PRIVATE J. BOARDMAN, 7TH/8TH BATTALION ROYAL INNISKILLING FUSILIERS (FORMERLY 2ND BATTALION ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT) WHO WAS KILLED IN ACTION ON 13/8/1914. 1914 Star and bar (8886 Private, Royal Irish Regiment). Copy bar, original silk ribbon, Good

PRIVATE J. BOARDMAN, 7TH/8TH BATTALION ROYAL INNISKILLING FUSILIERS (FORMERLY 2ND BATTALION ROYAL IRISH REGIMENT) WHO WAS KILLED IN ACTION ON 13/8/1914. 1914 Star and bar (8886 Private, Royal Irish Regiment). Copy bar, original silk ribbon, Good Very Fine to Almost Extremely Fine.

Medal accompanied by photocopied Medal Index Card and Commonwealth War Graves and Soldiers Died details. Private James Boardman first saw active service in France and Flanders, embarking for that theater of operations on 13/8/1914 (the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment landed as a unit at Boulogne on 14/8/1914). Boardman was killed in action on 1/9/1918 whilst attached to the 7th/8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Boardman was born and lived in Bolton, Lancashire and enlisted at Preston. He has no known grave and is commemorate on the Tyne Cot Memorial.

At the time of his death Private Jackson was serving with the 7/8th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Following heavy losses to both battalions, the 7th and 8th Battalions Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers were amalgamated on 23/8/1917. On 22/4/1918 that composite battalion was reduced to a training cadre, its personnel being transferred to the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment. The training cadre was allotted to 102nd Brigade, 104th Division on 17/6/1918, but on 26/6/1918 the cadre was transferred to GHQ Troops and the battalion re-formed with 18 officers and 857 men from the 8th Battalion Rifle Brigade and drafts from other units. It is probably at this stage that Jackson transferred from the 2nd Royal Irish to the 7/8th Inniskillings. The 7/8th Inniskillings were allotted to the 89th Brigade, 30th Division on 3/7/1918. Jackson was killed in action during the capture of Neuve Eglise, 1/9/1918. The following details of the attack on Neuve Eglise have been extracted from the regimental history.The capture of that village came during a night attack. The 7/8th Inniskillings assembled in front of the village at about 7pm, and their initial advance was held up by heavy machine gun fire when they were within 300 yards of the village. Attempts to work round the flanks failed. At midnight, Lieutenant Colonel Irvine, who was acting as Brigadier, came up to the Battalion HQ and organised a fresh attack, which took its objective early the following morning.