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Pte. John Francis Merrigan
British Army Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
from:254 Bishops Street, Derry
John Merrigan, who was a Catholic, served with the Royal Enniskilling Fusiliers and the Royal Irish Regiment. It could well have been the 10th (Service) Battalion (Derry). He enlisted in Derry on 26th August 1915 and his service number was 25845. John left for France on 23rd March 1916 and returned from the war on 15th November 1917. I'm told he was wounded at a battle on 29th, think it was the Battle of Cambrai (not sure of the exact month, it may have been April 1916). There is a date stamp on the section of the form I have which was sent to his parents informing them he had been wounded with a date of 19th May 1916. It also states he was not seriously wounded, I think he may have been gassed as I know he had lost an eye. After he was wounded he was transferred to the Labour Corps, with the service number 109671, where he served until he was discharged from the Army at the end of the war in Nottingham on March 8th 1918.
John Merrigan was serving in France during the First World War when he got the news of his mother's death via a friend who had gone home on leave and returned to France with the sad news.
He was provided with a character reference based on his military career, which states he served with the colours for 2 years and 195 days. He was honest, sober and steady and his disability was due to active service. John was 5' 4" tall and had brown eyes and brown hair when he left the colours in 1918. He received a pension of thirteen shillings and nine pence a week plus ten shillings a week for four children. That's about £1.18 a week, not much in today's money.
