JOHN HENRY IRISH
1895 – 1917
John was born in March 1895 to Thomas Edmund Irish and Bessie Caunter at Lower Cator, Widecombe in the Moor. John had two elder sisters (Louisa and Ruth) four younger sisters (Bessie, Frances, Thirza and Ethel) and a younger brother Walter. John attended Widecombe school until 1908 when he left to attend Dartmouth Grammar School.
In January 1917, John enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry. He did his basic training with the Chatham Battalion. In July 1917 he was drafted to the British Expeditionary Force on the Western Front joining 1st Battalion Royal Marine Light Infantry.
In October 1917, as part of the Battle of Passchendaele, the Royal Marines were tasked with capturing and holding the village of Paddebeek. It was during this offensive, on 26th October 1917 that John Henry Irish was “killed in action”.
John is commemorated on the Tyne Cot memorial in Flanders, and on the War Memorial Plaque in St Pancras Church in Widecombe.
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