Private James Greene
James Greene in 1930
James Greene was born on 8 September 1888 at Wateresk, Dundrum, County Down, the ninth of eleven children of farmer and labourer Waring Greene and his wife Harriett (née Orr). Both his parents died when he was just five years old. At the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Wateresk with his older brother John and two sisters, and working on the family farm. He also worked with John hauling lumber to Dundrum from Bryansford.
Greene enlisted in the North Irish Horse between 2 and 5 March 1909 (No.302 – later Corps of Hussars No.71017). He embarked for France with A Squadron on 17 August 1914,
According to the stories he told his children, the preparation for embarkation at Dublin "was a real circus". Some of the horses were barely broken-in and the men were flying off them. The trip to France was very stormy with many seasick soldiers.
James always remembered Major Ker, an officer of A Squadron, as down to earth. The Major had said of the squadron: "they were not polished soldiers, but if he wanted something done, they were the ones to do it".
James also recalled Johnny Heenan as the best rider. One horse brought in as a remount was known to buck so long and hard that the saddle would move up its neck. The rest of the riders were quickly dispatched, but only Johnny could stay on until the saddle was on the neck.
A Squadron saw action on the retreat from Mons and advance to the Aisne, before serving as escort and bodyguard to the BEF's commander-in-chief at St Omer from October 1914 until January 1916. It was then posted as divisional cavalry to the 55th Division. In May 1916 the squadron came together with D and E Squadrons 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. It then served as corps cyclists to V Corps until the end of the war.
It is not known whether Greene served with the regiment in France and Belgium until the end of the war, or if at some point he returned to the reserve camp at Antrim. On 11 February 1919 he was demobilised and transferred to Class Z, Army Reserve.
After the war Greene returned to the farm at Wateresk. According to family recollections he came home to a deserted house with the thatched roof caved in, his brother John having died of tuberculosis 1915. The first thing James did was put on a new slate roof. He got the farm back running and continued to supplement his income with hauling.
On 16 September 1925 he married Florence (Flossie) Erwin in Kilmegan Parish Church. The couple were to have four children. While James was successful in expanding the farm, he often suffered from respiratory illness, attribited to his being gassed in France. He died at Wateresk on 18 April 1950 as a result of pneumonia and bronchial pleurisy and was buried in the Kilmegan Church of Ireland Churchyard, County Down.
I am grateful to Diana Annett, grandaughter of Private Greene, for making available this image and some of the above information.
This page last updated 18 September 2023.