Information about birth

Date of birth:
17/09/1886
Place of birth:
Burnfoot, Donegal, Ireland

General information

Profession:
Grocer's assistant

Army information

Country:
Ireland
Force:
British Expeditionary Force
Rank:
Serjeant
Service number:
7872
Units:
 —  Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 8th Bn.  (Last known unit)

Information about death

Date of death:
16/08/1917
Place of death:
Borry Farm, Zonnebeke, Belgium
Cause of death:
Killed in action (K.I.A.)
Age:
30

Memorial

Tyne Cot Memorial
Panel: 70

Distinctions and medals 3

1914 Star
Medal — 10/07/1918
British War Medal
Medal
Victory Medal
Medal

Points of interest 2

#1 Place of birth
#2 Place of death (approximate)

My story

Joseph Teaz was a 30 year old grocer’s apprentice from Burnfoot, Ireland. Serjeant Teaz was part of the 8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 49th Brigade, 16th (Irish) Division. In August 1917, his battalion took part in the Battle of Langemarck, a sub battle of the Battle of Passchendaele.

The starting point of the Division was east of the hamlet of Wieltje, with the 48th Brigade on the right and the 49th on the left of the front. The 49th Brigade attacked with the 8th Inniskilling on the right and the 7th Inniskilling on the left; the 7/8th Royal Irish Fusiliers were in support.

At 4.45 a.m., zero hour, the battalions moved east towards their objectives. They left just in time, because the German artillery put down a barrage on the jump off line, moments after the attacking battalions had left. Keeping close behind the allied barrage, the 8th and 7th Inniskilling reached their first objective within the hour, and captured the German strongpoint Beck House. The 7th Battalion moved forward to another German strongpoint at Delva Farm, and were able to capture it, before they were targeted by machine gun fire coming from a row of pill boxes in their rear, which they had failed to clear out. The 7th suffered heavy casualties.

The 8th Inniskillings were held up by heavy machine gun fire from the German strongpoint at Borry Farm, which led to a standstill. The attack of the 36th (Ulster) Division, on the left flank of the 16th (Irish) Division, and the advance of the Division on the right were also checked by the Germans. When the Germans launched a counterattack at 8.30 a.m., the Inniskillings, with both flanks in the air, had no other choice than to fight their way back to their original jump off line.

The attack of the 7th and 8th Inniskillings on the 16th of August had been very costly. Both battalions suffered heavy casualties. The losses had been so severe that both battalions could not be recruited up to strength again and the 7th and 8th Innsikillings ceased to exist, as they were amalgamated to the 7th/8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. On the 16th of August, the 8th Inniskillings suffered 384 losses, of which 16 officers. This led to the battalion’s diminishing of almost 80 percent.

Serjeant Joseph Teaz was one of the soldiers who went missing on the 16th of August. His body was never found. Today, he is remembered on Tyne Cot Memorial, panel 70.

Files 1

Sources 6

Ancestry
https://www.ancestry.com
Sources used
CWGC
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/827304/JOSEPH%20TEAZ/
Sources used
Fox, Frank. The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in the First World War: a record of the War as seen by the Royal Inniskilling Regiment of Fusiliers, thirteen Battalions of which served. Londen: Constable & Company, 1928. 99-102.
Sources used
McCarthy, Chris. Passchendaele: the day by day account. Londen: Uniform, 2018. 51-3
Sources used
Naval and Military Archive
http://www.nmarchive.com
Sources used
The Long Long Trail
http://www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-british-infantry-regiments-of-1914-1918/royal-inniskilling-fusiliers/
Sources used