A Co Tyrone man who fought and died in World War I is being remembered 110 years later - thanks to the dedication of his family.
Private Charles Doherty, a member of the 6th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, was killed in action in the Balkans on 9 December 1915.
Originally from Fivemiletown, Charles moved to Belfast, and lived on Getty Street, the Falls, where he enlisted to serve in the war. Charles was a mill labourer, who was 31 when he died.
He married Mary Elizabeth Corr in 1913 in Belfast. They had one child, Mary Jane Doherty. Mary Janes’ grand daughter, Ruth McCormack, keeps his memory alive, by putting a memoriam notice in The Irish News.
Ruth’s father spent years trying track Charles down, but it took a long time due to Doherty being a common name, and the fact Charles moved regiments. Private Doherty was formerly with the Connaught Rangers, before being transferred to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
Speaking to The Irish News the week of his anniversary, Antrim woman Ruth McCormack said: “My dad was very interested in military history. We had a bronze war penny, my granny had it, because her mum (Charles’s wife) re-married, so my dad was keen to find him. Because Doherty is spelt so many ways and all the records were handwritten, he was a hard man to track down, but we eventually found him.
“My granny was 18 months [old] when he died, so she never knew her daddy, my daddy never knew his granda, I never knew my great granda. I think it’s important that he is still remembered. I do it out of respect for my daddy. The amount of time and effort it took for him to track Charles down, he deserves to be recognised, even 110 years later.
“Even when it was the 100th anniversary, my daddy put a big notice in. The amount of research my daddy and my granny put into that notice, giving the details of his life. I still do it because my daddy would have wanted it, and he would still be doing it if he was still here.”
In December 1915, the 6th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers held the front near Doiran, northern Greece. Lieutenant Colonel Cox sent two companies to occupy Crete Rivet. When Bulgarian infantry attacked under heavy machine-gun fire, the Dublins withdrew to Crete Simonet, suffering ten dead and fifty-four wounded. Among those killed was Private Charles Doherty, aged 31.
