Private William John Forsythe
William John Forsythe was born on 2 September 1888 at Newtownhamilton, County Armagh, the first of nine children of tailor James Forsythe and his wife Jane (née Taylor). At the time of the 1911 Census he was living at 17 Armagh Street, Newtownhamilton with his parents and seven surviving siblings, and working as a tailor.
Forsythe enlisted in the North Irish Horse with his younger brother James Forsythe between 1 and 5 February 1913 (No.798 – later Corps of Hussars No.71107). He embarked for France with A Squadron on 17 August 1914, seeing action on the retreat from Mons and advance to the Aisne.
A letter at the time from another A Squadron man, Robert Burke, mentions "Isaac Robb & Martin Andrew and Sandy Frazer & one of the Forsythes" all from south Armagh.
A Squadron then served as escort and bodyguard to the BEF's commander-in-chief at St Omer from October 1914 until January 1916, when it was posted as divisional cavalry to the 55th Division. In May 1916 it was combined with D and E Squadrons of the North Irish Horse to form the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment, serving as corps cavalry to VII, XIX, then V Corps until February-March 1918, when the regiment was dismounted and converted to a cyclist unit, serving as corps cyclists to V Corps until the end of the war.
Forsythe remained with the regiment throughout the war, though how much time he spent in France and Belgium with A Squadron and how much at home at the Antrim reserve depot is not known at present. On 13 March 1919 he was demobilised and transferred to Class Z, Army Reserve.
After the war Forsythe returned to Newtownhamilton, serving as a Special Constable from the early 1920s, as did his brother David (see below).
Another brother, David Forsythe, was probably the man of that name who served in the North Irish Horse from mid-1917.
This page last updated 10 October 2023.