Remembered 9 Jan 15: LCpl Myles McNamara 10 KLR Liverpool Scottish

[Ian Riley]

McNAMARA, Lance Corporal, MYLES, 1758. 10th Battalion. King's Liverpool Regiment. 9th January 1915. Age 27. Son of Thomas and Mary McNamara; husband of Ethel M. McNamara, of 52, Farnworth St., Farnworth, Widnes. B. 20. (Kemmel Chateau Military Cemetery - Belgium)

Served as Myles Mack. Born Old Swan, Liverpool. Son of Thomas and Mary McNamara of 20 Leigh St, Old Swan, Liverpool. Husband of Ethel May McNamara of 52 Farnworth St, Farnworth, Widnes. As of May 1919 his siblings were Joseph McNamara aged 27, James McNamara aged 23, Thomas McNamara aged 21, Oswald McNamara aged 19, Winefred McNamara aged 25 and Elizabeth McNamara aged 17. Enlisted Liverpool into the Territorial Force 23/2/09. Age at enlistment 21 years 2 months, address 34 Leigh St, Old Swan, occupation signalman with Cheshire Lines Company, height 5' 11" with good physical development. Appointed L/Cpl 1/7/11. (Courtesy of Promenade)

Sailed with the 1/10th Bn The King's Liverpool Regiment on the SS Maidan from Southampton on 1 November 1914.

Battalion War Diary, 8th January 1915: (Kemmel - Trenches) 9th Brigade marched from their billets at Locre at 4pm and took over the Kemmel line of trenches from the 7th Brigade, the 8th Infantry Brigade who had taken over from the French continuing the line on our left. The Scottish relieved the 3rd Battalion Worcester Regt in sections F4 and 5 and G1. The rain had been very heavy and the trenches were in very bad condition. The fighting strength of the Battalion was reduced to 370 all ranks, of these 250 rifles and 2 machine guns were required to man the front line and support trenches. Brigades now being 4 days in and 4 days out of the trenches. During this tour the usual artillery duel continued and exchange of fire between the opposing infantry. On the evening of the 12th inst the 7th Brigade again came up in relief and the Battalion was relieved by the 3rd Worcs. [His name his listed as KIA at the end of the January 1915 entry]

On the following day, 10th January, Lt Fred S Turner of the Liverpool Scottish who had captained the Scottish Rugby Union team was sniped; he has a special memorial in Kemmel Churchyard beside that of Percy Dale Kendall, also Liverpool Scottish and a previous captain of English RFU team.

[soldier75]

Hi,

Bit more information on the above.

Regards

Harry

Lcpl Myles Mack
No.1758
1/10th Bn, [TF] The King`s Liverpool Regiment

Bde, 3rd [Regular] Division.
Born : Liverpool.
Enlisted : Mobilised in August, 1914, in Liverpool.
Resided : 52 Farnworth Street, Farnworth, Widnes.
Killed in action in Belgium on 9th January, 1915, aged 27.
Buried at Kemmel Chateau Military Cemetery, Row B, Grave 20.
Commemorated at Farnworth [st Luke`s] church in Widnes.
This man appears twice on the Widnes Memorial, once in the name above and
again on Panel No.21 as Lcpl Myles McNamara. They are one and the same.
Myles McNamara served as Myles Mack and enlisted in the Liverpool Scottish
in February, 1909. Mobilised on the 4th August, 1914, he went overseas on
the 1st November that same year. He was a member of Z Company in the
Liverpool Scottish and moved into the line for a routine four day tour in the
Kemmel area on the 8th January, 1915. he was killed by enemy shelling the
next day. Between the 8th-28th January, in subsequent four day tours in the
trenches, the 1/10 Liverpool Scottish lost a number of officers and men from
sniper and artillery fire.# He was the son of Thomas & Mary McNamara and
left a widow Ethel.##
# Liverpool Scottish Museum Trust, 1998 [Dennis Reeves}
## WWN 1915

[Ian Riley]

Harry,

Thanks very much for your interested. I was just pleased to see a member of the Liverpool Scottish featured in 'Remembered Today' at the top of the GWF page. I am sure there will have been others but I have never managed to catch one!

Ian

[Stephen Nulty]

.....he has a special memorial in Kemmel Churchyard beside that of Percy Dale Kendall, also Liverpool Scottish and a previous captain of English RFU team.

Ian

P D Kendall was a native of Prescot and is on my site

http://www.prescot-rollofhonour.info/casualty-380-Percy_Dale_Kendall.html

[daggers]

Kendall played most of his club Rugby for Birkenhead Park and that club will be holding a special remembrance for him before their match on 17th January 2015.

D

[BillyH]

Percy Dale Kendall also has 4 pages in my book about the Lower Bebington Memorial (below).

BillyH.

[Stephen Nulty]

Percy Dale Kendall died 100 years ago today

[Ian Riley]

Stephen, thanks for flagging this.

From the diary of Captain Bryden McKinnell, Machine Gun officer of the 1/10th (Scottish) Bn., The King's (Liverpool Regiment) TF [The Liverpool Scottish]. The quote is not exact (for reasons on time on my part) and is taken from a slight paraphrasing that is easily found on my PC.

At night, at Battalion HQ, news from the right trench that Toggie Kendall was shot through the shoulder. We all laughed saying, "Lucky Beggar", expecting to see him soon come in soon saying, "Three months' holiday." But we soon got a phone message that he was killed, having lived only one minute, being killed by a ricochet off a tree - awfully bad luck. They buried him next evening, next to Fred Turner. Strange, the one-time captains of Scotland and England [Turner and Kendal respectively] to be buried together in a beastly small Flemish churchyard [Kemmel]. The Doctor [Noel Chavasse] and his Staff made very pretty graves for them.

The graves were subsequently lost although the location could probably be fixed to within a few yards from photos taken at the time. Toggie Kendal and Fred Turner now have special memorials side by side on the edge of the churchyard. This is on the other side of the church to the other CWGC headstones/memorials.

Ian

[Stephen Nulty]

Thanks for the additional info, Ian. Mind if I add that to PK's page on my site?

[Ian Riley]

It is a paraphrase. Use it by all means mentioning that it is the general gist and I will dig out the exact quotation for you - jst a bit busy at the moment with probate issues.

Ian

[BillyH]

A slightly different take on Kendall's death :

BillyH.

[Stephen Nulty]

Thanks Ian, I will mention that it is paraphrased.