Friends of the Somme - Mid Ulster Branch  
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Date Information
20/04/2021 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.
20/04/2021 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.
20/04/2021 Francis St Leger Greer was the younger son of Sir Joseph Henry Greer and Olivia Mary Beresford.
20/04/2021 Francis was born on 13th July 1894 at the Curragh in County Kildare.
20/04/2021 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).
20/04/2021 Francis and his brother Eric were raised by their grandmother, Agnes Isabella Greer, in Moy, County Tyrone.
20/04/2021 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.
20/04/2021 Francis, like his brother, was educated at Eton College at Windsor in Berkshire, England.
20/04/2021 Lieutenant Francis St Leger Greer was awarded the Military Cross for conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty.
20/04/2021 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.
20/04/2021 From the Kildare Observer dated 10th February 1917:
20/04/2021 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.
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15/01/2017 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.
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15/01/2017 From the Belfast Newsletter dated 6th February 1917:
08/01/2017 ‘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.’
08/01/2017 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.
08/01/2017
08/01/2017 From the Belfast Newsletter dated 15th November 1916: Military Cross
30/12/2015 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.
30/12/2015 By February 1917, Frank Greer had been attached to the bombing section of the Irish Guards.
30/12/2015 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.
30/12/2015 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
30/12/2015 From the Tyrone Courier dated 9th December 1915:
30/12/2015
30/12/2015 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.
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30/12/2015 From the Book: 'Blood and Thunder: The Boys of Eton College and the First World War' by Alexandra J Churchill
30/12/2015
30/12/2015 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.
30/12/2015 From the Tyrone Courier dated 8 February 1917: Lieut. F St L Greer
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