232053 Gnr. Albert James O'Reilly British Army 52nd Battery, 15th Brigade Royal Field Artillery from:Birkenhead (d.7th Sep 1916) Albert James O'Reilly was my mother's uncle and was born in Birkenhead, one of 12 children, to my great-grandparents James and Esther O'Reilly. Prior to being called up to fight in World War 1, he worked as a post office telegraph messenger. I never knew him and, in fact, neither did my mother, as she was born in 1920, four years after he was killed on the Somme aged just 19. All that the family knew about him was obtained from my grandmother, Albert's older sister - but it was very little, so the online records have been invaluable in tracing where exactly he was buried.
We knew he was a gunner and died in Battle on the Somme in 1916 - I still have his Great War Medal passed down to me by my mother and to her by my grandmother. I now hope, with my brother, to visit his grave in France in July 2016 to mark the centenary of his death - the first occasion anyone in the family (as far as I am aware) has made this visit. We should always remember all those killed in action so that others might live. God bless you Uncle Albert - rest in peace.
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