Private Samuel Wilson
The background of this North Irish Horseman is not known at present (but see below).
Samuel Wilson enlisted in the North Irish Horse at some point following the declaration of war in August 1914 (regimental number unknown). He trained at the regiment's Antrim reserve camp until November 1916, when he and around 100 other North Irish Horsemen volunteered to transfer to the Royal Irish Rifles. The formal transfer took place on 7 December (Wilson was issued regimental number 40930), and on that day the men embarked for France. There they were posted to the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, joining it on the Somme front on 12 December.
On 31 January 1918 he transferred to the Army Service Corps (No. M/354562), serving in that regiment until the end of the war.
It is possible that this man was the Samuel Alexander Wilson, driver in the Army Service Corps, who married Agnes McBride in St Patrick's Church of Ireland Parish Church, Jordanstown, on 3 August 1918. This man was born on 17 August 1892 at Lurgantarry, County Armagh, the fourth of eight children of labourer (later railways inspector) George Wilson and his wife Annie (née Molloy). The Belfast Directories from 1932 to 1951 show him living at 34 Combermere Street, Belfast, and working as a plater's helper. He died there on 5 April 1954 and was buried in the Dundonald Cemetery.