Warrant Officer John Colhoun Whiteside
John Colhoun Whiteside was born on 6 July 1881 at 20 Workhouse Row, Londonderry, son of labourer Alexander Whiteside and his wife Mary (nee Colhoun).
On the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War Whiteside volunteered for service, joining the 60th (North Irish Horse) Company, 17th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry (No.11028). He later served in the 118th (Sharpshooters) Company, 25th Battalion. Details of his service in the Anglo-Boer war can be found here.
Whiteside subsequently joined the North of Ireland Imperial Yeomanry, then transferred to its successor the North Irish Horse when it was established on 6 July 1908. Being the eighth to join, he was assigned No.8 on the new regiment's roll (although one record shows his number as 3).
By 1914 he had risen to the rank of squadron sergeant-major. (He was also a section leader of the Londonderry mounted troop of the UVF.) That April he was one of four men of the regiment awarded a Special Reserve Long Service and Good Conduct Medal, the commanding officer Colonel Maude praising him as "a credit to the regiment".
On 17 August 1914 Whiteside embarked for France with A Squadron, seeing action in the retreat from Mons and advance to the Aisne. The Belfast News-Letter of 16 June 1915, in noting his promotion to the rank of Warrant Officer Class 2, reported that:
... he was invalided home towards the end of last year, but after a brief furlough he rejoined his regiment at the Front. Some weeks ago he returned to Antrim, where he is now stationed with the North Irish Horse.
Whiteside was discharged as 'surplus to military requirements, having suffered impairment since entry into the service' (para 392 xvi(a) King's Regulations), on 1 May 1919.
He died on 7 July 1957 and was buried in the Londonderry City Cemetery.
Larne Times, 2 May 1914
Belfast Telegraph, 12 April 1940
The first image shows Whiteside in 1912. The full picture can be seen here.
This page last updated 19 February 2025.