Private John Thomas Prince
John Thomas Prince was born in 1893 in Wigan, Lancashire, the third of eight children of coal miner William Prince and his wife Martha (née Peet). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at 2 Letterewe Street, Pottery, Wigan, with his parents, his six surviving siblings, a grandfather and an uncle, and working as a mule spinner in a cotton mill.
Prince enlisted in the Dragoons of the Line in the early months of 1915 (No.21564). Posted to the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons, he embarked for France in 1916 or the first half of 1917, probably 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 Prince, 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. Prince was issued regimental number 41093.
He probably saw action with the battalion at the Battle of Cambrai in November and December 1917.
Prince was wounded in the first half of 1918, probably in the fighting around Wulverghem and Mount Kemmel from 11 to 18 April.
After the war Prince returned to Wigan, living at 155 Warrington Road, Goose Green. He married Charlotte Houghton in early 1919. He died on 4 July 1923.