Private Joseph Beggs

 

The background of this man is not clear, other than that he was from Belfast and was born around 1888. On that basis he may have been the Joseph Beggs born on 21 December 1887 at 16 Derg Street, Belfast, the sixth of seven children of bricklayer John Beggs and his wife Lizzie (née Smyth (or Smith)).

Beggs enlisted in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons Service Squadron on 18 November 1914 (No. UD/107). On 6 October 1915 he embarked for France with his squadron, which was then serving as divisional cavalry to the 36th (Ulster) Division.

In June 1916 the Inniskilling squadron joined with C and F Squadrons of the North Irish Horse to form the 2nd North Irish Horse Regiment, serving as corps cavalry to X Corps. In August-September 1917 the Regiment was disbanded and its men, following training at the 36th (Ulster) Division Infantry Base Depot at Harfleur, were transferred to the Royal Irish Fusiliers, an infantry regiment. Most, including Beggs, were transferred on 20 September and posted to the 9th (Service) Battalion – renamed the 9th (North Irish Horse) Battalion – joining it in the field at Ruyaulcourt. Beggs was issued regimental number 41075 and posted to C Company.

On the night of 3 November 1917 C Company mounted a major raid on the German trenches near Havrincourt on the Cambrai front. The battalion war diary for that day states:

At 4.30 p.m. 'C' Coy left Ruyaulcourt and marched up to the line to carry out a raid. The enemy's front line was successfully penetrated, from the Canal ... to about 150 [yards] E of it. The fighting was very severe as the enemy refused to surrender. Our men stayed in the enemy trenches for twenty min. and bayonetted and shot at least forty Germans. We suffered some casualties, mostly from bombs:- 1 officer severely wounded; 1 officer slightly wounded; 1 N.C.O. killed; 3 O.R. missing, believed killed; 13 O.R. wounded; 1 R.E. (N.C.O.) severely wounded.

Beggs was one of the wounded, but was able to rejoin the battalion soon after.

He was wounded in the left thigh during the German spring offensive, probably in the fighting around Wulverghem and Mount Kemmel from 12 to 18 April 1918. Evacuated to England for treatment, on 27 March 1919 he was discharged from the army, being 'no longer physically fit for war service' (paragraph 392 (xvi), King's Regulations).

At some point after the war he was living at 90 Hamilton Road, Bangor.

 

This page last updated 21 March 2023.