Henry Casey Royal Irish Rifles?

[edwardus]

Hello

I am trying to trace the wartime service of my great uncle, Henry Benjamin Casey. We have one photo of him in uniform - please see below. I think the cap badge may be Royal Irish Rifles - his brother was also an officer with the RIR and the photos of his cap match that of Henry very well, the light reflects in the same way etc. The photo does say 'Uncle Harry - killed' on the back.

I have been unable to find any records for Henry at all, either at the National Archives, the London Gazette or on ancestry.co.uk. There is a medal card for a Henry Casey in the RIR, but he is a private and I'm pretty sure my Henry was an officer - the medal card in question makes no mention of promotion. I can also find no casualty records at the CWGC etc.

It is possible that he served with the Canadian forces - we think he may have emigrated to Canada in 1903, but that has yet to be proven conclusively.

Anyhow, any help gratefully received, I am no expert on WW1 uniforms so if anyone can spot anything in the photo that might help it would be wonderfui.

Thanks very much - Ed

[ss002d6252]

Have you any further info on him ? , even a family legend may help identify him.

[ss002d6252]

The photo does say 'Uncle Harry - killed' on the back.

No man with that name on the CEF war dead list.

[sotonmate]

ED

Both of the two Henrys in the Irish Regiments on the Medal Cards saw out their service,one (RIRif)was shown as to Class Z reserve and the other (RIFus) to discharge on 5.3.1919.

The one Harry Casey on War Graves was a Pte in the West Yorks who was killed aged 32 on 14.5.1918,his parents came from Cambridge and he was born at Everden.

Sapper H P CASEY was the only Canadian who died (of wounds) at Etaples on 29.11.1918

The question,was he young enough to have served in WW2 and been killed there ?

Sotonmate

[edwardus]

Hello

Thanks for the replies.

Nothing military to be honest - I have traced him on the censuses up to 1901 definitely, he was born in 1876 in Walton-On-Thames in Surrey. His younger brother Edward definitely emigrated to Canada in 1911 and there is a family rumour that one of his brothers went too. Henry is the best bet - the other two, Frank and Charles John both have well documented WW1 careers with the British Army. There is a possible mention of him on the 1906 Canadian census in the same town in Saskatchewan (Battleford) that his brother Edward moved to, but no mention on the 1916 census. There is also of course the 'killed' written on the back of the photo which would appear quite definite.

So from 1901 onwards the attached photo is literally all the proven evidence we have of him. I am surprised, because if he was killed in the war then there is no roll of honour that I can find mentioning him - his brother Frank who we know was killed is in De Ruvigny's. I also can't find any form of death certificate for him which I find rather odd too.

Anyhow, thanks for your help!

[sotonmate]

Ed

So our replies crossed ! I now know he was too old for WW2 !

It is still possible that H,even if he did go to Canada,could have come home to join up for the hostilities,I have seen this in a few places before now,where men have returned to their local area to do their bit with old friends.

Sotonmate

[edwardus]

Ed

So our replies crossed ! I now know he was too old for WW2 !

It is still possible that H,even if he did go to Canada,could have come home to join up for the hostilities,I have seen this in a few places before now,where men have returned to their local area to do their bit with old friends.

Sotonmate

They did!

Thanks - I was thinking along the lines of him coming home to enlist as you say but have still failed to come up with an officer who fits the bill, nor as you pointed out above, in the other ranks either, of any age! Very mysterious, particularly the lack of a death certificate.

I wonder whether his uniform can tell me anything apart from the fact that it's British and an officers?

Apart from that I really am stumped.

[sotonmate]

Ed

An attempt might be made to enlarge the cap badge,but that looks a bit unlikely to give a clear ID on Regt. His uniform is strangely devoid of clues,the darker button at top of left breast could be a trick of the light ,and if it isn't does it mean anything ? Is that a sliver of rank button on his left shoulder ?

I have to say he LOOKS like an Officer ,if in an un-Officer-like pose, but little to support that contention.

Sotonmate

[edwardus]

Ed

An attempt might be made to enlarge the cap badge,but that looks a bit unlikely to give a clear ID on Regt. His uniform is strangely devoid of clues,the darker button at top of left breast could be a trick of the light ,and if it isn't does it mean anything ? Is that a sliver of rank button on his left shoulder ?

I have to say he LOOKS like an Officer ,if in an un-Officer-like pose, but little to support that contention.

Sotonmate

Hi

I did try to enlarge the cap badge and came to the conclusion that it looked RIR, but as said I am far from an expert. I've attached his brother's RIR cap to show you the similarity - in all the shots of his brother's uniform, the cap badge looks pretty much identical, with the same shadows and reflections etc.

I think the photo *might* have been taken in the garden of the family home in Walton - certainly the shots of his brothers in uniform are, which might account for the pose, but I can't be sure.

[David_Underdown]

Best bet is to download the relevant section of WO 338 from The National Archives. They are very large files but free, and see if there are any Casey's listed in there - officers had to actually claim their medals, if they didn't there's no MIC (or he may never have served overseas)

[edwardus]

Best bet is to download the relevant section of WO 338 from The National Archives. They are very large files but free, and see if there are any Casey's listed in there - officers had to actually claim their medals, if they didn't there's no MIC (or he may never have served overseas)

Yes, I tried that and although his brother is listed there is no Henry or Benjamin. It's very curious - I'm beginning to think he may have borrowed the uniform for the photograph or similar

Thanks for the suggestion though!

[David_Underdown]

Some of those with temporary commissions are not in WO 338, though there don't look to be any likely candidates in WO 374 either. Army List is the only other avenue

[hen190782]

Hi

The cap badge does seem to be RI Rifles.

I have a large collection of servicemen pictures from Belfast Evening Telegraph and I will check to see whether there is a relevant Casey ... the captions often record rank, adress, etc.

Nigel

[edwardus]

Hi

The cap badge does seem to be RI Rifles.

I have a large collection of servicemen pictures from Belfast Evening Telegraph and I will check to see whether there is a relevant Casey ... the captions often record rank, adress, etc.

Nigel

Thanks very much for checking guys, it's much appreciated!

[Brainey]

Hello, Re. your enquiry, the pic. would appear to be an officer of The Royal Irish Rifles, but there were only two Caseys in the Regiment WW1, Charles Francis,2nd. Lieut. 30/1/18, Lieut. 31/7/19. 4th.& 1st. Battalions and Charles John, 2nd. Lieut. 7/7/16. 17th. Battalion, Lieut. 7/1/18. Last Entry on Army List June 1920. Neither of these two were killed. There are also no Caseys listed in Officers Died for the London or Liverpool Irish who wore a similar Officers badge. A trawl through The Army Lists for WW1 might turn him up in another regiment. A closer image of the badge might help and a pic. of the brother would be useful. Regards Brainey.