Sergeant George Sloan
The background of this North Irish Horseman is not known for certain. It is probable that he was the George Sloan born on 11 December 1890 at Ballygrooby, Randalstown, County Antrim, the sixth of eight children of power loom tenter Samuel Sloan and his wife Mary Jane (nee McConaghey).
Sloan enlisted in the North Irish Horse on 8 or 9 September 1914 (No.1177 - later Corps of Hussars No.71267).
In the first half of 1915 he embarked for England with F Squadron, where they awaited orders for France. On 12 July, however, Sloan was one of about two dozen men of the squadron who volunteered for service as Military Mounted Police with the 54th (East Anglian) Division, which was under orders to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. They sailed from Devonport on HMT Manitou on 29 July 1915, joining the landing at Suvla Bay between 10 and 16 August.
At the end of the year the campaign at Gallipoli was abandoned, the men of the North Irish Horse leaving in December. They arrived in Egypt the following month, where a number of them, including Sloan, remained for the duration of the war.
Sloan continued with the Military Mounted Police. He formally transferred to that regiment in June 1918 (No. P/14885) – with effect from 30 August 1917.
After the war Sloan worked as a flax buyer in Randalstown. He died at his mother's residence in Main Street on 27 July 1923.