Kilbride Parish Church War Memorial
George Ayer
Date of Birth – c.1889
Place of Birth – Unknown
Date of enlistment – Prior to outbreak of World War 1
Address at time of enlistment – Belfast
Next of Kin – Unknown
Address of next of kin – Unknown
Trade or Calling – Serving soldier
Service No. 7988
Unit – 2nd Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Rank – Corporal
Died – 26th August 1914, just three weeks after war was declared. His battalion had arrived in France on 23rd August and was attached to the 4th Division.
Place of Death – Esnes, Battle of Le Cateau, north-eastern France
Age at Death – 25
Buried – No known grave
Commemorations – La Ferte-Sous-Jouarre Memorial, France, Ballyclare War Memorial, Kilbride Parish Church, Book of Remembrance in the Regimental Chapel in St Macartin's Cathedral, Enniskillen and St Nicholas Church Temperance LOL 782 Orange Hall, Sandy Row, Belfast. St Nicholas' church is located on the Lisburn Road in Belfast.
Medal Entitlement - 1914 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal
Marital status – Unknown
Cutting from the Belfast News Letter
31 August 1914.
Courtesy of History Hub Ulster
The Regimental Crest of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
Records Available
The National Archives
Medal card available
Census Records
1911 Census – Army in Aldershot, Hampshire, England
George Ayer signed the Ulster Covenant in opposition to Home Rule on 28th September, 1912 in St Thomas' Parochial Hall, Belfast. His address was given as 22 Lisburn Avenue, Belfast.
History Hub Ulster - a short description of the Battle of Le Cateau
Great War Belfast Clippings
This website lists the names of servicemen whose pictures appeared in the Belfast Evening Telegraph during the Great War period.
https://sites.google.com/site/greatwarbelfast/home/service-personnel-pictures-list-a-l
Ayer, George, Corporal, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, 22 Lisburn Avenue, Belfast, Died, August 1914
Notes
Corporal George Ayer was a member of St. Nicholas Church Temperance L.O.L. 782. This lodge was originally associated with St Nicholas' church on the Lisburn Road, Belfast, but is now based on the Sandy Row Belfast. He was also a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force.
