Kilbride Parish Church War Memorial
William Lindsay Cassidy
William L. Cassidy - Image courtesy of Library & Archives Canada
Date of Birth – Given as 28th September 1889 on Canadian army records but recorded as 6th October 1889 in GRONI records (GRONI reference number U/1889/51/1007/35/227)
Place of Birth – Belfast
Date of enlistment – 31st March 1917
Address at time of enlistment – Congregational College, 58 McTavish Street, Montreal, Canada
Family headstone in Belfast City Cemetery
Next of Kin – Anna Cassidy (mother)
Address of next of kin – Ivydene, Ballygomartin Road, Belfast
Trade or Calling – Theological student
Service No. 526924
Unit – 2nd Field Ambulance, Canadian Army Medical Corps
Rank – Private
Died – 2nd September 1918
Place of Death – near Cherisy, Pas de Calais, France
Age at Death – 28
Buried – Grave reference A. 10, Quebec Cemetery, Cherisy, Pas de Calais, France
Commemorations –Ballyclare War Memorial, Kilbride Parish Church, St Matthew’s Church, Woodvale Road, Belfast and on the headstone marking his parents’ grave in Belfast City Cemetery - grave reference I295.
Marital status – Single
Parents – John Cassidy and Anna Cassidy (née Lindsay)
Married – 24th February 1889 in Belfast
Siblings – (William), John b. 19th July 1891 in Belfast, Charles b. 5th April 1893 in Banbridge, Samuel b. 6th July 1894 in Banbridge, Mabel b. 26th September 1895 in Banbridge, Herbert b. 19th December 1900 in Dungannon, Agnes b. 17th March 1903 in Antrim & James Edward b. 18th December 1904 in Antrim (from 1901 and 1911 census records)
John Cassidy b. About 1868, d. 12th October 1916 aged 48. Address given as Dromara
Anna Cassidy b. About 1868, d. 14th May 1947 aged 78. Address given as 30 Hillsborough Parade, Castlereagh.
Samuel Cassidy d. 13th November 1984 aged 90. Address given as Minnowburn House, Shaw’s Bridge, Belfast
Quebec Cemetery, Cherisy, Pas de Calais, France
St Matthew's Church, Woodvale Road, Belfast
Records Available
National Archives of Ireland
Census Records
1901 Census – Farlaugh, Tullynaskane, Co. Tyrone
William Cassidy, Son, Episcopalian, 11, Scholar, Belfast
1911 Census – 31 White Rock Road, Belfast
William Cassidy, Son, Church of Ireland, Read and write, 21, Assistant gentleman’s outfitter, Single, Belfast
Library and Archives Canada
Army records – Soldiers of the First World War 1914 - 1918
Canadian Expeditionary Force - Military Record Timeline for WL Cassidy
31st March 1917 - Enlisted into the Canadian army at Montreal, Quebec.
22nd June 1917 - Embarked from Halifax, Nova Scotia aboard SS ‘Justicia’ (see footnote 1 below)
5th July 1917 - Disembarked in Liverpool
7th July 1917 - Course of instruction with Canadian Army Medical Corps at Shorncliffe (see footnote 2 below)
8th February 1918 - Arrived in France via Le Havre
17th February 1918 - Posted to 2nd Canadian Field Ambulance
2nd September 1918 - Reported missing after action
2nd September 1918 - Reported ‘Killed in Action’
Circumstances of Death Register
The circumstances of Private Cassidy’s death are described in a register available on the Library and Archives Canada website
The record reads as follows;
- No: 526924
- Rank or Rating: Private
- Surname: Cassidy
- Christian Names: William Lindsay
- Unit: 2nd Field Ambulance Canadian Medical Corps
- Date of Casualty: 2-9-18
- HQ Record No. 649-C-24566
- Religion: Congregationalist
- Circumstances of Casualty: “Previously reported Missing, now Killed in Action” Was last seen when he was despatched in charge of two squads of Prisoners of War, to obtain stretchers and blankets. He did not return and nothing further heard of the Prisoners of War. No information has been received relative to the actual circumstances under which he met his death.
- Name, Relationship and Address of Next of Kin: Blank
- Location of Unit at Time of Casualty: Cherisy
- Cemetery: Quebec British Cemetery
- Location of Cemetery: Commune:- Cherisy
- Grave Location: Grave 10, Plot 1, Row “A”
- Registered Number of Grave: Blank
Footnotes
- SS ‘Justicia’ was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and was launched for the Holland America Line on 9th July, 1914. Her original name was ‘Statendam’ and she was renamed ‘Justicia’ when she was acquired in 1915 by the British government and operated by the Cunard Star Line following the sinking of the SS ‘ Lusitania’. Due to crewing difficulties she was reassigned to the White Star Line, who had the crew of the sunken ‘Britannic’ available (sister ship of RMS ‘Titanic’). She was then used as a troop ship. On 19th July 1918 SS ‘Justicia’ was sailing from Belfast to New York in a convoy and when off the coast of Scotland she was torpedoed by a German submarine but despite being damaged by four torpedoes she remained afloat and her engines were still operable. Assisted by a tug an attempt was made to reach Lough Swilly in Donegal where she could be beached. The following morning another submarine hit her with another two torpedoes and the ship eventually sank 28 miles north-west of Malin Head in 68 metres of water.
- Shorncliffe, in Kent, was used as a staging post for troops destined for the Western Front during the First World War and in April 1915 a Canadian Training Division was formed there. The Canadian Army Medical Corps had general hospitals based at Shorncliffe from September 1917 to December 1918.