Anderson, Henry McDonnell (Harry)
Military Cross
Lieutenant
‘D’ Company, 5th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers
attached 63rd Battalion, Machine Gun Corps
Killed in action on Thursday 30 May 1918 (aged 25)
Buried:
Bagneux British Cemetery, France (Grave III. A. 9)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Elmwood Presbyterian Church Belfast (now Elmwood Hall, Queen’s University)
Journey of Remembering Belfast Book of Honour
BIOGRAPHY
Henry McDonnell Anderson was born on 6 June 1892 in Portaferry and he was a son of John Thompson Anderson and Mary (Minnie) Anderson (nee Begley) who were married on 14 July 1885 in Townsend Presbyterian Church Belfast. John Anderson from Portaferry was a son of William Anderson, a businessman. Minnie Begley from Legoniel was a daughter of George Begley, a teacher.
The Anderson family lived in Portaferry; at 6 Church Street, Newtownards; at 3 Ulsterville Place, Belfast and in Fitzwilliam Street, Belfast
John Anderson was a hardware merchant and he and Mary had six children:
Mary (born 13 September 1886 at Wolfhill, Legoniel, Belfast)
Sarah Gladys (born 31 October 1888 in Portaferry)
George Rollo Begley (born 5 October 1890 in Portaferry)
Henry McDonnell (born 6 June 1892 in Portaferry)
William (born 26 September 1894 in Portaferry)
John Thompson (born 30 October 1897 in Portaferry)
All of the children were baptised in Portaferry Presbyterian Church.
Prior to the outbreak of war Henry McDonnell Anderson worked as an apprentice municipal clerk.
During the Great War, Henry McDonnell Anderson served with The Black Watch (Royal Highlanders) (No. 1239) and on 10 September 1915 he received a commission and was transferred to the Northumberland Fusiliers.
Lieutenant Henry McDonnell Anderson served with the 5th Battalion, Northumberland Fusiliers and he was wounded near Varennes on 27 May 1918 during the German Spring Offensive. He was taken to the hospital at Doullens and was killed on 30 May 1918 when the hospital was bombed during an enemy air attack.
Lieutenant Henry McDonnell Anderson was 25 when he died, and he was buried in Bagneux British Cemetery, France. His parents were living at 32 Dargle Road, Drumcondra, Dublin. There is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:
HE, A FULL YOUNG LIFE
WITH GLADNESS GAVE FOR HOME AND LIBERTY
Lieutenant Anderson’s name is not commemorated on the Anderson family grave in Ballymanish Cemetery Portaferry. He is commemorated in Elmwood Presbyterian Church Belfast (now Elmwood Hall, Queen’s University) and in the Journey of Remembering Belfast Book of Honour.
Lieutenant Henry McDonnell Anderson’s mother Minnie died on 16 March 1930 (aged 70) and his father John died on 17 June 1943 (aged 85).