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Second Lieutenant John Moore Montgomery was the eldest son of Mr and Mrs Rebecca and James R. Montgomery of 10, De Burgh Terrace, Londonderry. He had a younger brother called Alexander and three sisters by the names of Maria, Norah, and Annie. John was also known as Jack to his friends.

John received his commission during July 1915 while serving with the 12th Battalion of the Inniskilling Fusiliers.[1] He had previously been a serjeant. He was only nineteen years old.

On the 26th of April 1916, Second Lieutenant John Montgomery reported for duty with the 10th Inniskilling Fusiliers and would be their signals officer. They were in the small village of Martinsart[2] and in the trenches at Thiepval Woods[3] where they had relieved the 9th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers the month before and started receiving their first casualties.

The casualties continued into April up until May when they moved to Léalvillers.[4] The battalion remained here until mid-June when they moved back to Forceville and the Thiepval woods area.

On the evening of the 30th of June 1916, the battalion moved forward to take up their positions at Thiepval woods. While walking through Aveluy woods[5] towards the trenches the 10th Inniskillings commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ross Smyth slipped and sprained his leg and was evacuated. A bad omen of things to come.

With the 9th and 11th Inniskilling Fusiliers on their right and 14th Royal Irish Rifles with them they waited in crowded trenches on the 1st of July for the bombardment of the German lines to finish. The men were all issued a portion of rum as they paused before putting their training into place and entering “No man’s land”, playing their part on the day of the “Great attack.”[6]

The battalions got mixed up as they advanced causing some confusement and even worse advancing to quickly. This caused heavy casualties from friendly fire. Within 100 yards of the enemy’s trench, they lay down awaiting the moment to attack. The company bugle calls soon followed announcing their orders to advance again.

All-in-all 764 men left the trenches, only 346 returned. The battalion eventually left the front line on the 2nd of July to regroup and rest, but only until August when they were redeployed at Ploegsteert Woods.[7]

Time passed by while the battalion continued to receive casualties and new recruits, raid German trenches, man trenches, bomb, be bombed and repeat.

On the 6th of September 1916, at R.E. farm[8] John Montgomery was wounded slightly by shrapnel in the hand. Eight other men possibly from the 8th North Staffordshire’s were wounded in this incident also.

John returned to his battalion near the end of September. He was only back a few weeks when on the 4th of October, while with a Lewis machine gun team and during a heavy barrage, they were struck by a mortar.

One man died, one was wounded, and Second Lieutenant Montgomery was visibly shook-up and so was sent to the hospital. Later he would be diagnosed to have severe shell shock. John (Jack) would not return to the 10th Inniskillings, and due to his health not improving he resigned his commission and left the army on the 13th of May 1917. He did though retain the title of Second Lieutenant.

Once home, John with the help of a few other soldiers formed the local arm of an organization called “Comrades of the Great war.[9]” This was an organization put in place to help ex-soldiers readjust to life outside of the army and to help them find employment.

So, life continued in civilian life for John as he recovered from his shell shock. He even appeared in court during January 1918, charged with using illegal fuel in his motorbike.

Coming to the end of October 1918 though, just two years after the incident that made him resign from the army, John came down with the flu. He suffered with this for five days and during the last three he contracted pneumonia. This was too much for him and he succumbed to the illness on the 1st of November 1918.

It is possible though that he may have died from the 1918 outbreak of the Spanish Flu pandemic.[10]

The Spanish flu is rather deceiving as it did not originate in that country of its namesake. Spain though was the first country to openly report on the pandemic due to its neutrality in the war. Therefore, the illness received its name by this association.

The outbreak began around January 1918 and ended at the end of 1920. There were three major outbreaks, each deadlier than the previous. Great efforts were made to suppress the news, but so many people were affected that it became pointless as the flu crept through the armies and into the villages, towns, and cities of Europe. There were no vaccines to protect against this flu virus or the infections, no antiviral drugs to treat it and no antibiotics to treat secondary bacterial infections like pneumonia. The only tools that authorities could implement was the promotion of good personal hygiene, isolation, and quarantine of the ill, along with the closures of public places.

There are several servicemen in the City Cemetery who possibly died of the illness, most of whom were diagnosed with meningitis, flu, or pneumonia. It especially affected young adults.

Lieutenant John Moore Montgomery was awarded the British War and Victory Medals, but for some reason is not listed with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Something I hope to get rectified soon.

Date of Death: 1/11/1918(Aged 22)

Service: 12th and 10th Battalions of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers.

Service Number: N/A

Burial Location: Londonderry (or Derry), City Cemetery


[1] 12th Battalion of the Inniskilling Fusiliers was a reserve battalion, formed during April 1915 and was based in the town of Enniskillen, Ireland.

[2] Martinsart is a small village in northern France.

[3] Thiepval Woods is around 2 miles east of Martinsart.

[4] Léalvillers is an area in France around 7 miles west of Thiepval.

[5] Aveluy Woods is just west of Thiepval woods.

[6] Great attack, later called the Battle of the Somme.

[7] Ploegsteert Woods is in southern Belgium about 60 miles north of Thiepval Woods.

[8] R.E. Farm was the military name given to the Ferme Des Douze Bonniers.

[9] Comrades of the Great War was founded by Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby. It would merge with three other groups in 1921 to become the British Legion.

[10] Spanish Flu: 50 to 100,000,000 deaths.

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