2739 Private Moses Neill
Bugler Moses Neill in India
Moses Neill—known as ‘Mosey’—was the older brother of my great-grandfather William Neill. He served with The Royal Irish Rifles from 1890 for 12 years, including during the South African War, and a further two years with the Royal Garrison Regiment. Continue reading
My great-grandfather William Neill was the influence behind my exploration of the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers that led to Blacker’s Boys. Since writing the book I have discovered other relatives who served during the First World War, and some who served during the Boer War and the Second World War. Each has a very different story (those without a link are yet to be written): Continue reading
The letters written by Lieutenant Colonel Blacker in July 1916 have now been published and you can read them all on the project’s website. The 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers took part in the attack on 1 July and suffered grievously; the letters that follow are tragically sad. By the end of the month the Battalion is back in the line, much reduced but reinforced by men from the 10th (Reserve) Battalion. It has moved north, to a sector near Messines, south of Ypres, where it will remain until the summer of 1917.
The area over which the Battalion attacked on 1 July 1916.
The biographies of the six men buried in Rhode Island are now complete; two were American, two were British, one was Canadian and the nationality of one cannot be confirmed. One case is rather unusual: the ashes of Second Lieutenant Evanda Berkeley Garnett were repatriated to the United States from England over 40 years after his death in a flying accident.
Second Lieutenant Evanda Berkeley Garnett
Like many families from Ireland we had relatives who took part in the attack on 1 July 1916. Luckily, my great-grandfather Sergeant William Neill, the Transport Sergeant of the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers, did not ‘go over the top’ that morning and survived the attack. Less fortunate was his nephew—my first cousin, twice removed—Lance Corporal Thomas Bunting. He was serving in 8 Platoon, ‘B’ Company, 9th Royal Irish Rifles in 107th Brigade and was reported as wounded and missing in that battalion’s follow-up to the main attack by 36th (Ulster) Division. He was 19 years old.
His family did not know his fate for many months. About a month after he was declared missing his father wrote to the Red Cross hoping that he was a prisoner of war. On 25 August 1916 the Red Cross replied—there was no record of him. Sometime in mid-1917 Thomas Bunting’s family were informed that his death was presumed to have occurred on or after 1/2 July 1916. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. He is also commemorated on the memorial at Dollingstown in County Down.
Lance Corporal Thomas Bunting, 8 Platoon, ‘B’ Company, 9th (Service) Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles (West Belfast), killed in action 1 July 1916. Commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.
Read more about my family in the First World War.
The BBC’s Voices 16 tells ‘the story of a tumultuous year in the history of Ireland through the eyes of the people who lived it‘. I am very pleased that this super BBC project now includes excerpts from my project Blacker’s Letters.
The letters written by Lieutenant Colonel Blacker in April 1916 have now been published. The Battalion is now established in the line at Hamel engaged in the routine of trench life. This month’s letters also reveal some of Blacker’s thoughts on the Easter Rising.
The letters from April can be found by clicking on the linked image below:
Sergeant William Neill DCM
The letters written by Lieutenant Colonel Blacker throughout January 1916 have now been published. This was the last month before the Battalion entered the line at Hamel, north of the River Ancre, where it would remain until after the attack on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.
The letters from January can be found by clicking on the linked image below:
Blacker’s Letters
This quote is taken from a report by the Seamen’s Institute about their cemetery plot in The Evergreens Cemetery, Brooklyn. Buried there are nine men commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. There are four other casualties of the First World War buried elsewhere in that cemetery. All of their stories are now complete and you can read them by following the links on this piece about the cemetery that appears on The Sacrifice Blog. ‘A Stranger in a Strange Land‘
The Seamen’s Church Institute Plot, The Evergreens Cemetery, Brooklyn
The letters written by Lieutenant Colonel S W W Blacker in November 1915 have now been published; you can read them all in chronological order at the link below. The A-Z of personalities has been amended to include those who will appear in December’s letters.
Blacker’s Letters