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John Bannon, commonly known as Jack (16 October 1890 – 22 August 1922) was an Irish-born soldier who fought with the British army during World War 1. Born in Newry, in Ireland, now part of Northern Ireland. John signed up as a reservist for the Royal Ulster Rifles in 1912 and when Britain declared war on Germany he was mobilized and sent on patrolling duties to Grey Point Fort where he would be promoted to Lance Corporal and later made Full Corporal and given the job at drilling new recruits and attending recruitment drives with band and drums. Visiting his hometown of Newry and other regional districts in late 1915 it was in Carrickfergus where he was made full Sergeant and after attending a course on Platoon Drill with the Coldstream Guards in London and a spell in Dublin for a course on ‘bombing’, John Bannon was given the role of Recruiting Sergeant of which he excelled at. So good in fact was his ability to rally men to the cause that his attempts to be drafted to the western front were denied as his value as a recruiting sergeant was deemed more important.

As a member of the British Army, he was involved in quelling the rebellion during the Easter Rising in Dublin in April 1916, and afterward was successful in his application to be a Drill Instructor for the African front and a few short weeks later on the 2nd of July found himself disembarking in Mombasa in British East Africa (Kenya) where he was first made Acting Sergeant Major, then Regimental Sergeant Major. He worked alongside and trained native troops (Askari) of which he had developed a close relationship, even learning to speak their local language, and on 6th August 1917 he had his first major engagement as his regiment drove out the Germans from Mwemba Boma. One of his many victories in the months to come.

On 14th November 1918, three days after the armistice treaty was signed the regiment prepared to attack a German camp at Kasama. Two germans presented themselves with white flags and a message for the British commanding officer stating that the war was over.

On 18th November, John was tasked with freeing the allied soldiers at Kasma where he found the prisoners of war in a sorry state. he noted in his diary “They had hardly any clothes – only what they stood in and their boots were tramped off them.” Two months later, on January 1919 again John was tasked with a group to attend a concentration camp near Nairobi (now in Kenya) to free British Non-Commissioned Officers.

He was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for bravery in the field with which he was presented in Victoria Barracks in Belfast by General Hacket Payne and he left the army shortly after.

For the centenary event marking one hundred years since the end of the fighting. John's grandson, also John was invited to attend a ceremony alongside the grandson of General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck to mark the occasion.

Sources

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/northern-ireland-mans-poignant-trip-to-zambia-to-salute-his-grandads-role-in-last-battle-of-the-great-war/37382119.html

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/news-analysis/editors-viewpoint-observing-the-true-heroism-of-a-son-of-ulster-in-zambia/37383109.html

https://www.visitmournemountains.co.uk/dbimgs/Newry's%20Roll%20of%20Honour%2030%20Nov%202015.pdf