Private John James Rutledge
John James Rutledge was born on 15 January 1891 at Castlegore, Castlederg, County Tyrone, the third or fourth of seven children of farmer George Rutledge and his wife Margaret (nee Colhoun). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Castlegore with his parents and five surviving siblings.
Rutledge enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 10 January 1913 (No.778 – later Corps of Hussars No.71102). He embarked for France with A Squadron on 17 August 1914, seeing action on the retreat from Mons and advance to the Aisne.
Rutledge remained with the regiment throughout the war, though how much time he spent in France and Belgium and how much at the Antrim depot is not known at present. On 12 March 1919 he was discharged as 'surplus to military requirements, having suffered impairment since entry into the service' (paragraph 392 xvi(a), King's Regulations).
After the war Rutledge returned to farming at Castlegore. He died at the Tyrone and Fermanagh Hospital, Omagh, on 11 December 1962.