Pte 52827 Thomas Bolger

• Age: 36
• From: Co. Kildare
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Thursday 12th October 1916
• Commemorated at: Warlencourt Brit Cem
  Panel Ref: III.C.16

The pension card shows that his mother Margaret lived in Upper William Street, Blackparks (townland), Athy, County Kildare. (Ernest Shackleton was born not far from Athy, where today he is honoured with a statue and a museum.)

A Margaret Rigney married Pat Bolger in 1869; their son Thomas was born on 03rd August 1880.  Their other children were David, John, Patrick, Anne, and Eliza(beth). The family was Roman Catholic.

The only Irish censuses show a Margaret Bolger, widowed, living in Newman’s Row, Athy in 1901 with children John, 26, a farm labourer,  Anne, 18, and Eliza, 14.  Thomas would have been about 20 years old and has left home.  

We do know that Thomas married Annie Maher in late 1901, He was the father of 10 children, 4 of which sadly died. Those children we can find records for are; John Joseph, born on 03rd September 1902; Thomas, 1904 died at age 4; Margaret Ann 1905 died at 11 months; Vincent born on 06th January 1907; James 01st January 1909; and Christopher 17th December 1910.

The 1911 finds Thomas and his family at 16 Frith Street, Kirkdale, with four sons.  Thomas is 31, employed as a canal porter, Annie, 36, was born in Wakefield, Yorkshire. Their children are listed as; John aged 8, Vincent 4, James 2, and Christopher 3 months old.

They had two more sons, Patrick, born on 22nd January 1913, and Joseph on 25th December 1914.

In 1911 his mother, Margaret, is living in Plewmans Row, Athy, with daughter Anne.  

Earlier Ireland censuses have not survived; it has not been possible to positively identify Thomas on censuses or crew lists. 

He enlisted in Liverpool, the amount of the War Gratuity suggests that he enlisted in June or July 1915. 

Thomas was serving in the 17th Battalion, The King’s Liverpool Regiment as Private No 52827 when he was killed in action on the 12th October 1916, aged 36, during the Battle of the Transloy Ridges which was part of the ongoing Somme Offensive.

17^th Bn War Diary:  Battle of Transloy Ridge –                                               

11-10-16 - Gird Trench/Gird Support – Battalion in front line and support trenches. British bombardment of enemy front line system commenced about midday.  Hostile shelling was intermittent throughout the day.

12-10-16  - Our bombardment continued. Enemy reply weak.  2.5 p.m. Zero hour. Attack on German front line system commenced.  Enemy wire was found to be uncut and attack was unsuccessful.  Hostile machine gun fire was very heavy and caused many casualties. Battalion H.Q. and Support Trench were heavily shelled throughout afternoon and evening. […] During this action all communication had to be carried out by runners and carrier pigeons as all wires were being continually cut by enemy shelling.

Casualties: 5 officers killed,  5 officers wounded, 38 OR killed, about 225 OR wounded/missing etc.

Graham Maddocks, in “Liverpool Pals” p.140, adds:

“As the whistle blew, the 17^th Battalion left its trenches to move forward.  […]  As soon as the attacking waves left their trenches the enemy artillery began to register on them, and at the same time, the defending infantry commenced a murderous rain of fire.  […]  Although their numbers had been depleted by the British bombardment, they were trained and experienced soldiers, well dug in on high ground, and for the most part, looking out on uncut wire.  As such, it was virtually impossible for them to miss the City Battalion men struggling to advance in the mud towards them.   The 17^th Battalion, on the left, was particularly badly hit, as its portion of No Man’s Land contained a slight rise in the ground, and as the troops emerged onto it they were silhouetted against the sky and became easy targets.  Those on the left of the attack, who managed to avoid the hail of bullets and make it to the German wire, then found that it was totally uncut, and thus trapped, they too became easy targets, to be picked off almost at the enemy’s will.  It was hardly surprising that, seeing the first waves being wiped out, some of the following waves turned back and made for their start lines. These lines were now packed with other waves of troops, however, and the fleeing men added to the congestion already there, and became easy prey for the German gunners.  There is some evidence also, to suggest that at this stage, the British trenches were also being hit by their own heavy artillery shells which were falling short.” 

His name appeared in the list of K.L.R. Killed published in the Liverpool Post & Mercury on 20th November 1916.

Thomas now rests at Warlencourt British Cemetery, France where his gravestone inscription reads;

“R.I.P.” 

Warlencourt Cemetery is entirely a concentration cemetery, begun late in 1919 when graves were brought in from small cemeteries and the battlefields of Warlencourt and Le Sars. The Graves Registration form shows graves from “Le Sars 6/1, 6/2, Hexham Road, Seven Elms”.

Graves were brought in from the original cemeteries at Hexham Road (Le Sars), and Seven Elms (Flers), as well as over 3,000 British graves due to the fighting which took place around the Butte de Warlencourt from the autumn of 1916 to the spring of 1917, and again in the German advance and retreat of 1918.   The cemetery now contains 3,505 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War, 1,823 of which are unidentified.

According to CWGC records a body initially buried as J. Bridges, 4771, K.L.R., (means of identification G.R.U HM.32), was later identified as Pte. T. Bolger 52827, 13th (sic) Bn. K.L.R.  [Pte J. Bridges, 4771, K.L.R. was somehow a mis-transcribed name for Pte John Brodie, who was transferred to No. 528019 Labour Corps and received the SWB after receiving a GSW to the hand. Further to this he had an Alias at the start of the war when he joined up as Pte R. Swift, 6886, Cheshire Regt. Further investigation reveals this name came from his sister Sarah Ann’s husband Richard Swift. We are happy to say Brodie survived the war and was married with children on the 1939 register living on Buckingham St, Liverpool.]  

SDGW gives Thomas' battalion as the 13th K.L.R., but the Medal Roll shows only the 17th.

His children were 14, 9, 7, 5, 3, and one year old when Thomas was killed.

His widow Annie, of 33 Braemar Street, Kirkdale received Thomas’ Army pay as well as a War Gratuity of £4-10s, and was awarded a pension of £1-13s-9d a week from April 1917 for herself and six children.  The pension card shows Nominee; Sister Paul, St. Joseph’s Home, Belmont Road [home for the aged poor]. The pension ledger also shows that his mother Margaret, living in Upper William Street, Blackparks, Athy, received a pension of 8/- for nine months in 1921.

Annie died in St. Joseph’s Home in 1939, aged 62.

Thomas is commemorated in Liverpool’s Hall of Remembrance, Panel 14 Right (T. Bolger 7th Bn.) 

We currently have no further information on Thomas Bolger, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.