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Willie McBride was an Irish soldier whose death in 1916 during World War I was the inspiration for that song No Man's Land.

Early life
William "Willie" McBride was born in 1895 in Keady Rural, Armagh. He grew up in Lislea with his mother and father, Lina and Joeseph, his four brothers and one sister. His family were all members of the Church of Ireland and attended Temple Presbyterian Church. Willie went to school at rosskeys National School. After he finished at school he went on to work in the shoe trade, starting as an apprentice in Aitkens, Cootehill. He moved to Allinghams, North Street, Belfast before joining the army, only nine months prior to his death at the age of approximately twenty-one.

An event in which Willie McBride took part in
Private McBride died on the 22nd of April 1916. Through an extract from the History of the 36th Division, we know the conditions which faced McBride on that day. The extract describes how McBride amongst other took up their positions during the Bombardment. His fellow comrades on that day were the 9th Inniskillings, the 11th Rifles and the 9th Irish Fusiliers.

The conditions
The Irish Fusiliers had a job to do and their job in the trenches was to endure and withstand everything that the Germans threw at them. For the most part, they lay under furious bombardment as the rain constantly fell on top of them. The trees in the wood around them were either in flames or crashing down. The noise of the trees falling accompanied the noise of the German bombardment. But this was nothing. Most men, providing they survived of course, would spend up to two weeks in the Trenches. Two weeks in these trenches were the North Sea pounded its icy wind, rain and snow on top of you. The only thing that lay between the German trenches and the Fusiliers was now a couple of miles of unusable waist deep liquid mud. At the time of his death, McBride was acting as Orderly for 2nd lieutenant Kelly. Kelly turned out to get injured shortly after McBride’s killing and was returned home. In a letter written by Lieutenant Kelly to inform McBride’s mother, Lena, Private McBride was killed in the trenches by a German Shell. Kelly then proceeds to tell Mrs McBride how he had recommended McBride for bravery due to an event which took place in March. McBride carried a message under intense German shell fire and he acted as an example to his comrades.