Private Percy Taggart
Percy Taggart was born on 7 July 1898 at Islandmore, Portrush, County Londonderry, the seventh of eight children of stonemason Jackson Taggart and his wife Annie (née Cox). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at Dundooan, Ballylagan, County Londonderry, with his parents, three of his six surviving siblings, and a nephew.
Taggart enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 26 July 1917 (regimental number between 2602 and 2637).
While in training at the regiment's Antrim reserve depot, Taggart fell ill, and as a result, in the first half of 1918 he was transferred to the Labour Corps (No.591480). He served in that regiment, in Ireland, for the remainder of the war.
On 11 May 1919 he was discharged, being 'no longer physically fit for war service' (paragraph 392 (xvi), King's Regulations). Later that year he was awarded a pension due to 'DAH' (disordered action of the heart), which was attributed to his military service.
Taggart died on 1 March 1939 and was buried in the Ballywillan Cemetery, Portrush.
Taggart's three brothers also served in the war: Henry Lyle, a gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery, and Robert, a sergeant in the Royal Irish Rifles, were both wounded. William, a sergeant in the Royal Engineers, was awarded a Distinguished Conduct Medal for his coolness under fire while leading a party bridging a canal on the Arras-Cambrai Road on 27 September 1918.