Granton War Memorial

John Foley was the son of Thomas and Rosia Foley who at the time of the 1901 Census were living at 12 Lower Granton Road. Thomas Foley’s occupation was that of a ‘carter on a farm’.

Before he enlisted on 20th November 1915, John Foley was also working as a carter. He joined the Royal Naval Division (RND) – part of the Royal Navy that was diverted away from service at sea and trained to fight as infantry. From the point of view of the modern researcher this is convenient since Record Cards for RND men are available on line at www.ancestry.co.uk. This shows that he left the United Kingdom to join the British Expeditionary Force on 31st July 1916. He was attached to a Machine Gun Company until 15th May 1917 when he was detached to join an Advanced Horse Transport Depot at Abbeville – perhaps his experience as a carter came in useful here. On 8th March 1918 he rejoined a Machine Gun Company and was killed in action on 30th September 1918. He is buried at Proville British Cemetery.

His record shows that his next of kin was initially his brother James Foley at 143 Granton Road. Later this was changed and his brother Private Peter Foley (address c/o Mrs McGibbon, 902 Govan Road, Govan) became his next of kin.

John Foley is also commemorated on the War Memorial at St Mary’s Roman Catholic Cathedral, Edinburgh.

This page will be revised shortly.