North Irish Horse - Gallery - In memoriam

In memoriam

Second Lieutenant George Herbert Farley

George Herbert Farley was born on 21 May 1895 at 44 South Parade, Belfast, son of Inland Revenue officer Thomas Farley and his wife Ellen (nee Lowry).

He was educated at the Perth Academy, Perth, Scotland, where he studied farming, later living in Ayr.

Farley enlisted in the North Irish Horse at Antrim on 27 September 1915 (No.1731). On 18 May 1916 he embarked for France and was posted to D Squadron, which was then joining with A and E Squadrons to form the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment.

On 8 September that year he sought a commission in the Royal Irish Rifles, his application supported by his commanding officer Lord Cole, who wrote that "He is well educated, keen & trustworthy."

Farley left the regiment for home on 24 November 1916, reporting for duty at the No.2 Officer Cadet Battalion, Pembroke College, Cambridge, the following month. He was commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant on 30 May 1917 and posted to the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Soon after he was sent to France, where he was attached to the 8th Battalion in the field on the Ypres front.

On 16 August 1917 the 8th Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers took part in the Battle of Langemarck, part of the Third Ypres offensive. The battalion war diary for the day recorded that of its 29 officers, five were killed, six wounded, two wounded and missing, and two missing.

Farley was one of the dead. Two days before the attack he had written the briefest of wills, which was later found with his kit:

Should I not see the end of this push I leave everything to my mother Mrs Ellie Farley, Benoni, Roy Road, Northwood, Middlesex.

Farley has no known grave, and is commemorated on the Tyne Cot Memorial, Zonnebeke, West-Vlaanderen, Belgium, Panel 70.