224476 Pte. Bernard "Bertie" Gorman British Army 1st Btn. Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers from:Omagh Bertie Gorman joined up on the day war was declared. The story is that he ran down the garden, jumped over a hedge onto the road and headed for the local barracks. He told them he was 17 but he may still have been 16. His first theatre of war was the Balkans in July 1915.
He survived the war but suffered from paralysis of the right hand, which was a considerable handicap for someone who was a tailor by trade. Northern Ireland did not prove to be hospitable place for veterans after the war. He moved to Co. Longford for a time and then sought work in Canada. Eventually he and most of his family moved to London where his service record helped him get work in the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich. He died in 1962 a short time before he was due to retire.
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