THE FINGLETON FAMILY The story revolves around three brothers James, Thomas and William Fingleton all of whom served in WW1, with Thomas giving his life. The following story serves to remind us of two facts: 1. finding records is not always easy and 2. much still has to be assumed depending on the information located. WILLIAM FINGLETON & HIS WIFE William was a career soldier serving during and after The Great War. JIM FINGLETON Photo right is James Fingleton in 1941. The information is compiled from records supplied by Lynn Russell, granddaughter of James Fingleton. Below is his service history. The following report was supplied from the Machine Gun Corps Research Office following an enquiry from his Granddaughter Lynn Russell: Page 1 of 6
Starting with the Index Card, we are told that he served in three different military units. Quite commonly these are not in strict order. Since no soldier was ever recruited directly into the Machine Gun Corps (it was a specialist unit, and all members were selected for transfer from other regiments), I would suggest that he initially enlisted in the 4th Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles. (No 4/4883). That is a little strange because The Rifles were a Northern Irish regiment - mostly Protestant. It was a Regular Army regiment, and before the war had two main Battalions (1st & 2nd) and a Reserve (3rd). On outbreak of war, a large number of new battalions were formed, running up to No 20. The 4th Battalion was described as the Extra Reserve, and was formed at Newtownards. It's duties were restricted to coastal defence, and in April 1915 it was located at Carrickfergus. Large numbers of its original members were drafted into the 1st & 2nd Battalions, both of which were serving in France, but your grandfather found his way into the Machine Gun Corps - a specialist unit dedicated to the use of the Vickers heavy machine gun. Prior to the war, each army infantry battalion had its own small machine gun section, but after October 1915, these were all taken away from the battalions and formed into dedicated MG Companies, about 180 strong, each having 16 of the heavy guns. One of these Companies became the machine gun element for a Brigade, in which there would be four infantry battalions - each of up to 1,000 men. Your grandfather was allocated a new number - 11389. All MGC numbers were sequential, and I am able to say that this number was first used on 1/1/1916 - ie. that would be the date of his transfer to the Corps. He may then have been sent to the MGC training centre at Belton Park, Grantham, Page 2 of 6
to be taught the skills of machine gunnery - lasting about six weeks, after which he would have been available for posting overseas. He would have been allocated to one of the many new MG Companies then being formed, and sent over to France, via Folkestone, to Boulogne or Le Havre and then up into the line to take up duties there. Alternatively, he may have been posted to one of the other theatres of war - Egypt, Salonika, Mesopotamia - or even to India, on internal security duties. Due to the loss of his documents, we just don't know. I looked at our database of known facts about MGC soldiers and could see that the soldier numbered 11390 also came to the MGC from the Royal Irish Rifles. He was killed in France on 9/8/1916 serving with No 45 Company, but this cannot be taken as an indication that James Fingleton was also with that unit. The only other document to survive, (as far as I am aware) bearing your grandfather's name, is the medal roll which confirms his entitlement to the two standard war medals - the silver British War and the bronze Victory medals. I am attaching an image of the relevant page, which does tell us a little more. After his service with the Machine Gun Corps, it appears that he was later transferred to the Labour Corps. (No578427). The Labour Corps generally consisted of men who were not up to the physical requirements of front line soldiers - quite a few were men in the higher age groups, and also many men whose fitness had fallen below the standard required of an infantry soldier, by reason of sickness or injury. Their duties were related to road and light railway construction, repairing infrastructure, and the like. The fact that James Fingleton was transferred into the Labour Corps makes me fairly sure that he was serving in France (or Flanders) - there was no Labour Corps as such anywhere else. The medal roll also tells us two other things: 1) that he also, later, served as (I think) 107312 in the Royal Fusiliers, and 2) when the roll was prepared in January 1920, he was still serving in the army - in the final column of the page there is no discharge date shown. Very Best Wishes, Graham Sacker Historical Research, MGC/OCA Page 3 of 6
Jim Fingleton is pictured here in the photo posed in the 1960 s (probably 1968 the 50 th Anniversary of the end of WW1 and just past the 21 st anniversary of WW2) containing veterans from both wars. On the left is Jim & Catherine s gravestone. THOMAS FINGLETON RANK Private UNIT Irish Guards, 1st Bn SERVICE NUMBER 3408 AGE AT DEATH 25 DATE OF DEATH 29/12/1914 WHERE ENLISTED Maryborough CAUSE OF DEATH Killed in Action LOCATION France MEDALS or COMMENDATION GRAVESITE or MEMORIAL I. D. 14. Le Touret Military Cemetery, Richebourg-L'Avoue, France HOME INFORMATION Born in Monasterevan. Son of Patrick & Elizabeth Fingleton, 10, Green Street, Roscrea. REFERENCE Tipperary War Dead Page 124 Page 4 of 6
Birth Registration of Thomas Received from his Grand-niece Lynn Russell This shows that he was born in 1890 making him 25 as shown above. His father Patrick was a painter and they lived for a time at Green Street, Roscrea. Lynn assures me that neither William nor Thomas Fingleton ever lived in Roscrea. Left is his gravestone memorial in Le Touret Military Cemetery, Richebourg-L'Avoue, France the inscription has been digitally enhanced to better view details. LE TOURET MILITARY CEMETERY, RICHEBOURG- L'AVOUE Country: Locality: France Pas de Calais Identified Casualties: 908 Location Information From Bethune follow the signs for Armentieres until you are on the D171. Continue on this road through Essars and Le Touret village. Approximately 1 kilometre after Le Touret village and about 5 kilometres before you reach the intersection with the D947, Estaires to La Bassee road, the Cemetery lies on the right hand side of the road. Located at the east end of the cemetery is Le Touret Memorial, which commemorates over 13,000 servicemen who fell in this area before 25 September 1915 and who have no known grave. Historical Information The Cemetery was begun by the Indian Corps (and in particular by the 2nd Leicesters) in November, 1914, and it was used continuously by Field Page 5 of 6
Ambulances and fighting units until March, 1918. It passed into German hands in April, 1918, and after its recapture a few further burials were made in Plot IV in September and October. The grave of one Officer of the London Regiment was brought in in 1925 from a position on the Estaires-La Bassee road near "Port Arthur", and the 264 Portuguese graves of March, 1917 and April, 1919 were removed to Richebourg-L'Avoue Portuguese National Cemetery after the Armistice. There are now over 900, 1914-18 war casualties commemorated in this site. The graves of three men of the King's Liverpool Regiment, which were destroyed by shell fire, are now represented by special headstones. The Cemetery covers an area of 7,036 square metres and is enclosed by a low brick wall. The yellow are show the location of Thomas Fingleton s grave. Page 6 of 6