Private Henry Benjamin Bryan
Henry Benjamin Bryan was born on 13 September 1893 in Reading, Berkshire, the last of seven children of groom and stableman George Bryan and his wife Elizabeth (née Mitchell).
Bryan enlisted in the 2nd Life Guards, a cavalry regiment, on 18 June 1909 (No.3331). He was just 15 years old. He embarked for France with his regiment on 8 October 1914, later returning to England, perhaps wounded or ill, where he was posted to the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons.
Bryan re-embarked for France at the end of June 1916, having been posted to the headquarters establishment of the 2nd North Irish Horse Regiment following the formation of that regiment in France from C and F Squadrons and the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons Service Squadron. The headquarters, formed in England and comprising 40 officers and men, joined the new regiment in France at the beginning of July.
The 2nd North Irish Horse Regiment served as corps cavalry to X Corps until August-September 1917, when the regiment was disbanded and its men were transferred to the Royal Irish Fusiliers, an infantry regiment. Most, including Bryan, 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 five days later. Bryan was issued regimental number 41471.
He probably saw action with the battalion at the Battle of Cambrai in November and December 1917, and perhaps also during the retreat from St Quentin from 21 to 28 March 1918.
Bryan was wounded soon after, probably in the fighting around Wulverghem and Mount Kemmel in April 1918. On 12 December 1918 he was discharged due to his wounds, being 'no longer physically fit for war service' (paragraph 392 (xvi), King's Regulations).
After the war Bryan returned to Reading where in 1919 he married Annie Slade. The 1939 Register shows them living with their children at 59 Orchard Street, Henry working as a coal waggon tipper in a gas works. He died in Reading in 1965.