London Regiment (London Irish Rifles) (British Army)
Date Of Birth:
25/05/1898
Died:
30/11/1917 (Killed in Action)
Age:
19
Summary
Archibald Thomas Aird was the son of Archibald Small and Frances Aird. He was born about 1898. The family lived at Jasmine Lodge, Charlemont. His father was a retired tea planter. Archibald Aird attended the Royal School Dungannon, entering in 1913. He enlisted with the Irish Fusiliers in Newtownards. He was then sent to an officer’s cadet battalion in Bristol, England, before being gazetted 2nd Lieutenant in August 1917. Second Lieutenant Archibald Aird served with the 1st/18th Battalion of the London Regiment (London Irish Rifles), On 30th November 1917 the regimental diary records heavy shelling and casualties. One of those casualties was Second Lieutenant Archibald Thomas Aird, who was killed in action on 30th November 1917.
Further Information
Archibald Aird was the youngest son of Archibald and Frances Aird. Archibald Small Aird and Frances Kimmitt were married about 1888. There is no record of the marriage on GRONI so it’s possible they were married in Scotland.
Archibald Thomas Aird was born on 25th May 1898. He was the youngest of five children, all born in the Blackwatertown area, near Charlemont.
Known family: Archibald Small Aird, Frances Aird, Gilbert Aird (born 15th January 1887), Elizabeth Margaret Aird (born 4th May 1888), Florence Aird (born 31st October 1890), Frances Mary Aird (born 11th April 1894), Archibald Thomas Aird (born 25th May 1898).
he 1901 census lists A T Aird as age 2, living at house 1 in Borough of Charlemont. The house was Jasmine Lodge. His mother was born in Scotland.
The 1911 census lists Archibald as 12 years old and still at school. His father was a retired tea planter.
Archibald Aird attended the Royal School Dungannon, entering in 1913. His older brother Gilbert had previously been a student.
He enlisted with the Irish Fusiliers in Newtownards. He had the Service No 10/24175.
He was then sent to an officer's cadet battalion in Bristol, England, before being gazetted 2nd Lieutenant in August 1917.
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 6th August 1917:
Cadet A T Aird, youngest son of the late Mr A S Aird, Jasmine Lodge, Charlemont, County Armagh, has been gazetted second lieutenant and posted to the London Irish Rifles, of which his uncle, Colonel Kimmitt, is the commanding officer. This young officer was educated at the Royal School Dungannon, and after being a short time with the Irish Fusiliers at Newtownards was sent to an officers’ cadet battalion in Bristol.
Second Lieutenant Archibald Aird served with the 1st/18th Battalion of the London Regiment (London Irish Rifles), His uncle, Lieutenant Colonel Robert Kimmitt, was the commanding officer.
In November 1917, his unit was involved in fighting at Cambrai. The regimental diary records that they were in the area of Bourlon Wood. Many unsuccessful attempts had been made to dislodge the Germans.
On 30th November the regimental diary records heavy shelling and casualties.
One of those casualties was Second Lieutenant Archibald Thomas Aird, who was killed in action on 30th November 1917.
From the Belfast Newsletter dated 13th December. 1917:
Second Lieutenant Archibald T Aird, London Regiment, wounded and missing, is a son of the late Mr A S Aird, Charlemont, Moy, County Tyrone, and of Mrs Aird, Pembroke Road, Dublin. He joined the Royal Irish Fusiliers in the year 1915, and got his commission with six months. His brother, Private G Aird, is in the Royal Irish Regiment.
Archibald was the youngest pupil of the Royal School Dungannon to die in World War One.
Second Lieutenant Aird has no known grave and is commemorated on Panel 12 on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, France.
Many thanks to Nigel Henderson of the Great War Ulster Newspaper Archive for providing images and information.
