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Percy Tom IRELAND

Main CPGW Record

Surname: IRELAND

Forename(s): Percy Tom

Place of Birth: Bashall Eaves, Yorkshire

Service No: 134673

Rank: Gunner

Regiment / Corps / Service: Royal Field Artillery

Battalion / Unit: 36th Battery 33rd Brigade

Division: 8th Division

Age: 25

Date of Death: 1918-04-04

Awards: ---

CWGC Grave / Memorial Reference: C. 13.

CWGC Cemetery: BOVES WEST COMMUNAL CEMETERY EXTENSION

CWGC Memorial: ---

Non-CWGC Burial: ---

Local War Memorial: BASHALL EAVES, YORKSHIRE

Additional Information:

Percy Tom Ireland (born 20 May 1893) was the son of James and Mary Ireland, née Knowles. James was born at Bashall Eaves, Yorkshire and Mary at Manchester, Lancashire.

1901 Bashall Eaves, Yorkshire Census: Old Hive - Percy Tom Ireland, aged 7 years, born Bashall Eaves, son of James and Mary Ireland.

1911 Bashall Eaves, Yorkshire Census: Talbot Bridge - Percy Tom Ireland, aged 17 years, born Mytton, Yorkshire, son of James and Mary Ireland.

British Army WW1 Medal Rolls Index Cards: Gnr Percy Ireland, 134673, R.F.A.

British Army WW1 Medal and Award Rolls: Gnr Percy Ireland, 134673, R.F.A. Dead. 4.4.18.

Army Registers of Soldiers' Effects: Gnr Percy Ireland, 134673, 36/33 Bde R.F.A. Date and Place of Death: 4.4.18 in action France. To whom Authorised/Amount Authorised: Father - James. £16 15s. 7d.

Photograph: ‘Clitheroe Advertiser’ (3 May 1918).

Data Source: Local War Memorial

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Entry in West Yorkshire Pioneer Illustrated War Record: ---

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Gunner Percy Tom IRELAND

Gunner Percy Tom IRELAND

Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Royal Field Artillery

Regiment / Corps / Service Badge: Royal Field Artillery

Divisional Sign / Service Insignia: 8th Division

Divisional Sign / Service Insignia: 8th Division

Data from Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 - 1919 Records

Soldiers Died Data for Soldier Records

Surname: IRELAND

Forename(s): Percy

Born: Bashall Eaves, Yorks

Residence:

Enlisted: Clitheroe, Lancs

Number: 134673

Rank: Gunner

Regiment: Royal Horse Artillery & Royal Field Artillery

Battalion:

Decorations:

Died Date: 04/04/18

Died How: Killed in action

Theatre of War: France & Flanders

Notes:

Data from Commonwealth War Graves Commission Records

CWGC Data for Soldier Records

Surname: IRELAND

Forename(s): Percy Tom

Country of Service: United Kingdom

Service Number: 134673

Rank: Gunner

Regiment: Royal Field Artillery

Unit: 36th Bty.

Age: 25

Awards:

Died Date: 04/04/1918

Additional Information: Son of James and Mary Ireland, of Talbot Bridge, Bashall Eaves, Clitheroe, Lancs. (CWGC Headstone Personal Inscription: THY WILL BE DONE)

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View Additional Text For Soldier Records

‘Clitheroe Advertiser’ (12 April 1918)

(Kindly supplied by Shirley Penman of Clitheroe and Dorothy Falshaw of Gisburn)

BASHALL EAVES ARTILLERY-MAN KILLED

Mr. and Mrs. Ireland, Talbot Bridge, Bashall Eaves, were plunged into grief, yesterday, by the receipt of a letter from an Army Chaplain announcing that he had buried their son, a gunner in the R.F.A., on the 4th inst. He intimated that the family would doubtless have received word from the officer, and stated that deceased was very popular with his comrades, many of whom were present at the interment.

The letter in question had not been received yesterday. It concerns Gunner Percy Ireland, R.F.A., the second son, who was in his 25th year, and joined the Army on April 6th, 1916. He was well-known and held in high esteem in the Bashall Eaves district where he formerly managed the farm at the Red Pump Hotel, for his aunt, Mrs. Porter.

‘Clitheroe Advertiser’ (3 May 1918)

(Kindly supplied by Shirley Penman of Clitheroe and Dorothy Falshaw of Gisburn)

LATE GUNNER P. IRELAND

HOW HE MET HIS DEATH

During the past week, letters have been received by Mr. and Mrs. Ireland, Talbot Bridge, respecting their son, Percy, whose death in action, was recorded a fortnight ago. One of the communications was from the Officer Commanding the Battery with which deceased served, and was to the following effect:–

“I am very sorry that no letter has reached you from the Battery telling you of your son’s death, but you will understand that at that time, and for sometime afterwards, none of us really had any chance of writing. Your son was very unfortunate, because at the time of his death he was acting as storeman to the Quartermaster-Sergeant, and was billetted in a village some miles behind the firing line. In the early morning of April the 3rd, or 4th, the enemy shelled the village with a long-range gun and a shell fell in the billet, killing Staff-Sergeant Wheeler Scott and your son, and wounding the Quartermaster-Sergeant. It may be some consolation to you to know that your son was killed instantaneously, and can have felt no pain. I was up with the guns at the time, and when we heard up there, late in the day, what had happened, everyone was very much upset. Your son was much respected by everyone, and you may have heard from him what a faithful member of the battery Sergt. Scott was: and it cast a gloom over all of us to have lost two such good men at once, especially when we had believed them to be quite safe. But I am sure your greatest consolation must be in the thought that your son did his duty to his country at a time when it needed him and all of us so badly, and you will feel that he has died for so great a cause that death is robbed of its terrors.”

One of Gunner Ireland’s comrades has also written from a London hospital where he is lying suffering from wounds caused by the same shell that killed Percy on the 4th April. He says:– “ There were four of us together, and I was talking to Percy when a big shell burst above us. So far as I know, it killed all except myself. I was blind and out of my senses for some little time, but as soon as I could speak, I asked for your son, and they told me he was missing. I thought he might have escaped, after all, but I understand now why they did not tell me the truth. Knowing we were such good chums, they thought it would upset me as, indeed, it would have done. We used to sleep together and share all dangers, so I had learned to love him. Of one thing I am certain, he met a glorious death. This ought to be some consolation and cheer you in your sorrow. He was liked by every member of the battery, and it is a heavy blow to me.”

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Additional Photo(s) For Soldier Records

Gunner Percy Tom Ireland

Gunner Percy Tom Ireland

Courtesy of Peter and Gregory Rodwell

The family of James and Mary Ireland, née Knowles

The family of James and Mary Ireland, née Knowles

Percy Tom Ireland is standing at the back (far left). The names of the other children in order of age are: John Knowles, Elizabeth Ann, Susannah, Ellen, Frederick James, Mary and Frank Ireland

Courtesy of Susan Hargreaves

Mary Ireland, née Knowles, the mother of Gunner Percy Tom Ireland

Mary Ireland, née Knowles, the mother of Gunner Percy Tom Ireland

Courtesy of Susan Hargreaves

James Ireland, the father of Gunner Percy Tom Ireland

James Ireland, the father of Gunner Percy Tom Ireland

Courtesy of Susan Hargreaves

All Hallows Churchyard, Great Mitton, Yorkshire

All Hallows Churchyard, Great Mitton, Yorkshire

Family gravestone

All Hallows Churchyard, Great Mitton, Yorkshire

All Hallows Churchyard, Great Mitton, Yorkshire

Family gravestone - detail of memorial inscription

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