Private Cecil Kenny Brewer
Cecil Kenny Brewer was born on 29 June 1896 in West Derby, Lancashire, the first of five children of musician and soldier Frank Allen Brewer and his wife Mary (Minnie) (née Kenney). At the time of the 1911 Census he was living at 169 McClure Street, Belfast, with his parents and three siblings (another would be born three years later). He was working as an apprentice in the linen trade.
Brewer enlisted in the North Irish Horse at Belfast on 24 April 1913 (No.837), aged 16. Joining-up with him wwere his father, Frank Allen Brewer, who was aged 45, but claimed to be just 29, and his brother Reginald Kenny Brewer, just 13 years old.
Cecil embarked for France with C Squadron on 20 August 1914, seeing action on the retreat from Mons and advance to the Aisne.
C Squadron served as corps headquarters cavalry until April 1915, when it was attached as divisional cavalry to the 3rd Division. In June 1916 it joined with F Squadron and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons Service Squadron to form the 2nd North Irish Horse Regiment. In September 1917 the regiment was dismounted and most of its men were transferred to the 9th (Service) Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers – renamed the 9th (North Irish Horse) Battalion. Like most of the men, Brewer was transferred to the battalion on 20 September. He was issued a new regimental number – 41272 – 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.
Brewer was one of the wounded. He was evacuated to the UK for treatment. On 19 December 1917 the Belfast Evening Telegraph reported that:
Mr. F. A. Brewer, 21 Chambers Street, Belfast, has received information that his son, Pte. Cecil Brewer, North Irish Horse, has been severely wounded, and is now in hospital in Cardiff. He has another younger brother serving with the same regiment.
Whether he saw any further active service in the war is unknown, though it seems unlikely.
On 6 August 1923 he married Annie Davey in Belfast. The couple had one child.
Brewer died at his home, 5 Ormiston Crescent, Belfast, on 10 January 1939, aged 42. He was buried in the Dundonald Cemetery.
The Belfast News-Letter published the following obituary:
Mr. Cecil K. Brewer, whose death occurred at his residence, Ormiston Crescent, Belfast, on Tuesday after a prolonged illness, was for many years a member of the Belfast City Surveyor's staff and subsequently of the City Chamberlain's staff. He retired about four years ago through ill-health. Mr. Brewer was a member of the North Irish Horse, and served with that unit in the British Expeditionary Force at the beginning of the Great War. He was wounded and gassed and suffered from the effects of his experiences long after his return to civil life. He was a member of the Old Contemptibles' Association; of Cliftonville Masonic Lodge and the R.A.C. 424. He is survived by his wife and one daughter.
Image, from Belfast Evening Telegraph, kindly provided by Nigel Henderson, Researcher at History Hub Ulster.
This page last updated 27 December 2023.