Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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Date Name Information
23/09/2016 C.S.M. William Murdock Information has been received by Mr Richard Murdock, Unagh, Cookstown, that his son, Company Sergeant Major William James Murdock, 9th Black Watch, was killed in action in France on 25th September. Sergeant Major Murdock had 21 years’ service in the army, and had taken part in the south African campaign, and leaves a wife and five children.
23/09/2016 C.S.M. William Murdock 00918
23/09/2016 C.S.M. William Murdock From the Belfast Newsletter dated 1st November 1915:
23/09/2016 2nd Lieut Charles Richard Cooney Mr Charles L Cooney, son of Mr J L Cooney, High Street, Moneymore, has been granted a commission in the 7th Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Prior to receiving his commission, Mr Cooney held a Civil Service appointment, being engaged in the Finance Department of the Metropolitan Police Office, Dublin. He leaves for Ipswich on Monday for a course of training.
23/09/2016 2nd Lieut Charles Richard Cooney 00917
23/09/2016 2nd Lieut Charles Richard Cooney From the Belfast Newsletter dated 28th October 1915:
23/09/2016 Lieut Col John Staples Molesworth Lenox-Conyngham Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Ponsonby Lenox-Conyngham, Royal Engineers, who has been promoted to the rank of colonel, is the fifth son of the late Sir William Fitzwilliam Lenox-Conyngham, K.C.B., D.L., of Spring Hill, Moneymore, County Londonderry. He married in 1890, Elsie Margaret, daughter of Surgeon General Bradshaw, C.B.
23/09/2016 Lieut Col John Staples Molesworth Lenox-Conyngham 00916
23/09/2016 Lieut Col John Staples Molesworth Lenox-Conyngham From the Belfast Newsletter dated 23rd October 1915: Lieut-Col G P Lenox-Conyngham (brother of J S M Lenox-Conyngham)
23/09/2016 Worker Sara Mabel Moore A recently discovered document confirms that she was called Sara Mabel Moore.
23/09/2016 Worker Sara Mabel Moore 00915
23/09/2016 2nd Lieut Cecil Alexander Crowe 00914
23/09/2016 Pte. Joseph Boyle 00913
23/09/2016 R/man John Faulkner 00912
22/09/2016 Pte. Harrison Moore Murphy 00911
22/09/2016 Pte. Daniel Charles 00910
22/09/2016 Pte. Louis Boyle 00909
22/09/2016 Pte. Samuel Alexander Fleming 00908
22/09/2016 Pte. Samuel Spiers 00907
22/09/2016 Sgt. William Thomas Mitchell 00906
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart After confirmation of Robert’s death, a younger brother, the Honourable Arthur Stuart, who was serving as a lieutenant in the 7th battalion of the Royal Berkshire Regiment, brigade machine gun officer, 78th Infantry Brigade, became Viscount Stuart and heir.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart At the time of Andrew’s death, the search was still going on for his brother, Captain the Honourable Robert Sheffield Stuart, 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers, who had become Viscount Stewart, but been reported wounded and missing on 2nd November 1914.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Lieutenant Stuart was taking part in an advance when the German’s counter attacked. He was shot in either the heart or more likely the lung, and died almost immediately.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Lieutenant Andrew John Stuart was serving with the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers when he was killed in action in France on 25th September 1915.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Andrew volunteered for active service and obtained a commission with the Royal Scots in May 1915 and proceeded to France.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Andrew was the author of some verses entitled ‘Sailor, what of the debt we owe you?’, which appeared in the Times on 16th September, 1914:-
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Andrew became private secretary to Mr Christopher Turnor, of Stoke Rockford in Lincolnshire. Christopher Hatton Turnor was an author, architect and social reformer. He designed the Watts Gallery in Surrey and the Stoneham War Shrine in Hampshire. Turnor initially trained as an architect. Turnor became a campaigner for agricultural reform. He co-founded the Central Landowners' Association.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart On failing to pass the necessary exams, he turned to literary and scholastic work. He also travelled a great deal on the continent, in Egypt and the Holy Land.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart His chief pastime was rowing, for which he was awarded prizes at school and he rowed in the College boat at Oxford.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Viscount Stuart was educated at Shrewsbury and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, with intentions of entering the Indian Civil Service.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Andrew John Stuart was born in Wimbledon on 27th December 1880. Because he was the eldest son, he became Viscount Stuart, heir of Earl Castle Stewart, of Stuart Hall, Stewartstown, County Tyrone.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Georgiana was the youngest daughter of General Arthur Stevens, an Indian mutiny veteran.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Andrew John Stuart was the eldest son of the 6th Earl of Castle Stewart and Emma Georgiana, Countess Castle Stewart.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart ‘As you might have expected, he died a very gallant death, like the brave officer he was. Having led his men in attacking the enemy, we were in turn counter attacked, and the Viscount was shot through the lungs. He did not speak beyond saying ‘Oh sergeant’, and died by my side. May I respectfully offer you my deepest sympathy on your sad loss, a loss that is shared by every man in the regiment.’
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Lord Stuart’s sergeant, who is now in England suffering from gas poisoning, also writes:-
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart ‘Lord Stuart was holding a very advanced trench when he was shot through the heart, so death was instantaneous. The trench had to be evacuated, and so his body could not be recovered. The officer who told me this was afterwards killed. Lord Stuart was a favourite with all ranks and was ever thoughtful for the comfort of his men, who consequently would follow him anywhere. In short, he was a very gallant gentleman.’
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart The commanding officer of the 6th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers gives the following particulars regarding the death of Viscount Stuart, eldest son and heir of the Earl and Countess of Castle Stewart, Stuart Hall, Stewartstown, County Tyrone, reported in our columns last week:
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart 00905
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart From the Belfast Newsletter dated 13th October 1915: How Viscount Stuart died
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart The search still continues for Lord Stuart’s brother, Captain the Honourable Robert Sheffield Stuart, 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers, now Viscount Stewart, who was reported wounded and missing 2nd November 1914, and failing whom the Honourable Arthur Stuart, Lieutenant 7th Royal Berkshire Regiment, brigade machine gun officer, 78th Infantry Brigade, becomes Viscount Stewart.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart The late Viscount Stewart was born in Wimbledon on 27th December 1880, and was educated at Shrewsbury and Corpus Christi College, Oxford, for the Indian Civil Service. Failing to pass, he turned to literary and scholastic work, interesting himself greatly in later years in some of the great questions of the day – notably education and agriculture. He was private secretary to Mr Christopher Turner, of Stoke Rochford. Soon after the war broke out he applied for a commission, and was appointed to the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers. In May last he proceeded to France, where between 25th and 27th September he was killed in action.
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Viscount Stewart, eldest son and heir of the Earl and Countess of Castle Stewart, Stuart Hall, Stewartstown, County Tyrone, whose death in action has already been recorded in this newspaper, was the author of some verses entitled ‘Sailor, what of the debt we owe you?’, which appeared in the Times on 16th September, 1914. In commenting upon them, a writer in the Spectator remarked upon the fine spirit expressed in them and that fine spirit expressed in his verses found full expression in their author’s life. We reprint Lord Stuart’s verses:- (see above)
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart 00904
22/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart From the Belfast Newsletter dated 11th October 1915: The Late Viscount Stewart
21/09/2016 Sgt. John Suffern Scott Another Moneymore soldier, Private John Scott, is also home at present on leave. Private Scott emigrated to Canada a short time before the war began. He came over with the second contingent of Canadian troops, and was wounded by a high explosive shell bursting on a parapet of the trench near where he was standing, the explosion killing several of his companions.
21/09/2016 Sgt. John Suffern Scott 00903
21/09/2016 Sgt. John Suffern Scott From the Belfast Newsletter dated 11th October 1915:
21/09/2016 Pte. John Jordan Private David Jordan, 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, has arrived at his home at Moneymore, after having been at the Front for about 13 months. A reservist, Private Jordan was called up at the outbreak of the war. He has seen some very tough fighting, and has had the good fortune to escape without a scratch. His brother, Private John Jordan, also of the Inniskillings, was killed some time ago by the bursting of a shell. Before the outbreak of hostilities both brothers were prominent members of the Ulster Volunteer Force. Two other brothers are serving with the colours.
21/09/2016 Pte. John Jordan 00902
21/09/2016 Pte. John Jordan From the Belfast Newsletter dated 11th October 1915: David Jordan (brother of John Jordan)
21/09/2016 Capt Hon. Robert Sheffield Stuart 00901
21/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart The CWGC record Viscount Andrew John Stuart as the son of Andrew, 6th Earl of Castlestewart, and Georgiana, Countess of Castlestewart, of Bayuda, Sunningdale, Berkshire. It also states that he was educated at Shrewsbury and Corpus Christi College, Oxford and that his brother, The Hon. Robert Sheffield Stuart, also fell.
21/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart Lieutenant Andrew John, Viscount Stewart, 6th (Service) Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, killed in action on the western front between 25th and 27th September, was the eldest son and heir of Earl Castle Stewart, of Stuart Hall, Stewartstown, County Tyrone. Born in 1880, he was educated at Shrewsbury and Oxford, and joined the army on the outbreak of war. His second brother, Captain the Honourable Robert Sheffield Stuart, 2nd Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers, has been missing for many months. The Castlestewart peerage is an Irish one, but the family is of Scottish descent, deriving from Andrew Stuart, Lord Avondale (Chancellor of Scotland to James II), a grandson of Murdoch, whom James I executed. The third Lord Avondale fell at Flodden in 1513, and his successor exchanged his title for that of Lord Ochiltrie, who was a Lord of the Bedchamber to James I, sold his title to his cousin, Sir James Stuart, who was himself created Lord Stewart, Baron of Castlestewart, in 1619, receiving from the King considerable estates in Tyrone and a grant of what is now Stuart Hall, near Stewartstown where the family have been located since. His descendent received the Castlestewart earldom in 1800, and the present Earl is the sixth in the line. There are many connections of the family in Ulster. The late Earl’s wife was the youngest daughter of the late Major Richardson-Brady, Drum Manor, County Tyrone, and Lady Muriel Albany, his eldest daughter, is married to Major Maxwell A Close, D.L., Drumbanagher, Newry. The families of Cole-Hamilton, Lenox-Conyngham (Springhill), and Smyth (Ardmore) are connected by marriage with the Stuarts.
21/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart 00900
21/09/2016 Lieut Andrew John Viscount Stuart From the Belfast Newsletter dated 8th October 1915: Lieutenant A J Viscount Stewart
19/09/2016 Maj Hugh Quinn There are many other references in the despatch to this post, whose name will perpetuate the memory of the gallant Ulstermen who died in its defence.
19/09/2016 Maj Hugh Quinn ‘Around Quinn’s Post, both above and below ground, the contest has been particularly severe. This section of the line is situated on the circumference of the Anzac semicircle at the further point from its diameter. Here our fire trenches are mere ledges on the brink of a sheer precipice falling 200 feet into the valley below. The enemy’s trenches are only a few feet distant. On 9th May a night assault, supported by enfilade fire, was delivered on the enemy’s trenches in front of Quinn’s Post. The trenches were carried at the point of the bayonet, troops established in them, and reinforcements sent up. At dawn on 10th May a stronger counter attack forced our troops to evacuate the trenches and fall back to Quinn’s Post. In opposing this counter attack, our guns did great execution, as we discovered later from a Turkish officer’s diary that two Turkish regiments on this date lost 600 milled and 2,000 wounded. On the night of 14th-15th May, a sortie was made from Quinn’s Post with the object of filling in Turkish trenches in which bomb throwers were active. The sortie, which cost us some 70 casualties, was not successful.’
19/09/2016 Maj Hugh Quinn Private information received in Pomeroy shows that Major Quinn, after leading his men with the utmost bravery, was shot on the parapet of the trench captured from the Turks. Major Quinn had taken part in the desperate fighting of May, of which General Hamilton says in his despatch:-
19/09/2016 Maj Hugh Quinn ‘From 28th May till 5th June the fighting seemed to concentrate itself around Quinn’s Post. Three enemy galleries had been detected there, and work on them stopped by counter-mines, which killed twenty Turks and injured thirty. One gallery had however been overlooked, and at 3.30 am on 20th May, a mine was sprung on or near the centre of Quinn’s Post. The explosion was followed by a very heavy bomb attack, before which our left centre subsection fell back, letting in a storming party of Turks. This isolated one subsection on the left from the two other subsections on the right. At 5.30am out counter attack was launched, and by 6am the position had been retaken with the bayonet by the 15th Australian Infantry Battalion, led by Major Quinn, who was unfortunately killed. All the enemy in the trench were either killed or captured, and the work of restoration was begun. At 6.30am the Turks again attacked, supported by artillery rifle and machine gun fire, and by showers of bombs from the trenches. The fine shooting of our guns and the steadiness of the infantry enabled us to inflict upon the enemy a bloody repulse, demoralising them to such an extent that the bomb throwers of their second line flung the missiles into the middle of their own front line. At 8.15am the attack slackened, and by 8.45am the enemy’s attacks had practically ceased.’
19/09/2016 Maj Hugh Quinn Major Hugh Quinn, of the 15th Battalion Australian Infantry, whose death in action was referred to in the last dispatch from General Sir Ian Hamilton, commanding the Mediterranean Force, was a grandson of the late Mr Hugh Quinn, merchant, Pomeroy, County Tyrone, where members of the family, including Mr Francis Quinn, his uncle, still reside. This gallant officer played a conspicuous part in the heavy fighting in the Anzac zone on the Gallipoli Peninsula, and Quinn’s Post, the scene of the stern and prolonged struggle between the Allied forces and the Turks, is named after him. The official account of the fighting in which he met his death reads:-
19/09/2016 Maj Hugh Quinn 00899
19/09/2016 Maj Hugh Quinn From the Belfast Newsletter dated 25th September 1915:
19/09/2016 Pte. Alexander McIlree 00898
17/09/2016 Pte. Alexander McIlree Private Alex McIlree is also commemorated on Cookstown Cenotaph and St Andrew’s Ardtrea Church of Ireland Roll of Honour.
17/09/2016 Pte. Alexander McIlree He was one of eight boys from the same family to join up for service during the First World War.
17/09/2016 Pte. Alexander McIlree Alexander McIlree enlisted in Cookstown in November 1913, joining the Inniskillings.
17/09/2016 Pte. Alexander McIlree The 1911 census lists Sandy as 19 living with the family at house 23 in Tullyveagh Red Row Village, Coagh, County Tyrone.
17/09/2016 Pte. Alexander McIlree After leaving school, Sandy McIlree worked for Alexander Barclay at Drapersfield.
17/09/2016 Pte. Alexander McIlree The 1901 census lists ‘Sandy’ as 10 years old at house 6 in Duffless in Tullaghoge, County Tyrone. John McIlree was an agricultural labourer.
17/09/2016 Pte. Alexander McIlree Known family: John McIlree, Eliza Martha McIlree, Herbert McIlree, Andrew McIlree, Elizabeth McIlree (born 14th February 1871), John McIlree (16th October 1872), William McIlree (born 21st January 1875), Robert McIlree (born 28th May 1877), David McIlree (born 27th September 1879), Hessie McIlree (born 26th May 1882), Samuel McIlree (18th July 1884), Leslie McIlree (born 27th May 1886), Mary Martha McIlree (born about 1889), Alexander Sandy McIlree (born 29th September 1890), Maggie Agnes McIlree (born 3rd June 1893).
17/09/2016 Pte. Alexander McIlree Alexander McIlree was the son of John and Eliza Martha McIlree (nee McGee). Alexander was born was born in Annahavil near Cookstown on 29th September 1890.
06/09/2016 Pte. Francis Eccles The CWGC record Private F Eccles as the son of Francis and Mary A Eccles of Carland, Dungannon, County Tyrone.
06/09/2016 Pte. Francis Eccles Private Francis Eccles was serving with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers at Gallipoli where he was wounded in action.
06/09/2016 Pte. Francis Eccles Mr F Eccles, of Carland, Dungannon, has received official intimation that his son, Private Frank Eccles of the 1st Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, has died of wounds received at the Dardanelles last month. The deceased soldier, who was 26 years of age, had six years’ service in the battalion.
06/09/2016 Pte. Francis Eccles 00897
06/09/2016 Pte. Francis Eccles From the Belfast Newsletter dated 25th September 1915: Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
06/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy 00896
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy The CWGC record Private Patrick Murphy as the son of Patrick and Mary Murphy.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy He is also commemorated on Cookstown Cenotaph.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy Private Murphy has no known grave and is commemorated on panels 97-101 on Helles Memorial, Turkey.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy Private Patrick Murphy was killed in action on 21st August 1915 close to Scimitar Hill. Dense scrub covered this part of the countryside and it burnt with a thick acrid smoke. This scrub had been set alight by the constant shelling and the British were forced to fight among the many fires here and this hampered their movements.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy Patrick (junior) enlisted in Cookstown with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and went to Gallipoli as part of the 29th Division in April 1915. The heat during the day was almost unbearable and fresh water was virtually impossible to find. Fighting in this environment with steep rocky hillsides and very shallow trenches was difficult and losses were heavy.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy His father rejoined the army in 1914 serving throughout the war in Londonderry.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy He was known to have a kindly and obliging disposition, and was popular with all who knew him. He possessed considerable ability as a humorous vocalist and was ever ready to assist in the programmes of public entertainment.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy After leaving school young Patrick, worked for Thomas Adair & Sons.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy The 1911 census lists Patrick as 14 year old, living with the family at house 65 in Killymoon Street, Cookstown. His father was a labourer.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy Known family: Patrick Murphy, Mary Murphy, Sarah Murphy (born about 1893), Hate Murphy (born about 1895), Patrick Murphy (born about 1897), Phil Murphy (born about 1900), William Murphy (born about 1901), James Murphy (born about 1903), Mary Murphy (born about 1906), John Murphy (born about 1908), Peter Murphy (born about 1910).
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy The family moved to Cookstown.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy The family returned to Ireland and lived Belturbet, County Cavan, where Patrick’s father originally came from.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy Patrick Murphy was born in Whiteinch, Lanarkshire, Scotland on 7th February 1897.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy His father had served with the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers and had been through the Boer War.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy His father had married Mary O’Reilly, of Chapel Street, Cookstown and they went to live at 105 Stockwell Road, Glasgow.
05/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy Patrick Murphy was a son of Patrick and Mary Murphy.
04/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy Mrs Murphy, Chapel Street, Cookstown, has received information from the War Office that her son, Private Patrick Murphy, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, has been killed in action at the Dardanelles on 21st August. Prior to enlistment, he was in the employment of Messrs Thomas Adair and Sons.
04/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy 00895
04/09/2016 Pte. Patrick Murphy From the Belfast Newsletter dated 16th September 1915:
04/09/2016 Lieut Col William John Law So off we started, and it was a most thrilling time for me, for fear I missed the way in the dark. After about an hour, we arrived safe in the stream at the bottom, with nothing worse than a few sprains and cuts in the whole company. I put the Major on the right track, and asked if any more were coming. He said no, so I asked permission to stop at the bottom until dawn. He said ‘Yes my good man, you have done your share for the night.’, and he took a note of my name and number.
04/09/2016 Lieut Col William John Law Lord Rochdale and Major Lees were at the top when we got back, and thanked me, and told me I must not leave that spot, but stay there and act as guide. Permission was got from my captain (Captain Waterhouse, since dead). I lay there five or six hours under fire all the time, but I had made a fairly decent dugout to protect me from the shells, etc. About twelve o’clock I must have dozed off. I heard the voice of Major Law saying: ‘Men, we shall never get down that way.’ They were about twenty yards to the right of me when I called out ‘For God’s sake, stop.’ He called out ‘Who’s there?’ I said ‘Friend. Wait until I come.’ I then told him that he would have dropped sheer 100 yards if he had gone a few steps further. I told him who I was and where I was posted, and for what object. He asked me to guide him and his company down. I explained the difficulties, but he said they must get down at all cost.
04/09/2016 Lieut Col William John Law ‘On one occasion six of us were carried off the head of a cliff 40 feet high by the bursting of a huge shell into a ravine among bushes, rocks and water. Two were killed, and three others were wounded and bruised and very badly shaken. I fell head first in a large furze bush, and luckily got off with a few scratches and a good shaking. It was an awful time, and it was over an hour before I could get help for the three wounded. The other two were buried where they fell. I was in the firing line four hours after that, but what I did I cannot remember until I was ordered back to the rear trenches and told to go for stretchers down to the second base hospital – a distance of two miles one way or three quarters of a mile down the ravine we were blown down. I elected to go this way, and found a way down, but it was very difficult and by no means safe. However, I managed it, and brought up a doctor and some stretcher bearers.
04/09/2016 Lieut Col William John Law A Private in the 7th Battalion (Territorial) Lancashire Fusiliers has sent home an interesting account of his experiences at the Dardanelles, and incidentally describes an adventure which befell Major W J Law, a Portadown officer, who has been identified with the Lancashire Territorials for over ten years. Major Law is a son of Major J Law, Portadown, and brother of Mrs D G Loughrey, Cathedral Schools, Dromore. The 7th Lancashire Fusiliers, in which he is serving, was one of the first Territorial Battalions to volunteer for foreign service, and was ordered to Egypt in August last. The letter referred to contains the following:-
04/09/2016 Lieut Col William John Law 00894
04/09/2016 Lieut Col William John Law From the Belfast Newsletter dated 14th September 1915: Portadown Officer at Dardanelles
01/09/2016 Pte. William James Weir The book ‘Garvagh and Aghadowey Heroes 1914-18’ lists William on page 10.
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