6th Inniskilling Dragoons (Service Squadron) - Gallery - In memoriam

In memoriam

Private Henry Orr

Henry Orr was born at Brookeborough, County Fermanagh, on 23 October 1893, the second of eight children of carpenter John Orr and his wife Rebecca ((née Cranston). At the time of the 1911 Census he was living in Brookeborough Town with his parents and six surviving siblings, and working as a farm servant.

Orr enlisted in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons Service Squadron on 26 October 1914 (No. UD/62) with his brother William and uncle Thomas. His father, another brother and another uncle had already joined the squadron. On 6 October 1915 he embarked for France with his squadron, which was then serving as divisional cavalry to the 36th (Ulster) Division. In June 1916 the Inniskilling squadron joined with C and F Squadrons of the North Irish Horse to form the 2nd North Irish Horse Regiment, serving as corps cavalry to X Corps.

The Fermanagh Times of 11 January 1917 reported that:

A number of men of the Inniskilling Dragoons, including Troopers Harry and Willie Orr, and Andrew Nixon, ... are at present at home on leave from the front.

In September 1917 the 2nd NIH Regiment was disbanded and its men were transferred to the Royal Irish Fusiliers, an infantry battalion. Most, including Orr, were transferred on 20 September and posted to the 9th (Service) Battalion – renamed the 9th (North Irish Horse) Battalion – joining it in the field at Ruyaulcourt some days later. Orr was issued regimental number 41091.

In November and December 1917 the 9th (NIH) Battalion played a role in the Battle of Cambrai, first going into action in the attack on the village of Moeuvres on 22-23 November. The battalion war diary for those days reads as follows:

[22 November] The Battn moved up at 6.30 a.m. to a position N. of Bapaume & Cambrai Road arriving at 8.30 a.m. Here the Battn waited for an order to attack Inchi when Moeuvres was taken by the 12th Royal Irish Rifles. At 11.45 a.m. the 12th R. Ir. Rifles captured village of Moeuvres. It was unable to clear trenches East of village. At 5.30 p.m. Battn moved up to support 12th R. Ir. Rifles in the village of Moeuvres. At 5.45 p.m. 12th R. Ir. Rifles reported driven out of village. At 8.30 p.m. Battn less 'D' Coy counter attacked village of Moeuvres but was driven back to trenches immediately south of the village, where it took up a defensive position for the night.

[23 November] Battn attacked Moeuvres at 10.30 a.m. At 11 a.m. Battn reported in village. At 11.45 a.m. enemy counter attacked from trenches West of village. 12.15 p.m. counter attack driven off. At 4.30 .p.m village evacuated by Battn on account of supports not coming up. 5 p.m. 'C' & 'D' Coys took up position on Sunken Road South of village and 'A' & 'B' Coys went back to trenches North of Bapaume & Cambrai Road.

Casualties for 22nd & 23rd: Officers killed 1. Officers wounded 6. ORs 82 casualties.

Orr was initially recorded as missing, but was later confirmed as 'presumed dead'. The Fermanagh Times of 20 December 1917 reported that:

Intimation was received on Tuesday from his brother, Pte. John Robert Orr that Pte. Harry Orr (41091), Royal Irish Fusiliers, and late of the Inniskilling Dragoons, one of the three soldier sons of Mr. John Orr, Brookeborough, was missing. His younger brother, Pte. Willie Orr (41092), of the same battalion, is wounded and in hospital at Eastleigh.

On 19 January 1919 the Fermanagh Times carried the following notice:

Private Harry Orr (41091), of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, son of Mrs. J. Orr of Brookeborough, Co. Fermanagh, has been missing since the 22nd November, 1917. If any prisoner released from Germany from his old regiment could supply any information as to his fate, it would be thankfully received by his mother. His brother, Lance-Corporal John Robert Orr, has just returned after being a prisoner of war for eleven months.

As he has no known grave, Private Orr is commemorated on the Cambrai Memorial, Louverval, France, Panel 10. If his body was recovered by the Germans after the battle, it was probably buried in the German extension to the Moeuvres Communal Cemetery, and after the war re-interred in the British extension, in which lie 263 unidentified casualties.

His name is included on the Brookeborough War Memorial, County Fermanagh (see images below).

Two of Orr's brothers, John Robert Orr and William Orr, his father John Orr and two of his uncles, Henry Orr and Thomas Joseph Orr, also served in the war in the 6th (Inniskilling) Dragoons Service Squadron.

Brookeborough War Memorial

The image of Private Orr is part of a family military photograph which can be seen in its full context here.

This page last updated 20 April 2024.