Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
ff
   Lieutenant Francis St Leger Greer M.C.
Save as PDF
Dated added: 30/12/2015   Last updated: 20/04/2021
Personal Details
Regiment/Service: 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards (British Army)
Date Of Birth: 13/07/1894
Died: 01/02/1917 (Killed in Action)
Age: 22
Summary      
Francis St Leger Greer was the son of Capt. Joseph Henry and Mary Greer of Grange, Moy. He was born about 1894 at the Curragh, Co. Kildare. Francis was raised by his grandmother Agnes Isabella Greer in Moy, County Tyrone. He was educated at Eton. He gained the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in the service of the 16th Lancers. By February 1917, Frank Greer had been attached to the bombing section of the Irish Guards. Francis was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He led three platoons in the advance under very heavy fire. At one point in the advance he shot an enemy machine gunner at about 80 yards, silencing the gun and saving many casualties. Later, he did fine work consolidating the position won. Lieutenant Greer was serving with the 2nd Battalion of the he Irish Guards when he died on the 1st February 1917 aged 23.
Further Information
Francis St Leger Greer was the younger son of Sir Joseph Henry Greer and Olivia Mary Beresford.
Francis was born on 13th July 1894 at the Curragh in County Kildare.
Family: Sir Joseph Henry Greer, Olivia Mary Greer, Eric Beresford Greer (born April 1892, County Kildare), Francis St Leger Greer (born 13th July 1894, County Kildare).
Francis and his brother Eric were raised by their grandmother, Agnes Isabella Greer, in Moy, County Tyrone.
The 1901 census lists Francis as age 6, living with his grandmother at house 18.1 in Grange, Moy, County Tyrone. Francis and his brother, along with other grandchildren, had their own English governess.
Francis, like his brother, was educated at Eton College at Windsor in Berkshire, England.
At the beginning of the war Lieutenant Francis Greer joined the 16th Lancers, a cavalry regiment. He gained the rank of 2nd Lieutenant in the service of the 16th Lancers.
Medal card
1915
Second Lieutenant (on probation) Francis St Leger Greer transferred from the 16th (the Queen’s) Lancers to the Irish Guards on 1st January 1915. The London Gazette recorded his transfer on 1st December 1915.
From the Tyrone Courier dated 9th December 1915:
Sec Lieut. (on probation) Francis St Leger Greer, who has been transferred from the 16th (the Queen's) Lancers to the Irish Guards, is the younger son of Captain J. H. Greer, of Grange, Moy, formerly of the Highland Light Infantry. His elder brother, Captain E. B. Greer, is adjutant of the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion Irish Guards.
1916
Lieutenant Francis St Leger Greer was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 15th November 1916: Military Cross
Second Lieutenant Francis St Leger Greer, Irish Guards, Special Reserve, second son of Captain J H Greer, late of the Highland Light Infantry, head of an old County Tyrone family.
‘For conspicuous gallantry in action. He led three platoons in the advance under very heavy fire. At one point in the advance he shot an enemy machine gunner at about 80 yards, silencing the gun and saving many casualties. Later, he did fine work consolidating the position won.’
1917
By February 1917, Frank Greer had been attached to the bombing section of the Irish Guards.
Lieutenant Greer was serving with the 2nd Battalion of the he Irish Guards when he was killed in a training accident on the 1st February 1917, aged 23. He had been acting as brigade bombing instructor when a bomb went off accidently.
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 6th February 1917:
Lieutenant Francis St Leger Greer, M.C., Irish Guards, killed in action, was a member of an old Ulster family which has been settled in the province since the seventeenth century. Born on 13th July 1894, he was the younger son of Captain Joseph H Greer, late Highland Light Infantry, of Grange, Moy, County Tyrone, now resident at and Curragh Grange, The Curragh, County Kildare, and a grandson of General Henry Harper Greer, C.B., D.L., of the Grange, who died in 1888. At the beginning of the war he obtained a commission in the 8th Reserve Regiment of the Cavalry, which is affiliated to the 16th and 17th Lancers, but afterwards transferred to the Irish Guards, and lately has been attached to the bombing section. He was awarded the Military Cross last year for conspicuous gallantry in action, the announcement of the London Gazette stating that he led three platoons in an advance under very heavy fire. At one point in the advance he shot an enemy machine gunner at about eighty yards, silencing the gun and saving many casualties. Later he did fine work in consolidating the position won. His elder brother, Major Eric Beresford Greer, M.C., Irish Guards, had served with distinction in France, and had also been decorated for conspicuous bravery in the field. On the maternal side, Lieutenant Greer was a grandson of the late Major General George de la Poer Beresford, Indian Army, a kinsman of Lord Decies, the Chief Censor in Ireland.
From the Tyrone Courier dated 8 February 1917: Lieut. F St L Greer
Lieutenant Francis St Leger Greer, Irish Guards, killed in action, was the second son of Captain J H Greer, The Grange, Moy, and Curragh Grange, County Kildare. When the war broke out, he joined the 16th Lancers, from which he was transferred to the Guards, in which his brother Eric Beresford Greer, was serving. He qualified as a bombing officer and was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry and devotion last year. The deceased was twenty two years old.
From the Kildare Observer dated 10th February 1917:
We regret to announce the death in action of Lieut. Frank Greer, of the Irish Guards, the second son of Captain and Mrs Greer of Curragh Grange, Co. Kildare. At the beginning of the War Lieut. Greer entered a cavalry regiment, but afterwards joined the Irish Guards, and lately had been attached to the bombing section. (Many cavalry regiments dismounted due to less need for this type of warfare from 1914). He saw a good deal of active service, and was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. He was a splendid type of officer, and his loss will be keenly felt, not alone by his brother officers in the distinguished regiment to which he belonged, but by all in civil life who were acquainted with him.
Memorials
Lieutenant Francis St Leger Greer M.C. is buried in Heilly Station Cemetery at Mericourt-l'Abbe, in the Somme, France. His inscription reads: I THANK MY GOD FOR EVERY REMEMBRANCE OF HIM
From the Book: 'Blood and Thunder: The Boys of Eton College and the First World War' by Alexandra J Churchill
At the beginning of 1917, Eric's younger brother and fellow OE, 23 year old Frank was killed. He had been acting as brigade bombing instructor when a charge went off accidently.
The CWGC record Lieutenant Francis St Leger Greer M.C. as the son of Captain J H and Mary Greer of Curragh Grange, The Curragh, County Kildare.
Read more
Relevant Dungannon Area Locations
No Location Region Location Notes Longtitude Latitude
1 Grange, Moy Moy Census listing in Grange, Moy 54.46919 -6.707597
References and Links
No Link Reference Map Doc
1 1901 Census lists Francis Greer Lists Francis as age 6 at house 18.1 in Grange, Moy, Tyrone
2 BillionGraves.com Photo of Francis Greer's headstone
3 Brother - Lieut Col Eric Beresford Greer Brother of Francis Greer
4 Kildare Library website Report of death of Frank Greer in Kildare newspaper
5 National Archives UK Service record - not online as of April 2021
6 National Archives UK Medal Card can be purchased here
7 Photos from London exhibition Photo of Captain Greer and details
8 The Peerage Family tree including birth dates
9 War Graves Photographic Project Photo of Francis Greer's gravestone can be purchased here
Dungannon District's War Dead Acknowledgements 2015-2023