261479 Pte. William Henry Maguire British Army 63rd Btn. Machine Gun Corps from:Dublin, Ireland William Maguire was born in Dublin on 4 Aug 1899 and enlisted to join the Royal Irish Rifles on 4th of October 1915 for the duration of the war. He was discharged on the of April 1916 for having lied about his age.
He re-enlisted on 12th of August 1916 with the Royal Dublin Fusiliers under the name John Byrne. He transferred to the Machine Gun Corps on 25th of October 1916 and was wounded in action in France on 17th of May 1918, a shrapnel wound to his left thigh "large enough to put your fist in".
He was transferred to the class 'Z' Army Reserve on 27 Feb 1919 and discharged on 23 Jun 1919 as he was re-enlisted (short service) the next day to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. He was then discharged on 15 Mar 1920 for failing to meet the physical requirements.
He then re-enlisted under yet another name, Joseph Byrne with the Welch Regiment Defence Force on 13 April 1921, only to be discharged for completion of engagement on 6 Jul 1921.
He re-enlisted again, under the name Joseph Byrne, with the Welch Regiment on 1 Mar 1922 and was transferred to the Royal Welch Fusiliers on 6 Mar 1922. He remained there until 16 Jan 1928 (discharged because services were no longer required under Para 636 (XVIII) of the King's Regulations.
He re-enlisted for the final time during World War 2, under the name William Henry Maguire (his real name), on 16 Aug 1944 with the Embodied Territorial Army (Royal Pioneer Corps). He continued to serve until 10 Feb 1954.
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