Courtney, Alexander
Rifleman
No. 9167, 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Thursday 21 March 1918 (aged 30)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Pozieres Memorial, France (Panel 74 to 76)
Journey of Remembering Belfast Book of Honour
Balmoral Industrial School Roll of Honour (in PRONI) – wounded
BIOGRAPHY
In the Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914 – 1919 database it is recorded that Rifleman Alexander Courtney (No. 9167) was born in Comber and enlisted in Belfast.
Rifleman Alexander Courtney (No. 9167) served with the 1st Battalion Royal Irish Rifles and he was killed in action on 21 March 1918 at the beginning of the German Spring Offensive. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.
Rifleman Alexander Courtney (No. 9167) has no known grave and he is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial in France and in the Belfast Book of Honour (Page 122) where it is noted that he was a son of Mrs Mary Courtney who lived at 54 Donegall Road, Belfast.
Rifleman Alexander Courtney (No. 9167) is also commemorated in the Balmoral Industrial School Roll of Honour held in the Public Records Office Northern Ireland (PRONI) where it is recorded that he was wounded.
James Alexander Courtney (known subsequently as Alexander Courtney) was born on 14 June 1887 in Killinchy Street, Comber and he was a son of Mary Courtney, a mill worker.
In 1901 Alexander Courtney was a boarder in the Balmoral Industrial School for Protestant Boys, Ballygomartin, Belfast.
[Industrial Schools were established in Ireland under the Industrial Schools Act of 1868 to care for ‘neglected, orphaned or abandoned children’.]