Private Edward James Kilfedder
Edward James Kilfedder (or Kilfeather) was born on 1 April 1898 at Edenamohill, Lack, County Fermanagh, the third of nine children of labourer John Kilfedder and his wife Annie (née Barton). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Edenamohill with his parents and six siblings.
Kilfedder enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 13 December 1916 (No.2331). He trained at the regiment's Antrim reserve depot before embarking for France in the first half of 1917, where he was posted to one of the squadrons of the 1st or 2nd North Irish Horse Regiments.
In August-September 1917 the 2nd NIH Regiment was disbanded and its men, together with some surplus to the needs of the 1st NIH Regiment, were transferred to the Royal Irish Fusiliers, an infantry regiment. Most, including Kilfedder, were transferred on 20 September and were posted to the 9th (Service) Battalion – renamed the 9th (North Irish Horse) Battalion, joining it in the field at Ruyaulcourt five days later. Kilfedder was issued regimental number 41331.
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 and the fighting at Wulverghem in March and April 1918.
Kilfedder was reported as wounded in the War Office Daily Casualty List of 29 September 1918. This probably occurred in July or August on the Ypres front in the weeks leading up to the Advance to Victory offensive. The wound, to his right foot, was serious, and he took no further part in the war.
On 16 July 1919 Kilfedder was discharged, being 'no longer physically fit for military service' (paragraph 392 (xvi), King's Regulations). He was granted a pension due to his wound, his level of disability assessed at 50 per cent as late as January 1923.
After the war he lived at Edenaclogh, Lack, then at nearby Edenaveagh, working as a carpenter. On 6 November 1929 he married Annie Florence Martin in the Magheraculmoney Church of Ireland Parish Church. He later lived in an ex-serviceman's house in Letterboy Road, Drumnarullagh, Kesh, County Fermanagh.
An article in the Belfast Telegraph of October 1934 describes Kilfedder as a 'water bailiff' in Kesh. In 1947 he became a postman. He died on 20 February 1977.
It is probable that Kilfedder's older brother was the William John Kilfedder who served in the war as a gunner in the Tank Corps, and was twice gassed in 1918.
Information on Kilfedder's ex-serviceman's residence courtesy of Nigel Henderson, researcher at History Hub Ulster. Some other information sourced from Nick Metcalfe's Blacker's Boys.