 |
Thomas Shaw | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 1899 Belfast, Ireland |
| Died | 2 March 2002 (aged 102) Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Service/ | Royal Irish Rifles |
| Years of service | 1914; 1916–1919 |
| Battles/wars | World War I |
| Spouse(s) | Nell Shaw (m. 1942) |
Thomas Shaw (June 1899 – 2 March 2002) was the last surviving Irish veteran of World War I. He served in the Royal Irish Rifles regiment of the British Army after joining up in 1916 and fought in battles such as Passchendaele.
Shaw was born in Belfast, Ireland, in June 1899. He first enlisted as a rifleman at 15 in 1914 and went into battle, but was sent home after his brother, a military policeman, met him by chance while in France. In 1916 he joined the 16th battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles and fought in battles such as Messines and Passchendaele. He stayed in Germany as part of the Army of Occupation for six months after the war ended and returned home in April 1919.
During World War II he was in charge of meat rations in Belfast. In 1942, he married his girlfriend Nell.
Shaw and his wife spent his last 12 years living at The Savoy, a sheltered accommodation development in Bangor, County Down. He died on 2 March 2002 at the age of 102 and was buried in Clandeboye cemetery in Bangor. A plaque in honour of Thomas Shaw was put up at the front door of The Savoy on 4 August 2014.
The Royal Welch Fusiliers (Welsh: Ffiwsilwyr Brenhinol Cymreig) was a line infantry regiment of the British Army, and part of the Prince of Wales's Division, that was founded in 1689; shortly after the Glorious Revolution. In 1702, it was designated a fusilier regiment and became the Welch Regiment of Fusiliers; the prefix "Royal" was added in 1713, then confirmed in 1714 when George I named it the Prince of Wales's Own Royal Regiment of Welsh Fusiliers. In 1751, after reforms that standardised the naming and numbering of regiments, it became the 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welsh Fuzileers). In 1881, the final title of the regiment was adopted.
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The King's Regiment (Liverpool) was one of the oldest line infantry regiments of the British Army, having been formed in 1685 and numbered as the 8th (The King's) Regiment of Foot in 1751. Unlike most British Army infantry regiments, which were associated with a county, the King's represented the city of Liverpool, one of only four regiments affiliated to a city in the British Army. After 273 years of continuous existence, the regiment was amalgamated with the Manchester Regiment in 1958 to form the King's Regiment (Liverpool and Manchester), which was later amalgamated with the King's Own Royal Border Regiment and the Queen's Lancashire Regiment to form the present Duke of Lancaster's Regiment (King's, Lancashire and Border).
The Queen's Own Rifles of Canada is a Primary Reserve regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces, based in Toronto. The regiment is part of 4th Canadian Division's 32 Canadian Brigade Group. It is the only reserve regiment in Canada to currently have a parachute role. The regiment consists of the reserve battalion, the Regimental Association, and the Regimental Band and Bugles. The official abbreviation is The QOR of C, but the name is often abbreviated to QOR.
The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was, on 6 June 2006, amalgamated with the Green Howards and the Duke of Wellington's Regiment (West Riding) to form the Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot).
The Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own) was an infantry rifle regiment of the British Army formed in January 1800 as the "Experimental Corps of Riflemen" to provide sharpshooters, scouts, and skirmishers. They were soon renamed the "Rifle Corps". In January 1803, they became an established regular regiment and were titled the 95th Regiment of Foot (Rifles). In 1816, at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, they were again renamed, this time as the "Rifle Brigade".
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The 61st Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the British Army raised for active service in both the First and the Second World Wars.
Sir Charles Norman Lockhart Stronge, 8th Baronet, MC, PC, JP was a senior Ulster Unionist Party politician in Northern Ireland.
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This is an incomplete list of the last surviving European veterans of several wars. The last surviving veteran of any particular war, upon his death, marks the end of a historic era. Exactly who is the last surviving veteran is often an issue of contention, especially with records from wars which happened long ago. The "last man standing" was often very young at the time of enlistment and in many cases had lied about his age to gain entry into the service, which confuses matters further.
During World War I (1914–1918), Ireland was part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which entered the war in August 1914 as one of the Entente Powers, along with France and Russia. In part as an effect of chain ganging, the UK decided due to geopolitical power issues to declare war on the Central Powers, consisting of Germany, Austria-Hungary, the Ottoman Empire, and Bulgaria.
Bright Ernest Williams was, at the time of his death, the last New Zealand veteran of the First World War, out of the 100,444 New Zealanders to fight in that war.
Major General Sir Eric Stanley Girdwood, was a British military officer who served as General Officer Commanding the Northern Ireland District from 1931 to 1935.
The 44th Battalion was an infantry unit of the Australian Army. Originally formed in 1916 for overseas service during World War I, the battalion fought in the trenches along the Western Front in France and Belgium between late 1916 and 1918, before disbanding at the conclusion of hostilities. During the inter-war years, the 44th became part of the part-time Citizens Force, based in Western Australia. During World War II, it undertook garrison duties in Australia but was not deployed overseas to fight. In the post-World War II period the 44th was amalgamated with the 11th Battalion, before being subsumed into the Royal Western Australia Regiment in 1960.
Albert Lewis Stewart, was an Irish rugby union player and decorated British Army officer. He played for North of Ireland Football Club from 1907 to 1914, and made three appearances for the Ireland national rugby union team. During World War I, he served in the Royal Irish Rifles and the Machine Gun Corps. He was killed in action in the Battle of Broodseinde during the Battle of Passchendaele.