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Thomas Henry Boyle cap badgeRifleman Thomas Henry Boyle

15th (Service) Battalion Royal Irish Rifles
Service No: 8538

Thomas Henry Boyle grave

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Click here for a frameable A4 print
Personal details

Family Information

Son of John and Elizabeth Boyle. From the 1901 Irish Census - Address - 56 Carrickbracken, Camlough, Armagh, Ireland - John Boyle aged 46, Elizabeth Boyle aged 45, James Boyle aged 20, Michael Boyle aged 18, Elizabeth Boyle aged 16, Mary Boyle aged 14, Bridget Boyle aged 13, Anne Boyle aged 8, Peter Boyle aged 5, Thomas Boyle aged 4. Thomas' sister Miss Lizzie (Elizabeth) Boyle received his belongings after his death. She was also awarded his Pension.

Born / Resided

St Jude's Cottages, Camlough, Co. Armagh / 151 Main St, Coatbridge.

Died

Killed in Action on the 07/06/1917 on the opening day of the Battle of Messines

Enlisted

Belfast Town Hall 1914

Employed

Labourer at Langloan Chemical Works.

Age

20

Buried / Remembered

Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery (II. C. 3), West Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Cemetery / Memorial Information

The cemetery was begun in December 1914 by four battalions of the 5th Division and was called at first Wulverghem Dressing Station Cemetery. It was used until June 1917, and again in September and October 1918, and at the Armistice it contained 162 graves, the present Plot I. Graves were then brought in from the surrounding battlefields. There are now 1,010 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 352 of the burials are unidentified, but there are special memorials to two casualties believed to be buried among them and to seven others buried elsewhere whose graves were destroyed in the fighting of 1917-18.

Additional Information

The Battalion arrived at Boulogne in October 1915 and were part of the 107th Brigade, 36th (Ulster) Division. Thomas is listed as PRIVATE HENRY BOYLE on the CWGC site and his HEADSTONE and also on other listings except for Census and Bessbrook Memorial and his Pension Records (listed as Thomas Henry). Also see photos for his listing in the Bessbrook District War Dead book kindly sent to me by Christine Tyrrell from Warrenpoint and thanks to her donators too (Thomas' sister Miss Lizzie (Elizabeth) Boyle received Thomas Henry's belongings after his death). He was Killed in Action at the Battle of Messines, 7th – 14th June 1917 : A brilliantly planned and executed attack that resulted in the capture of the Wytschaete-Messines ridge south of Ypres, a feature that had given the British problems since 1914 and which was important to hold for future offensive operations in Flanders. Commenced with one of the heaviest artillery bombardments of the war and the explosion of nineteen enormous and long-prepared underground mines. The 36th (Ulster) Division along with the 16th (Irish) Division captured Wytschaete. SEE PHOTOS x 19 FOR THE 36th (ULSTER) DIVISION JUNE 1917 and PHOTOS x 11 FOR THE BATTALION WAR DIARY JANUARY - JUNE 1917. The War Diary for the 07/06/1917 states : Casualties - 12 Other Ranks Killed, 5 Officers and 86 Other Ranks Wounded. Thomas is also remembered on the Bessbrook War Memorial, Co. Armagh as Thomas Boyle (see photos x 4). He was reburied in Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery (Henry see photos). See photos for Thomas Henry's Medal Index Card, his Army Register of Soldiers Effects, his Service Medal and Award Rolls, his Ireland Casualties of WW1 (Henry), his Grave Registration x 2, Wulverghem-Lindenhoek Road Military Cemetery, the Royal Irish Rifles Cap Badge, Bessbrook War Memorial on Remembrance Sunday 2019, Thomas Henry's Pension Records x 2, his Headstone Report and a dummy tree used as an observation post on Hill 63 by Australian troops during the Battle of Messines.

Photos
Thomas Henry Boyle Medal Index CardThomas Henry Boyle newspaper clippingThomas Henry Boyle newspaper clippingThomas Henry Boyle newspaper clippingThomas Henry Boyle remembered at homeThomas Henry Boyle remembered at homeThomas Henry Boyle remembered at homeThomas Henry Boyle remembered at homeThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photoThomas Henry Boyle additional photo

War Diaries

The battalion War Diary is available on the National Archives website.

Creative Commons License

We have made this information and the images available under a Creative Commons BY-NC license. This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement: © coatbridgeandthegreatwar.com

Comments
I wonder if he is a distant relative of my maternal grandmother Ellen Jane Boyle, as far as I'm aware she is from Bessbrook. Sadly I don't know any family history I wish I had asked more questions when she and Granddad were still with us ♥️
Karen , Birmingham U.K, 06/11/2020 11:40PM
Always remembered by bessbrook and coatbridge
Christine- Tyrrell, Bessbrook, 31/07/2020 9:16AM

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