Hassan, William (Willie)
Rifleman
No. 10451, 2nd Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
Killed in action on Monday 9 August 1915 (aged 26)
No known grave
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium (Panel 40)
Bangor and District War Memorial
Royal British Legion (Bangor Branch) Memorial Plaque
Comrades of the Great War (Bangor Branch) Album in North Down Museum
Trinity Presbyterian Church Bangor
Brother of Captain Henry Hassan SS Belgian Prince, Mercantile Marine
BIOGRAPHY
In some records his surname is spelt Hasson.
William Hassan was born on 27 March 1889 in Brunswick Road, Bangor and he was a son of Alexander and Eliza (Lizzie) Hassan (nee Harrison) who were married on 11 September 1871 in First Bangor Presbyterian Church.
The Hassan family lived in Main Street, Bangor and at 1 Brunswick Road, Bangor.
Alexander and Eliza Hassan (nee Harrison) had eight children:
Henry (born 8 June 1872 in Bangor)
John (born 14 March 1874 in Bangor)
Jane (born 14 March 1876 in Bangor)
Alexander (born 21 March 1878 in Main Street, Bangor)
Lena (born 8 September 1881 in Bangor)
Hugh (born 9 December 1885 in Brunswick Road, Bangor)
William (born 27 March 1889 in Brunswick Road, Bangor)
James (born 30 January 1892 in Brunswick Road, Bangor)
At least two of these children were baptised in Trinity Presbyterian Church Bangor. Alexander Hassan Senior worked as a jobbing mason and in August 1916 he suffered a near fatal accident in his own garden when he stood on a wasps’ nest. He was stung so many times that initially his life was thought to be in danger although he did eventually recover.
Before the outbreak of the Great War William Hassan worked as a labourer on the golf links. He enlisted in Newtownards and served with the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Rifles.
Rifleman William Hassan was 26 when he was killed in action on 9 August 1915 and he has no known grave.
Rifleman William Hassan is commemorated on Bangor and District War Memorial; on the Royal British Legion (Bangor Branch) Memorial Plaque; in the Comrades of the Great War (Bangor Branch) Album in North Down Museum (Page 15) and in Trinity Presbyterian Church Bangor.
In the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) Debt of Honour Website his age is recorded as 35.