Private Robert Neil Anderson
Robert Neil Anderson was born on 19 May 1895 at Turnagrove, Castlequarter, County Antrim, the fourth of eleven children of farm labourer James Anderson and his wife Rachel (née McConnell). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at nearby Drumdallagh with his parents and eight siblings, and working as an apprentice shoemaker.
Anderson enlisted in the North Irish Horse at Coleraine on 3 May 1917 (No.2439 – later Corps of Hussars No.71827). While in training at Antrim, however, he fell ill, suffering from asthmatic bronchitis, a condition he had suffered from prior to his enlistment. Admitted to the Belfast Military Hospital on 1 June 1917, he was discharged a fortnight later, but was readmitted on 29 June before being transferred to the Tyrone County Hospital at Omagh.
Following his recovery Anderson returned to duty at Antrim. The condition persisted, however, with attacks every three to four weeks. A medical board found that he was "quite unable for the ordinary duties & life of a soldier. Only fit when well to follow his trade." On 23 April 1918 he was discharged, being 'no longer physically fit for war service' (paragraph 392 (xvi), King's Regulations). His military character was recorded as 'Good. Honest, sober and reliable.' He was not granted a pension, as his illness was not considered to have been caused or aggravated by his military service.
On 26 November 1918 Anderson died of broncho pneumonia at Drumdallagh.
Anderson's brother Samuel Wallace Anderson also served in the war, in the Royal Irish Rifles. He died of wounds in France on 8 June 1917.