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Private Matthew Macartney

 

This North Irish Horseman was probably the Matthew Macartney born on 11 February 1891 in Cromkill, near Ballymena, County Antrim, the seventh or eighth of twelve children of farmer Matthew Macartney and his wife Ann (née McWhater (or McWhirter)). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Cromkill with his parents and four of his nine surviving siblings, and working on the family farm.

Macartney enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 23 November 1915 (No.1954).

On 1 November 1916 he married Margaret Jane Hanna in the Glenwherry Presbyterian Church.

Macartney trained at the regiment's reserve camp at Antrim until 30 April 1917, when he and nine other North Irish Horsemen transferred to the Machine Gun Corps (Cavalry) (No.105375.) They embarked for France soon after this.

He remained with the MGC (Cavalry) until the end of the war. On 19 March 1919 he was demobilised and transferred to Class Z, Army Reserve.