Reilly, William John (William)
Lance Corporal
No. 5055, 2nd Battalion, Prince of Wales’s Leinster Regiment
Killed in action on Thursday 20 June 1918 (aged 22)
Buried:
Cinq Rues British Cemetery, France (Grave E. 15)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Bangor and District War Memorial
Royal British Legion (Bangor Branch) Memorial Plaque
Comrades of the Great War (Bangor Branch) Album in North Down Museum
Journey of Remembering Belfast Book of Honour
BIOGRAPHY
William John Reilly was born on 10 November 1895 at 17 Kerr Street, Portrush, Co Antrim and he was a son of John and Catherine (Kate) Reilly (nee Adams) who were married on 21 June 1894 in St Patrick’s Roman Catholic Church Portrush. John Reilly of Market Square, Magherafelt was a son of William Reilly, a farmer. Kate Adams, a servant from Magherafelt, was a daughter of Henry Adams, a labourer.
John and Catherine (Kate) Reilly (nee Adams) had at least three children:
Mary Josephine (born 10 August 1894 in Main Street, Portrush)
William John (born 10 November 1895 at 17 Kerr Street, Portrush)
John Charles (born 6 October 1896 in Agherton; died 20 February 1921 in Bangor)
John Reilly was a District Inspector in the Royal Irish Constabulary (No. 27477) and he retired on 25 June 1894.
For a time, the Reilly family lived in Ravenhill Park, Belfast and also at 21 Gray’s Hill, Bangor.
William Reilly enlisted in Belfast and served with the Leinster Regiment (No. 5055).
Lance Corporal William Reilly (No. 5055) was 22 when he was killed in action on 20 June 1918 and he was buried in Cinq Rues British Cemetery, Hazebrouck, France.
Lance Corporal William Reilly (No. 5055) is commemorated on Bangor and District War Memorial; in the Comrades of the Great War (Bangor Branch) Album in North Down Museum (Page 60); on the Royal British Legion (Bangor Branch) Memorial Plaque and in the Belfast Book of Honour (Page 553).
William Reilly’s father, John, died of angina on 17 December 1916 (aged 77) at Auburn, Ravenhill Park, Belfast.