Poppy In memoriam Poppy

Rifleman Thomas McCready Henderson

 

 

Thomas McCready Henderson was born on 23 June 1887 at Killynumber, Magherafelt, County Londonderry, the ninth of ten children of farmer George Henderson and his wife Margaret (nee Henderson). His father died when Thomas was just 13 and six years later his mother remarried, to Robert McKee, a farmer and publican of Tobermore.

Henderson enlisted in the North Irish Horse at Antrim between 6 and 14 January 1916 (No.2075).

In November 1916, together with around 100 other North Irish Horsemen, Henderson transferred to the Royal Irish Rifles (No.40874). They embarked for France on 7 December where they joined the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, on the Somme front.

Henderson was reported as having been wounded in the War Office Daily Casualty List of 23 May 1918, though the date and circumstances are not known at present.

On 5/6 September 1918 the 1st Battalion moved into the line on the Ypres front in the La Plus Douve Farm sector. 107 Brigade made a successful assault on the German positions at this time and the 1st Battalion lost seven other ranks killed and 35 wounded. Rifleman Henderson was one of those who lost his life – on 7 September. He was buried in the Kandahar Farm Cemetery, Heuvelland, West-Vlanderen, Belgium, grave I.A.11. His gravestone inscription reads:

40874 RIFLEMAN
T. N. HENDERSON
ROYAL IRISH RIFLES
7TH SEPTEMBER 1918

He is also commemorated on the Tobermore Presbyterian Church Roll of Honour, and the Tobermore War Memorial (see images below).

 

 

 

 

 

Notes: Henderson's North Irish Horse number shown above may be incorrect, as some records show this number against another man.
The error in Henderson's initial on the gravestone inscription will be corrected by the CWGC when it is next due for replacement.

 

Cemetery images Copyright © Phillip Tardif with all rights reserved as set out in this Use of Material policy. Tobermore memorial images sourced from the Friends of the Somme: Mid-Ulster Branch Magherafelt's War Dead page.

 

This page last updated 12 December 2023.