22441 Pte George Feast, 5th Bn, Royal Irish Fusiliers

22441 Private George Feast of the 5th Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers was killed in action on the 8th December 1915. George was 49 years old when he died; the son of Robert William and Eliza Feast, and the husband of F G Feast of 13, Caroline Place, East Road, Cambridge.

George, who was born in Ely and living in Hereford when he enlisted, originally joined the Bedfordshire Regiment (number 16491). That number dates to September 1914 and his Royal Irish Fusiliers number probably to October 1915.

George's medal index card notes that he arrived overseas in France on 3rd December 1914 and so it seems likely that he probably had prior military experience and was possibly a time-expired regular who re-joined shortly after Britain went to war. I can see no other explanation why a 48 year old private would be sent overseas so soon after joining up. I'll conjecture further that George was wounded or returned home sick whilst serving with the Bedfordshire Regiment in France, transferred to the Royal Irish Fusiliers in the United Kingdom, and subsequently served in Salonika. He has no known grave and is commemorated on the Doiran Memorial in Greece.

2nd Lt Dermot Jepson Henry, 5th Royal Irish Fusiliers

2nd Lt Dermot Jepson Henry of the 5th Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers, was killed in action on 9th July 1917. Soldiers Died in the Great War records his middle name as Jepson (this spelling also appearing on his medal index card), whereas The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) spells the name Jepsen.

At the time of his death, at the age of 24, he was attached to the 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers and CWGC records that he was the son of James and May Jepsen Henry, of Swan Park, Monaghan. This address also appears on the reverse of his medal index card which records that Dermot first arrived in France on 9th March 1916.

Dermot Henry is buried in Crump Trench British Cemetery, Fampoux; grave reference I.C.29.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
Sources:

Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Soldiers Died in the Great War