In memoriam
Private Charles Richard Woodside
Charles Richard Woodside was born on 18 November 1895 at 18 Carmel Street, Belfast, the first of seven children of handkerchief sample-maker Charles Woodside and his wife Wilhelmina (nee Mackenzie). By 1911 he was living with his family at 50 Shaftesbury Avenue, Belfast, and working as an apprentice in the linen business. They later moved to 97 Ardenlee Avenue.
Woodside enlisted in the North Irish Horse at Antrim between 4 and 6 November 1915 (No.1795 – later Corps of Hussars No.71563). He embarked for France between 1916 and 1918, where he was posted to D Squadron.
D Squadron served as divisional cavalry to the 51st Division until May 1916, when it joined A and E Squadrons to form the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment, serving as corps cavalry to VII, XIX, then V Corps. In February and March 1918 the regiment was dismounted and converted to a cyclist unit, serving as corp cyclists to V Corps until the end of the war.
After seeing action with the regiment during the Advance to Victory offensive, on 1 November 1918 Woodside fell ill and was evacuated for treatment, probably to the No.3 Canadian Casualty Clearing Station at Ytres. The diary for that station on 1 November noted the admission of 126 other ranks sick "Influenza admittances from Awoingt mostly". Another 130 arrived the next day.
Woodside died there of pneumonia on 8 November. He was buried in the Rocquigny-Equancourt Road British Cemetery, Manancourt, Somme, France, grave XIII.B.4. His gravestone inscription reads:
71563 PRIVATE
C. R. WOODSIDE
NORTH IRISH HORSE
8TH NOVEMBER 1918
Gravestone images Copyright © Phillip Tardif with all rights reserved as set out in this Use of Material policy. Newspaper image from the Belfast Evening Telegraph kindly provided by Nigel Henderson, Researcher at History Hub Ulster (www.greatwarbelfastclippings.com).