Photo: Geordie at War Project

Brenda McMahon has submitted the following:-

John Reidy came from an interesting background. His father Thomas Joseph was born in 1859 at L’Isle de Bourbon on the French Island of Mauritius. He was however a British subject. He met and married his Irish born wife Eliza c1878 and had 6 children but only 4 survived. The family lived in and around Gateshead.

Thomas’ son, John, was born in Gateshead 31 August 1885. He seemed keen to join the military and was at first refused enlistment as he was under age. By 1905, aged 19, he was accepted and enlisted at Scarborough. He was given the rank of gunner in RGA (later becoming a gun layer).

He served at various locations in the world including time in Bermuda & Sierra Leone. During his time in the tropics he developed a series of illnesses including sunstroke, heatstroke and rheumatic fever.

On his return to home shores he served for a while with the sanitary police at Spike Island. Spike Island, situated in the estuary of the River Mersey, has now been reclaimed as a woodland space but was once a toxic waste disposal site. It is a maze of abandoned chemical factories, rail lines, warehouses etc.

The 1911 census shows John serving with 49th Company RGA at a barracks in Rochford, Essex. By this time he is married. Like his father he married an Irish girl, Mary Ellen, in Queenstown Cathedral, Cork on 28 October 1909. The couple made their home in Bronte Street Gateshead and went on to have 3 girls.

He was promoted to bombardier but in April 1914 was demoted back to gunner for misconduct ie not complying with an order. He was in trouble again a few weeks later for telling a falsehood to a company orderly. A later record shows his character as very good. He was reported as being a steady and sober hard working man and in 1914 he was awarded a sobriety certificate.

As a young man he enlisted in 1905 for 9 years so in 1914 his service expired. He soon re-enlisted and was transferred to the Labour Corps (Service No 642408).

In March 1916 John suffered a fractured tibia and was hospitalised. Later that same year he was re-admitted to hospital suffering from sickness. In March 1918 he was gassed and spent some time at Queen Mary Military Hospital in Whalley. The gassing affected John dramatically resulting in bronchitis and emphysema in both lungs. The gassing seems to have been the start of a decline as his later health record states.

The record reports him being very anaemic, debilitated & losing weight. On examination his heart sounded faint and his air entry was very low. Breathlessness was marked.On his return to duty he was given light fatigue. He was later discharged from service in 1919 with a life service pension plus a disability pension.

John died 1 September 1920 from phthitis ( a form of TB) which causes wasting away or dwindling of the body.

John’s brother Fred 23538 D.L.I. was killed in 1915

John is remembered on two Gateshead memorials G39.004 and G39.032

The CWGC entry for Gunner Reidy