Claremen and the First World War Exhibition

Cunningham, William, F., Private, 2nd Bn., Leinster Regiment

Missing in Action on 20th October, 1914, age 29

Exhibits: 1914 Star, British War Medal, Victory Medal, Memorial Scroll, Memorial Plaque.

Private William Cunningham was the son of John and Margaret Cunningham from the Turnpike in Ennis. He was a married, pre-war regular soldier based in Cork with the 2nd Battalion, Leinster Regiment at the outbreak of the war. He arrived at St. Nazaire, France on 12th September, 1914, as part of the 6th Division, British Expeditionary Force.

Private Cunningham went missing in action, presumed killed, in Belgium on 20th October, 1914 and has no known grave. His battalion had been involved in some very heavy fighting in and around Armentieres and an entry in the battalion war diary on the 23rd October 1914 puts his battalion’s casualties from the 18th October 1914 (five days) at 434 of which 155 were killed. The Battle of Armentieres (13th October to 2nd November) was one of several actions in the Ypres sector which became known as the First Battle of Ypres (12th October to 22nd November, 1914). Private Cunningham is remembered on the Ploegsteert Memorial in the Berks Cemetery Extension, Belgium.

Tragically for the Cunningham family, William’s younger brother Lance Sergeant John Cunningham, age 25, 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers was killed in action at Rue-de-Bois on 9th May 1915 during the Battle of Aubers Ridge. He also has no known grave, and is remembered at the Le Touret Memorial

Reference: secondary ref to 2nd bn, Leinster Regiment’s war diary.