Private 241939 William Feeley

Family details:
Son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Feeley, of Stackallen, Navan, Co. Meath.

Census details:
1901 - 6 years old schoolboy William is living at house 6 in Rushwee (Stackalla, Meath) with parents William (50), Julia (45) and four siblings: James (19), Julia (15), Elizabeth (11), Francis (8). Also at the address is grandmother Mary Maguire (72). 1911 - William 15 is living with his parents William 61, Julia 56 and siblings Mary 29, Lizzie 21 and Frank 18 at Rushwee, Stackallen Co Meath Ireland

William's service number is in a range which was being issued throughout December 1915 to January 1916. He attested to the 2nd/5th Bn of the South Lancashire Regiment and remained in the UK with them until mid-February 1917 when the Battalion left England and went to Havre in France. Towards the end of the year, they were based in the region of the Houthulst Forest, north of Ypres. The Battalion War Diary records, "30th December Our artillery carried out a shelling stint for 12 hours. At 8:00 p.m., a raid was carried out on TURENNE CROSSING by "B" and "C" Coys. B Coy took up the Right position and C Coy the Left. Result of raid:- We advanced our line by about 200 yards on the attacked position. 2/Lt BARNETT and 2/Lt Hall were killed and 17 other ranks were killed. 13 other ranks were wounded. One prisoner was captured" William Feely was one of the men killed in the raid. The fortunes of war denied him a marked grave and he is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial. [pic]imgs/sppics/7_SLR_Privates.jpg[/pic][caption]The inscription for Private William Feeley on the Tyne Cot Memorial (Photograph courtesy of Ste M.)[/caption]