Rfn
James Agnew
Information about birth
|
Year of birth: 1898 |
|
Place of birth: Ballymacarrett, County Down, Ireland, United Kingdom |
General information
|
Last known residence: 147 Dee street, Belfast, Antrim, Ireland, United Kingdom |
|
Religion: Presbyterian |
Army information
|
Country: Ireland, United Kingdom |
|
Force: British Expeditionary Force |
|
Rank: Rifleman |
|
Service number: 42470 |
|
Enlistment place: Belfast, Antrim, Ireland, United Kingdom |
|
Units: — Royal Irish Rifles, 14th Bn. (Young Citizens) (Last known unit) |
Information about death
|
Date of death: 16/08/1917 |
|
Place of death: Corn Hill, Sint-Juliaan, Belgium |
|
Cause of death: Killed in action (K.I.A.) |
|
Age: 19 |
Memorial
|
Tyne Cot Memorial Panel: 138A |
Distinctions and medals 2
|
British War Medal Medal |
|
Victory Medal Medal |
Points of interest 4
| #1 | Place of birth | ||
| #2 | Last known residence | ||
| #3 | Enlistment place | ||
| #4 | Place of death (approximate) |
My story
James Agnew was born in 1898 in Ballymacarrett, County Down, just east of the Lagan River near Belfast. James still attended school in 1911 and lived in Ballymacarett with his parents, 3 brothers and sister. In Belfast, he enlisted in the army where he was first assigned as a private in the Royal Welch Fusiliers under number 60526. Later he was assigned as a Rifleman to the 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, part of the 109th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division and was given the number 42470. In 1917, the Ulster Division was deployed at the Battle of Passchendaele, specifically in the Battle of Langemarck on 16 August 1917.
The 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, together with the 11th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, attacked from the Capricorn Trench just south of St Julien. The objective was the Langemarck-Zonnebeke road. Before zero hour (04.45), however, the starting positions were heavily shelled by the Germans causing many casualties, especially at battalion headquarters. This was a gloomy harbinger of what was to come. As soon as the attack was launched, things went wrong. The Allied barrage that had preceded the attack had failed to knock out the German defences. Soon the Royal Irish Rifles came under heavy fire, especially from bunkers at Pond Farm and Hindu Cottage. The soggy ground also hampered progress. In a desperate attempt to silence the German strongholds, all resilient men were sent forward. Corn Hill, a 19-metre-high pimple just in front of the starting positions, was captured with great difficulty. The high losses made further advance impossible and the men dug in. For the rest of the day, German artillery shelled the Irish positions and casualties continued to pile up. To make matters worse, all first-aid posts had been knocked out by shellfire and the wounded could not be treated. They had to be carried all the way to the hinterland. The attack was an utter failure. The 14th Royal Irish Rifles entered the battle with 19 officers and 480 men. 41 men and 5 officers died in battle, 4 officers and 216 men were wounded and 1 officer and 65 men were missing.
Rifleman James Agnew, barely 19, was one of many who lost their lives. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, panel 138A, along with a namesake who also fell on 16 August 1917 and served with the 7th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles under number 5037.
The 14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles, together with the 11th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, attacked from the Capricorn Trench just south of St Julien. The objective was the Langemarck-Zonnebeke road. Before zero hour (04.45), however, the starting positions were heavily shelled by the Germans causing many casualties, especially at battalion headquarters. This was a gloomy harbinger of what was to come. As soon as the attack was launched, things went wrong. The Allied barrage that had preceded the attack had failed to knock out the German defences. Soon the Royal Irish Rifles came under heavy fire, especially from bunkers at Pond Farm and Hindu Cottage. The soggy ground also hampered progress. In a desperate attempt to silence the German strongholds, all resilient men were sent forward. Corn Hill, a 19-metre-high pimple just in front of the starting positions, was captured with great difficulty. The high losses made further advance impossible and the men dug in. For the rest of the day, German artillery shelled the Irish positions and casualties continued to pile up. To make matters worse, all first-aid posts had been knocked out by shellfire and the wounded could not be treated. They had to be carried all the way to the hinterland. The attack was an utter failure. The 14th Royal Irish Rifles entered the battle with 19 officers and 480 men. 41 men and 5 officers died in battle, 4 officers and 216 men were wounded and 1 officer and 65 men were missing.
Rifleman James Agnew, barely 19, was one of many who lost their lives. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, panel 138A, along with a namesake who also fell on 16 August 1917 and served with the 7th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles under number 5037.
Connection to other soldiers 1
|
James Agnew
Same name and same date of death. Both served in the same regiment and both appear on panel 138 A of the Tyne Cot Memorial. |
Sources 6
|
14 Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), British Army war diaries 1914-1922, WO 95/2511/1_3). https://nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used |
|
British Army World War I Medal Rolls Index Cards, 1914-1920 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 372). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used |
|
Census Returns of England and Wales, 1911 (The National Archives, Kew (TNA), RG14). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used |
|
McCarthy Chris., Passchendaele. The Day-by-Day Account (London, Unicorn Publishing Group, 2018), 52-55. Sources used |
|
Soldier' Effects Records (National Army Museum, Chelsea (NAM) 1901-60; NAM Accession Number: 1991-02-333). https://www.nam.ac.uk/ Sources used |
|
UK, World War I Service Medal and Awards Rolls, 1914-1920(The National Archives, Kew (TNA), WO 329). https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Sources used |
More information 3
|
Commonwealth War Graves Commission Database https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/845756 |
|
Lives of the First World War (Imperial War Museum) https://livesofthefirstworldwar.iwm.org.uk/lifestory/659418 |
|
Namenlijst (In Flanders Fields Museum) https://namenlijst.org/publicsearch/#/person/_id=13d95fe0-7392-477c-8a3c-08463f95cf35 |