Second Lieutenant Frederick Rutherford Skillen
Frederick Skillen, a shipping clerk born about 1894, was the eldest son of Joseph and Mary Skillen of Claremont, Ballymena. He joined the North Irish Horse as a Private in early Autumn of 1914 and on 13 November 1914 was granted a commission as transport officer in the 12th (Service) Battalion, King's Liverpool Regiment. He embarked for France on 22 July 1915 and was promoted to Lieutenant on 15 May 1916. On 19 September 1917 he reached the rank of Captain.
This image shows Skillen home during the 1915 Christmas weekend. This and some of the above information was sourced from the Ballymena Observer, 31 December 1915, is kindly made available thanks to Des Blackadder, from his site Ballymena 1914-1918: Carved in stone...but not forgotten.