Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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Date Information
12/05/2020 01309
15/07/2018 Mr Samuel Garvin, now of Belfast and formerly of Castledawson, has been gazetted to a second lieutenancy in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
15/07/2018
15/07/2018 From the Mid Ulster Mail dated 30th January 1915:
14/01/2017
30/12/2015 The Battalion Diary recorded that the 7th Battalion returned 9 officers killed - Captain Iros T Lloyd-Jones, Lieutenant V Gwynne James, 2nd Lieutenants H W Fletcher, S Garvin, O G Jones, R Parry (other names not given) and 36 other ranks; 7 officers wounded, and 220 other ranks; 15 other ranks missing.
30/12/2015 Samuel Garvin was born in Castledawson on 20th September 1896.
30/12/2015 Family: William Garvin, Sara Garvin, Elizabeth / Lily Garvin (born 3rd February 1889), James Garvin (born 17th December 1890), Helen Margaret Garvin (born 8th October 1892), George Garvin (born 10th August 1894), Samuel Garvin (born 20th September 1896), Thomas Garvin (born 4th May 1899), Robert Garvin 8 (born 6th June 1902).
30/12/2015 The family lived in Magherafelt up until 1899, as Thomas Girvan was born there.
30/12/2015 Samuel was the grandson of Mrs James Gavin, Tamnadace, Castledawson.
30/12/2015 The 1901 census lists Samuel as age 4 living with the family at house 5 in Cavehill Road, Clifton Ward, Belfast. Samuel’s father worked in a bar.
30/12/2015 The 1911 census lists Samuel as age 14 living with the family at house 9 in Landscape Terrace. Clifton, Belfast. Samuel was still at school.
30/12/2015 Samuel attended Skegoneil School in Belfast.
30/12/2015 Samuel Garvin entered the Officer Training Corps (O.T.C.) at Queens University on 27 May 1913. The following year he attended Queens from 14 October 1914, studying Science. He was there for one year.
30/12/2015 Samuel Garvin was the son of William and Sara Garvin. William Garvin married Sara Graham on 19th July 1888 in Magherafelt.
30/12/2015 On 26 March 1917, the 53rd (Welsh) Division bore the brunt of the First Battle of Gaza where the three brigades, along with the 161st (Essex) Brigade of the 54th (East Anglian) Division, had to advance across exposed ground, withstanding shrapnel, machine gun and rifle fire, to capture the Turkish fortifications. Despite gaining the advantage towards the end of the day, the British commander called off the attack so that the division's casualties, close to 3,500, were suffered in vain.
30/12/2015 Lieutenant Samuel Garvin is buried in Gaza War Cemetery.
30/12/2015 In his Last Will and Testament, Samuel left behind effects to the value of £136.
30/12/2015 Lieutenant Samuel Garvin is commemorated on Queen’s University War Memorial.
30/12/2015 The CWGC record Lieutenant Samuel Garvin as the son of William and Sara Garvin of 16 Landscape Terrace, Belfast.
30/12/2015 Lieutenant Samuel Garvin was serving with the 9th Battalion, attached to the 1st/7th Battalion, Royal Welsh Fusiliers when he was killed in action in Gaza, Syria on 27 March 1917. He was 20 years old.
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