Lance Corporal Robert Morrison Campbell
Robert Morrison Campbell was born on 26 May 1896 at Dungiven, County Londonderry, the last of seven children of farmer Robert Morrison Campbell and his wife Mary (née McDonnell). By the time of the 1911 Census he was living as a student boarder in the Coleraine Technical Institution.
Campbell enlisted in the North Irish Horse between and 2 and 6 December 1915 (No.2012). On 27 January 1916 the Belfast News-Letter reported that:
A fine spirit of patriotism has been displayed by the sons of Mr. Robert M. Campbell, a well-known resident of Dungiven. Mr. Campbell's eldest son, John, who for a number of years was in Australia, joined the forces on the outbreak of hostilities, and is now with the Australian Veterinary Corps in Egypt. Mr. McDonnell Campbell, another son, who was in the service of the Northern Bank and was a popular official at Limavady, Coleraine, Larne, and elsewhere, now holds a commission as a lieutenant in the 3rd Lancashire Fusiliers, Mr. Campbell's youngest son, Robert, is a trooper in the North Irish Horse.
Campbell trained at the regiment's Antrim reserve camp before embarking for France in 1916, where he was posted to one of the squadrons of the 1st North Irish Horse Regiment. In October that year, however, he was accidentally injured, sustaining a fractured clavicle. It is probable that he was evacuated to the UK for treatment, returning to the regiment in France following his recovery.
In August-September 1917 the 2nd NIH Regiment was disbanded and its men, together with some surplus to the needs of the 1st NIH Regiment, were transferred to the Royal Irish Fusiliers, an infantry regiment. Most, including Campbell, 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. Campbell was issued regimental number 41473.
No information has been discovered about Campbell's service with the 9th (NIH) Battalion through the latter part of 1917 and during 1918. However on 14 February 1918 the Ballymoney Free Press, reporting on a meeting of the County Derry Agricultural Committee, stated that:
Mr. J. E. Proctor, solicitor, Limavady, forwarded a ... request on behalf of Mr. R. M. Campbell, Dungiven, who wished to have the assistance of his son, Private R. Campbell, Royal Irish Fusiliers, who is presently serving with the British Expeditionary Force. Mr. Proctor stated that Mr. Campbell's three sons volunteered. One of them – Lieutenant McDonald Campbell – was killed in action, and the other two were on active service; whilst his two daughters were at present engaged in war work in Woolwich. Mr. Campbell was left alone to supervise and manage four large holdings; and being a man over 70 years of age, he found it impossible for him to do so, and to comply with the requirements of the Department of Agriculture as to increased cultivation. On the motion of Mr McIldowney, it was agreed to make the necessary recommendation ...
As stated above, Campbell's brothers, Samuel and John, also served during the war. Samuel, commissioned as a second lieutenant and posted to the Lancashire Fusiliers, was killed in action whilst attached to the 86th Trench Mortar Battery on 1 July 1916. John, who enlisted in the 1st Veterinary Corps of the Australian Imperial Force in 1914, was sent home to Australia from Egypt and discharged in 1916, his commanding officer writing: "I am convinced that this man will never be anything but a nuisance, and an inciter to others of undisciplined acts."
Second Lieutenant Samuel Campbell
Image of Samuel Campbell sourced from the Northern Bank War Memorials website.