Private Robert Campbell
Robert Campbell was born on 2 January 1895 at Dunlargue, Keady, County Armagh, the sixth of eleven children of farmer Nathaniel Campbell and his wife Emily (née Brown). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living at 53 Farnham Street, Belfast, with his parents and seven of his siblings and working as a grocer's van-man.
Campbell enlisted in the North Irish Horse between 28 and 31 May 1915 (No.1639 – later Corps of Hussars No. 71481). He trained at the regiment's Antrim reserve depot before embarking for France sometime between 1916 and 1917, possibly with E Squadron on 11 January 1916.
In May 1916 E Squadron came together with D and A Squadrons to form the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment, serving as corps cavalry to VII, XIX, then V Corps.
The War Office Daily Casualty List of 22 December 1917 reported that Campbell had been wounded, but the exact date and circumstances are not presently known. On 19 December he was admitted to the 2nd General Hospital, having fallen ill. He was discharged to a convalescent depot 21 days later.
In February-March 1918 the 1st NIH Regiment was dismounted and converted to a cyclist unit. This meant a 25 per cent reduction in the regiment's numbers, and it is likely that this was the time that Campbell was transferred to the 10th (Prince of Wales's Own Royal) Hussars.
It appears that Campbell was wounded again, in the leg, while serving with the Hussars.
On 20 July 1920 he was discharged, being 'no longer physically fit for war service' (paragraph 392 (xvi), King's Regulations). He was granted a pension as a result of his leg wound, his level of disability assessed at 50 per cent.
At least one of Campbell's brothers, William, also served in the war. A bombadier in the Royal Field Artillery, he was made a prisoner at the battle of Mons on 24 August 1914. Repatriated in mid-1918, he died of tuberculosis on 9 August that year.
Northern Whig, 12 August 1918