Gunning, William
Rifleman
No. 1462, ‘B’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Died of wounds on Saturday 24 March 1917 (aged 23)
Buried:
Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord), France (III. B. 24)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Newtownards and District War Memorial
Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s)
BIOGRAPHY
William Gunning was born on 26 May 1893 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards and he was a son of David and Martha Gunning (nee Gray) who lived in Greenwell Street, Newtownards. They were married on 4 June 1877 in Newtownards Registrar’s Office. David Gunning worked as a shoemaker and he and Martha had thirteen children:
Martha (born 26 August 1878 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards; died 9 December 1879)
Mary Ann (born 26 August 1878 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards; died 14 September 1878)
Mary Jane (born 20 September 1881 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards; died 5 January 1888 aged 6)
Henry (born 23 January 1883 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
Charlotte (born 24 August 1884 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards; died 18 January 1885)
George (born 6 April 1886 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards; died 17 July 1886)
Charles (born 13 May 1887 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
Thomas (born 25 March 1889 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
Isaac (born 4 May 1891 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
William (born 26 May 1893 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
Samuel (born 25 December 1895 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
Martha (born 19 April 1898 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
Sarah (born 10 October 1900 in Greenwell Street, Newtownards)
William Gunning worked as a labourer and he and Sarah Jane Robinson were married on 28 June 1913 in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s). They lived at 77 Movilla Street, Newtownards and their daughter, Sarah Ann Robinson Gunning, was born on 17 June 1915.
Shortly after the outbreak of war, William Gunning enlisted in Belfast and he joined the 1st County Downs. He served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division and in January 1917 he was home from the Front on ten day’s leave. On 26 March 1917 Sarah Jane was informed that her husband had been seriously wounded and the following day she received a telegram from the War Office informing her that he had died at 2nd Casualty Clearing Station in France at 2.00 am on 24 March 1917.
Rifleman William Gunning (No. 1462) was 23 when he died and he was buried in Bailleul Communal Cemetery Extension (Nord) in France.
Rifleman William Gunning’s widow received letters of sympathy from his comrades and from the Rev J.R. Beresford assuring her that William had passed away peacefully and that he had been buried with Church of England rites. She also received a letter of sympathy from Lieutenant Maximilian Herbert Browne who was subsequently killed in an accidental explosion on 21 June 1918. Lieutenant Browne is commemorated on the War Memorial Plaque in Bangor Grammar School.
Sarah Jane Gunning placed a For King and Country notice in the 7 April 1917 edition of the Newtownards Chronicle and it contained the verse:
Sleep on, dear husband, in a far-off land,
In a grave I will never see;
But as long as life and memory last
I will remember thee.
Rifleman William Gunning (No. 1462) is commemorated on Newtownards and District War Memorial and in Newtownards Parish Church of Ireland Church (St Mark’s).