224365 Peter Tierney British Army 2nd Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers from:Knockartee, Galway Peter Tierney, my grandfather, was wounded in the shoulder, gassed and captured at the 2nd Battle of Ypres in May 1915. He was nursed back to health in a German military hospital in a ward of German soldiers. He was treated well by them. On his return to health he was sent to work in a German coal mine and remained working there for the duration as a prisoner of war. When the armistice was signed, he was quickly repatriated and returned home to his parents' farm in Galway. He and some of his friends, all in British army blue wound uniforms had an encounter with the notorious Black and Tans. They were picked up by the Black and Tans, roughed up and thrown into the back of lorries. Fortunately, they were released after being driven into the countryside and dumped out onto the road. He eventually left Galway and became a coal miner in St Helens, Lancashire where he settled down, married and had a family. During the depression, he tried to pawn his medals but was informed that they were worthless. On leaving the pawn shop, he threw his medals down a drain. He was a native speaker of the Irish language.
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