Claremen and the First World War Exhibition

Walsh, John, Major, 22nd Bn, Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment)

Killed in Action: 19th February, 1917, age 34.

Exhibits: Letter from the King, Memorial Plaque, Photo, and a poem dedicated to Major Walsh written by one of his brother officers.

Major John Walsh was born of Caherogan, Miltown Malbay, County Clare, the son of the principal of Dunsallagh National School, which was in existence from 1885 to 1975. Walsh was civil servant in London when he joined the 22nd (Service) Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, formed by the Mayor of the Borough of Kensington at White City on 11th September, 1914. This service battalion was made up of office workers, bank officials and other professionals that answered Kitchener’s call to form Pals battalions at the start of the war.

Major John Walsh, who had been mentioned in dispatches before he was killed in action on 19th February, 1917, is buried at Ovillers Military Cemetery where he is commemorated by a special memorial. Major John Walsh is not listed in Mc Carthy’s list of Clare fatalities in Ireland’s Banner County: Clare from the fall of Parnell to the Great War 1890-1918.

References: McCarthy, D., (2002), Ireland’s Banner County: Clare from the fall of Parnell to the Great War 1890-1918, Saipan Press, Ennis