Porter, A (Archibald)

Porter, A (Archibald)

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Sapper Archibald Porter was the brother of Robert, Benjamin, James, John and Elizabeth, and son of Robert and Elizabeth Porter, of 53, Foyle Road, Londonderry. He joined the army on the 4th of February 1915 as a Royal Engineer.

Archibald landed in France on the 5th of October 1915. He was wounded on the 1st of July 1916, during the “Great Offensive” in the Somme area of France and returned home on the 7th. His war was not over yet as he returned to France during November of the same year, remaining there until he fell ill during 1919.

A few days later he would die in Oswestry Military Hospital[1] from pneumonia, influenza, and finally cardiac arrest.

It is possible though that he may have died from the 1918 outbreak of the Spanish Flu pandemic.[2]

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.

Archibald was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the Victory and British War Medal.

Date of Death: 25/02/1919 (Aged 24)

Service: Sapper, Royal Engineers, 149th A.T. Coy.

Service Number: 64202

Burial Location: Londonderry (or Derry), City Cemetery, S. B. 33.


[1] Oswestry Military Hospital is in Shropshire, England.

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

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