroundings.

When he left school, Reginald found work as a carpenter and joiner. He was a keen, if over-eager, sportsman, and played for Shaftesbury FC. In May 1906, he was reported for ‘cheeky’ behaviour towards the referee in one match.

In the lead up to the Great War, he also spent some of his his spare time in the Territorial Army and, when war broke out, he was keen to continue doing his bit. He joined the Royal Welch Fusiliers as a Private in December 1915 and, by the time he was shipped out to France in January 1917, he had been promoted to the rank of Lance Corporal.

After a year on the Western Front, Reginald returned to the United Kingdom and, once the Armistice had been declared, his unit was shipped to Ireland. He fell ill while he was out there, and, in January 1919 was admitted to a military hospital in Ireland.

Sadly, the lung conditions he had contracted – influenza and pneumonia – were to get the better of him, and he passed away on 7th February 1919. Lance Corporal Foot was 31 years old.

The body of Reginald Robert Foot was brought back to Dorset; he lies at rest in the Holy Trinity Churchyard in the town of his birth, Shaftesbury.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, injury, Ireland, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, war

Private Peter McDonald

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Private Peter McDonald

Peter McDonald was born in Tullamore, King’s County (now Offaly County), Ireland, on 28th May 1893 and was one of eight children to Michael and Mary McDonald. Michael had been in the army, and this seems to have been the route that Peter wanted to follow as well.

When he left school, however, he found work as a domestic servant at St Stanislaus College in his home town. War, by this time, was on the horizon, and so Peter was called on to other things.

Unfortunately, a lot of the documentation around Peter’s military service is no longer available. He enlisted in the Royal Army Service Corps; while an exact date for his enrolment is not available, this would appear to have been at some point in the first year of the conflict.

Private McDonald was assigned to the 341st Mechanical Transport Company. This was formed in May 1915, and was designated an Ammunition Park (which was in essence a fleet of lorries and a workshop for maintaining them). While full details of his time with the RASC is not available, Peter certainly came to be based in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.

Considerable sensation was created at Weston-super-Mare on Friday evening, by a rumour which prevailed that a member of the Army Service Corps billeted in the town had been shot and another man wounded.

Inquiries revealed the fact that the rumour had some foundation, and it appears that some half-dozen members of the corps were attending their motor-bicycles in a shed at headquarters in Beach Road, when Lance Corporal Goldsmith produced an automatic Colt pistol, which he handed to Private McDonald for inspection.

In the course of the examination the weapon went off, and Goldsmith was shot in the leg. He at once took the revolved from McDonald, observing that he was unaware that it was loaded, and was apparently in the act of unloading it when it was again discharged, the bullet entering the lower part of McDonald’s abdomen, severing the main arteries.

Medical aid was at once procured. The unfortunate man died as the result of internal haemorrhage about an hour later.

Goldsmith was removed to hospital, but his injuries are not regarded as serious.

Somerset Standard: Friday 28th January 1916

Private Peter McDonald has passed away from a gunshot wound on 21st January 1916, at the age of just 22 years old. His body was laid to rest in the Milton Cemetery in Weston-super-Mare, where he had met his fatal accident.

Private McDonald’s pension record gives his cause of death as ‘explosion’, something of a misinterpretation of the evening’s events.

Commonwealth War Graves, Gloucestershire Regiment, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Ireland, Isle of Wight, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, Somerset, story, war

Private Alfred Wheeler

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Private Alfred Wheeler

Alfred Wheeler was born in Binstead, on the Isle of Wight, in the summer of 1886. One of three children, his parents were John, a labourer from the Isle of Wight, and his wife Emily.

When he left school, Alfred found work at the London City Mission in Ventnor. By this point, tragically, both of his parents had passed away, and the young siblings were finding their own ways in life.

The 1911 census found Alfred living with his uncle back in Binstead. His trade was given as a Motor Car Driver for the local Carriage & Motor Works; while he was obviously brought up with a spiritual side, he seems to have had a sense of adventure too.

When war broke out, Alfred was keen to do his bit. He enlisted in the Gloucestershire Regiment and was attached to the 1st Battalion. Sent to France within weeks of the war commencing, Private Wheeler was awarded the Victory and British Medals and the 1914 Star.

With his background with cars, Alfred subsequently transferred over to the Royal Army Service Corps in the 615th Motor Transport Company. While full dates are not readily available, the 615th were formed in January 1916, so it was likely after this that Private Wheeler moved across. The company were based in Dublin, and it was in Ireland that he saw out the remainder of the conflict.

On 11th July 1919, Alfred married Rose England. She was the daughter of an organ tuner from Bristol, although there is no obvious connection to Clevedon for him. It seems likely, therefore, that the couple may have met around through the church, possibly as Private Wheeler was travelling between Ireland and Hampshire.

Alfred wasn’t demobbed as soon as the war ended, remaining part of the Royal Army Service Corps through until 1920. It was while he was in Ireland that he contracted influenza. Admitted to hospital in Dublin, he sadly succumbed to the condition on 23rd April 1920. He was 34 years old.

Alfred Wheeler’s body was brought back to England. He lies buried in St Andrew’s Churchyard in Clevedon, Somerset.

Commonwealth War Graves, Corporal Wheeler, Great War, Gunner, history, Ireland, photography, Royal Field Artillery, Somerset, story, unknown, war

Corporal Wheeler George Scott

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Corporal Wheeler George Scott

George William Scott is destined to be one of those names who is sadly lost to time. While there is information relating to him, there is not enough detail to flesh out a concrete history around him.

The facts that we do know about George are that his parents were John and Mary who, at the time that his grave was commemorated, were living in County Tyrone in Northern Ireland.

George enlisted in the Royal Field Artillery in November 1914. He was assigned to the 5th Battery of the 45th Brigade, and given the rank of Wheeler – one of the positions in a team of horses, pulling the artillery.

During his service, George was awarded the 1914 Star, as well as the Victory and British Medals. He seems to have been in a bit of trouble to begin with, however, as he was reverted down to Gunner because of misconduct. This may only have been temporary, as he ended with the rank of Corporal Wheeler.

And that is it, that is all the concrete information available for George Scott. How he died is a mystery, lost to time.

George William Scott lies at rest in St Mary’s Cemetery in Taunton, Somerset.