Returned emigrant from Australia signs up to the South Irish Horse Cavalry
Studio portrait of John Henry Corrigan ; Photo of Alfred Corrigan ; Fermoy, Ireland 1913 photo of John Henry Corrigan with soldiers ; Medals
My grandfather John Henry Corrigan was born in 1890 in Rathvilly, Co. Carlow, Ireland. He immigrated to Australia but returned to settle in Carlow. I am not sure when or why he signed up. There is a photo (dated 1913) of him with a troop of soldiers in Fermoy Co Cork. He served with the South Irish Horse until 1918 and saw action in Belgium or France. He rarely spoke of his experiences in the War. However I do remember one recollection. His regiment saw fierce fighting with continuous shelling for ten days with barely any sleep.
He was awarded three medals (Pip, Squeak and Wilfred);
The 1914-15 Star. The reverse has his service number, rank, name and unit;
The British War Medal, 1914-18. His service number, rank, name and unit are impressed on the rim;
The Allied Victory Medal. His service number, rank, name and unit are impressed on the rim;
After the War he returned to Carlow and worked as a farmer for the rest of his life. He had good health and died aged 72.
His brother Alfred Corrigan also joined the South Irish Horse. He died on 19th June 1917. He was 22 years old.
CONTRIBUTOR
Ivan Corrigan
DATE
/
LANGUAGE
eng
ITEMS
1
INSTITUTION
Europeana 1914-1918
PROGRESS
METADATA
Discover Similar Stories
From Ireland to Australia to Gallipoli: John Hannigan
1 Item
Three medals; Photograph; Camp Chronicles; Copy of a letter || My granduncle John Hannigan was from Waterford,Ireland. He moved to Australia, where he joined the Army during the WWI, he was part of the C Company 16th Battalion of Western Australia. He fought in Gallipoli, where he died on 12th December 1916. According to medical records he was shot in the chest, but a letter for his sitter, Minnie, he claimed to have been hit by a shell burst. He was buried and his fellow soldiers laid a wreath on his grave bearing the inscription In memory of the bravest and best of the battalion.
Items of kit | sweetheart pin and photographs of Thomas Holligan | blacksmith with the South Irish Horse Regiment
5 Items
Photograph of Thomas Holligan, blacksmith with the South Irish Horse Regiment || || Memorabilia || Sweetheart pin with the emblem of the South Irish Horse Regiment.
Pinkerton: Antrim to Australia to France
6 Items
My grandmother's cousins, whose father had emigrated to Australia, enlisted almost as soon as war broke out. Alfred Lionel Pinkerton was in the British Special Reserve Artillery as a second lieutenant; he later joined the Royal Flying Corps/ Royal Air Force, and was shot down over Germany. He escaped from prison, got back to England and went back into conflict. He was shot down again, and stayed in a prison camp until the end of the war. On his way back to Australia, he took part in a horse race in Shanghai, was thrown from his horse and was paralysed down one side. He returned to Australia, but died in 1923. His brother Archy Norman Pinkerton joined the Australian Army Service Corps on 20 August 1914, and served in France, and was apparently at Gallipoli. He survived the war, and died in Australia in 1949. It's possible that they visited their father's family near Ballymoney, co. Antrim; certainly the two brothers somehow got a Christmas card printed with the badges of the two units in which they were serving, and sent it to my grandmother's family for Christmas 1916. It has the words France 1916 Germany 1916, possibly indicating Alfred's escape from Germany in October that same year || Photograph of Alfred Lionel Pinkerton in RAF uniform Christmas card and envelope specially printed for the two brothers Alfred and Archy Pinkerton Xerox of genealogical information Offprint of a newspaper with information about Alfred Lionel Pinkerton's fate in Germany || || Gallipoli Front || Aerial Warfare || || Specially printed Christmas cards with badges in gold ink of two units, Australian Service Corps and RAF. || Christmas card || Postcard || Christmas || || Postcard || Address of recipient of Christmas card || Address side of envelope || Front || || Other || Aerial Warfare || Gallipoli Front || Information from official records about army career of Archy Pinkerton || information from official website || || Genealogical information || Other || information from family history and records || Dublin