Soldier Record

My grandfather Frederick William Pauley was called Fred by all his family and friends. He was born in 1899 and decided to join the army on the 25th September 1917. He was 18 years old and work was scarce in Ireland at this time, although those working on the land were kept busy producing food. Many young men joined up for what they saw as the excitement and adventure that war could bring. My grandfather fought with the Royal Irish Rifles which later on was to become the Royal Ulster Rifles.

According to army form B108D serial Nos. 6579-80 his complexion is described as dark with black hair

My grandfather was a small man 5 foot and 1.5 inches and this fact may have helped save his life as when all the shells and bullets were flying around he managed to escape the war uninjured. His height probably came in useful when it came to keeping his head down during engagements and he had no trouble joining up as by 1917 no-one cared very much about height! He was posted to France and served there until 27th March 1919. He talked very little about the war in his later years. His main view was that the most informative part of the physical training was how to run fast in certain situations.

The mementos that we have as tangible proof of his war time experiences are two shells that he brought back home with him. These shells were brass and he had them engraved by a Chinese engraver. These keepsakes were proudly displayed on his mantle piece until he gave them to my sister. His medals were lost as he lent them to someone for a twelfth of July parade and they were never returned.

The surprising thing about my grandfather's wartime experience is that instead of being relieved when the war was over and coming home, he reenlisted! On the 27th March 1919 he joined up again and served for another two years. He was finally discharged out of the army on the 27th June 1921. According to army form B108D serial Nos. 6579-80 his complexion is described as dark with black hair and brown eyes. This description may owe something to the fact that some part of this service was in Palestine as I can remember him talking about some of his experiences there going through fields with melons planted everywhere and also eating what he thought was a currant square only to discover that it was bread encrusted with flies!