11th (South Antrim) Battalion, Royal Irish Rifles
John Joseph Dougherty was born in Whitehaven, Cumberland in about 1883. He was the husband of Florence Sarah and lived at Paragon House, Bath Road, Cheltenham.
He enlisted for the duration of the war on 7 September 1914 and was posted to the King’s Own Royal Lancaster Regiment and given the regimental number of 13661. His age upon enlistment was 31 and he gave his occupation as a labourer.
His Medal Index Card states that his first posting abroad was to the Balkans on 16 September 1915. As the only Royal Lancaster Regiment battalion to serve at Salonika was the 9th it indicates that this was his battalion.
At a later date he transferred to the 11th Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles (RIR) and acquired the number 11/40257. He was discharged from the RIR on 16 July 1918 due to wounds and awarded a Silver War Badge.
His Pension Record Card (available via the Ancestry website from late 2018) indicates that his wounds resulted in amputation of his leg and that was also suffering from pulmonary tuberculosis. On 2 June 1920 he was assessed as having 60% incapacity (resulting in a pension of 24 shillings (£1.20) per week).
He died on 20 September 1920 at Gloucester, age 38 and is buried in Cheltenham Borough Cemetery, with a CWGC headstone.
Researched by Graham Adams 1 January 2019 (revised) with part information from ‘Leaving all that is dear – Cheltenham in the Great War’ by Graham Sacker and Joe Devereux)