1st Battalion, Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (British Army)
Date Of Birth:
01/08/1896
Died:
22/03/1918 (Killed in Action)
Age:
21
Summary
Samuel Spillane was the youngest son of John and Maggie Spillane. He was born on 1st August 1896. He was one of seven children. They lived in Mormeal, Tobermore, County Londonderry. His father was a Farmer and Civil Bill Officer. Private Samuel Spillane was serving with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was killed in action on the second day of the German Spring Offensive on Friday 22nd March 1918. He was 21 years old. The battalion held out against the Germans until almost all the battalion were killed, wounded or captured.
Further Information
Samuel Spillane was the youngest son of John and Maggie Spillane. John Spillane married Margaret Moore on 10th June 1886 in the district of Magherafelt.
Samuel Spillane was born on 1st August 1896. He was one of seven children.
Family: John Spillane, Margaret Spillane, William Spillane (born 21st October 1887), John Spillane (born 16th February 1890), James Spillane (born 9th June 1891), Robert Spillane (born 11th March 1893), Richard Spillane (born 23rd June 1894), Samuel Spillane (born 1st August 1896), Mary Jane Spillane (born 11th September 1898).
The 1901 census lists Samuel as age 4 living with the family at house 3 in Mormeal, Tobermore, County Londonderry. His father, who hailed from Tipperary, was a Farmer and Civil Bill Officer.
The 1911 census lists Samuel as age 15 living with the family at house 29 in Mormeal, Tobermore. He was still at school.
Samuel was a member of the Ulster Volunteer Force and also Blackhill L.O.L. No. 681.
Samuel Spillane enlisted in Omagh.
Private Samuel Spillane was serving with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was killed in action on the second day of the German Spring Offensive on Friday 22nd March 1918. He was 21 years old. The battalion held out against the Germans until almost all the battalion were killed, wounded or captured.
Private Spillane has no known grave and is commemorated on the Pozieres Memorial in Picardie, France.
Samuel’s older brother James also died in the war. Private James Spillane was serving with the 11th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers when he was killed in action at Passchendaele on Thursday 16th August 1917. He was 26 years old.
Both brothers belonged are commemorated Kilcronaghan Parish Church in Tobermore and they are also commemorated in Tobermore and Blackhill Orange Halls.
The CWGC record Private Samuel Spillane as the son of John Spillane of Mormeal, Tobermore. It also records that his brother James also fell.
All images courtesy of Sam Hudson, Desertmartin. Information provided here is courtesy of the excellent research donated by Mr Sam Hudson
