223879 Pte. Samuel Ferris British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Irish Fusiliers from:Newry, N. Ireland Samuel Ferris fought at Battle of the Somme, he had been seconded (unverified) to Canadian Forces to fight at Vimy Ridge. He received a medal for gallantry (might have been mentioned in dispatch).
He was wounded and gassed at Passchendaele and sent home with 'corrupted lungs', according to my uncle and mother.
He found labour difficult and was forced into carpentry in the cabinet trade. Subsequent poverty relegated his family to substandard living conditions. Samuel died of T.B. in 1931; as did his wife and youngest daughter (my Aunt Elizabeth) in 1933. My mother's memory of his passing is that on the night he died, he was delirious and yelling, "They're coming over the top, boys! They're coming over the top."
This brave and loyal soldier's remaining two children were then sent to one of Dr. Bernado's orphanages in England.
Both his children, my mom and my uncle Jim, fortunately made it to a more egalitarian country, Canada, wherein class and parentage mattered less. I mean, what, you blame the orphan for his parents' deaths?
I am nonetheless proud of my Grandfather. He somehow managed to survive the Battle of the Somme and another full year of degradation I can barely comprehend let alone fathom.
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