Thompson, Robert James (Robert)
Private
No. 18823, ‘C’ Company, 13th Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles, transferred to
No. 17774, 108th Company, Machine Gun Corps, 36th (Ulster) Division
Died of wounds on Sunday 2 July 1916 (aged 20)
Buried:
Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, France (Grave I. A. 2)
Commemorated:
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Killinchy Parish Church of Ireland Church
BIOGRAPHY
Robert James Thompson was born on 13 August 1895 in the townland of Ballymoghan, Magherafelt and he was a son of Thomas and Matilda Thompson (nee McKee) who were married on 23 March 1893 in Second Magherafelt Presbyterian Church.
The Thompson family lived in Ballymoghan, Magherafelt; in Drumshanbo, Cookstown; in Killinchy and in Church Quarter, Dundonald.
Thomas Thompson worked as a labourer and then as a coachman and he and Matilda had three children:
John (born 4 January 1894 in Ballymoghan, Magherafelt)
Robert James (born 13 August 1895 in Ballymoghan, Magherafelt)
William (born 21 May 1898 in Drumshanbo, Cookstown)
Robert James Thompson enlisted in Downpatrick and he served with the 13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (No. 18823) in 108th Brigade of the 36th (Ulster) Division before being transferred to the 108th Company Machine Gun Corps (No. 17774).
Private Robert James Thompson was 20 when he was wounded on the first day of the Battle of the Somme and he died the following day. He was buried in Warloy-Baillon Communal Cemetery Extension, France and there is an inscription on his CWGC headstone:
GONE BUT NOT FORGOTTEN
In his will, which he made on 2 October 1915 at Bordon Army Camp in Hampshire, Private Robert Thompson left all of his property and effects to his mother.
Private Robert Thompson is commemorated in Killinchy Parish Church of Ireland Church.