223630 Sgt. William Jamison MM.British Army 1st Battallion Royal Inniskilling Fusilliers from:Belfast My grandfather was born in 1885 in Belfast. In 1903, at the age of 19 he enlisted in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He served in Crete, Malta, China and India (where my mother was born) prior to the outbreak of the Great War.
The 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusilliers landed on X Beach, Hellas Point, Gallipoli on 25th of April 1915. They were engaged in immediate and almost continuous battle (Krithia (3), Gully Ravine, Krithia Vineyard and Scimitar Hill) and suffered heavy casualties over the eight months of the campaign. The survivors were evacuated to Egypt on 9 January, 1916.
On 18th of March, 1916 the Battalion was deployed to France. They landed in Marseilles and marched north to the Western Front. On 1st July, 1916, they engaged in the First Battle of the Somme near Albert. They went over the top at 0730 near Y Ravine with the objective of taking the rail station at the nearby village of Beaumont Hamel. On that day, the 1st Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were one of only a few units to reach their objective. They were forced to retreat however, when the second wave of troops, who were to support them, were decimated on the field.
I do not know if my grandfather was wounded on the first day of the Somme or subsequently. He was evacuated to England on 7th of August, 1916 and was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field as announced in the London Gazette on 10th of November, 1916. Sergeant William Jamison was ultimately discharged on 9 September 1918 as "no longer fit for war service." His war wounds were a contributing factor in his death, at the age of 48.
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