Pte 31130 Michael Keary

• Age: 20
• From: Liverpool
• Regiment: The King's (Liverpool Regiment) 17th Btn
• K.I.A Monday 9th April 1917
• Commemorated at: Arras Memorial
  Panel Ref: Bay 3

Michael Martin Keary was born on 18th November 1896 at Toxteth Park the seventh of eleven children born to James Keary and his wife Ann (nee Kelly). He was baptised at Our Lady of Mount Carmel on 27th November 1896, his parents address is given at the time as 29 Stepford Street. His father was born in Dublin whilst his mother was born in Wexford, they had married in 1884 in Liverpool. He had 10 siblings, eight of whom were brothers; Joseph, John, Francis, Thomas, Peter, James, Matthew and Vincent. He had two sisters Annie and Christina (died in infancy). All of the children were born in Liverpool.

The Census of 1901 shows the family are living at 29 Stopford Street.

Father James J. is aged 44, employed as a Warehouse Porter b.Ireland, Mother Annie is 35 b.Ireland, children born Liverpool, Joseph P. 16, John A. 13, Anne J. 12, Francis 10, Thomas M. 8, Peter 6, Michael 4, James 3, Matthew D. 1mth. 

By 1911 the family had moved to 39 David Street.

Father James J. is aged 55, a warehouseman b.Dublin, Mother Anne is 46 (married 27 years 11 children 10 still alive) b.Wexford , children Joseph P. 26 a clerk in a mill in N.Y.(struck out), John A. 23 married, a railway shunter(struck out), Annie J. 22 a school teacher, Francis J. 20 a Private soldier(struck out), Thomas J. 18 unemployed, Peter 16 in the office of a provision dealer, Michael M. 14 at home, James 13 at school, Matthew 10 at school, and Vincent 8 at school.

Michael's mother Ann died in 1911 aged 47.

Michael enlisted in Liverpool and was serving with the 17th Battalion of The King's Liverpool Regiment as Private 31130 when he was killed in action, aged 20, on 09th April 1917. 

17^th,  19^th & 20th  Battalion at the  Battle of Arras 09^th April 1917

Everard Wyrall records the events of the day  in Volume 2 of his History of the King's Regiment (Liverpool).

The 89^th Brigade formed up for the attack with the 19^th King's on the right and the 20^th King’s on the left. The 17^th King’s supplied the “mopping up" parties and he 2nd Bedfords were in close support.

It was just after 3pm when the advance began “According to scheduled time the waves advanced in good style and with determination; everyone was cheerful and in the best of spirits”

That advance is described by others as magnificent. From the OP’s the observing officers saw a wonderful sight – long lines of men advancing steadily up a long and gradual slope towards the enemy’ front line. Then suddenly they disappeared. The observers quite pardonably, imagined that the German front line had fallen into the hands of the assaulting troops and that the latter were on the way to the enemy’s support line. Alas something very different had happened. When the advancing troops had reached the summit of the long slope up which they advanced the ground suddenly dipped before the German front line , and when the observing officers thought they  were already in the Bosche lines they had not, as a matter of fact, even reached the wire. What the observers took to be the front line was really the support line; the front line could not be seen  - it lay just behind the crest of that slight rise in the ground.

The attacking waves of the 19^th King’s got within 100 yards of the German wire but were then held up. They were faced by three belts of entanglements, practically untouched by our artillery, and nothing could be done but to dig in or else take shelter in the many shell- shell-with which “No Man’s Land" was pitted. By this time the battalion’s losses were very heavy, and when darkness fell “A" and “B" Companies (about 140 in all) lay in shell-holes, two or three hundred yards north east of St. Martin, but just south of the Cojeul River, and “C" and “D" Companies (140 all ranks) were along the river bank, but on the northern side about 150 yards north east of St. Martin.

The first waves of the 20^th King’ advanced at 3.7pm. At 4pm Lieut Beaumont, commanding “A" Company, reported that he had had some forty casualties in passing through the enemy’s barrage. The next message, timed 4.40pm, stated that the position of the battalion at that period was on a crest in front of the enemy’s wire and about 100 yards from it. On the right the 21^st Division was observed to have penetrated the enemy’s front line, but in the left the right Battalion of the 21^st Brigade (the Wilts) was on the St. Martin- Neuville Vitasse road; the left flank of the 20^th King's was, therefore, “ in the air”.

Urgent messages were sent up from Battalion Headquarters to “push on, keeping in touch with right” But little else could be accomplished until those formidable belts of wire had been cut sufficiently to allow the rapid passage of the attacking troops, headed by their bombers.

At 9:30 that night 89^th Brigade Headquarters ordered both the 19^th and 20^th Battalions to withdraw, the former to the two sunken roads running south east from St. Martin, the latter to north west of St. Martin; the guns had been ordered to cut the enemy’s wire during the night in preparation for another attack during the 10^th April.

Of the 17^th King’s  - the “moppers up" – there is little to relate. There was nothing to “mop up" so that they did not function. Yet they had shared all the perils of the advance, and when  after they had fallen back and at midnight held the following positions, “B", “C", and “D" Companies in and around the sunken road north of Boiry-Becquerelle and “A" Company in trenches west of Henin, they lost 2 officers and 16 other ranks killed, and 3 officers and 48 other ranks wounded.

His body was not recovered from the battlefield or was subsequently lost as his name is on the Arras Memorial in France.

The ARRAS MEMORIAL commemorates almost 35,000 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died in the Arras sector between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, the eve of the Advance to Victory, and have no known grave. The most conspicuous events of this period were the Arras offensive of April-May 1917, and the German attack in the spring of 1918. Canadian and Australian servicemen killed in these operations are commemorated by memorials at Vimy and Villers-Bretonneux. A separate memorial remembers those killed in the Battle of Cambrai in 1917. Both cemetery and memorial were designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, with sculpture by Sir William Reid Dick. The memorial was unveiled by Lord Trenchard, Marshal of the Royal Air Force on the 31 July 1932 (originally it had been scheduled for 15 May, but due to the sudden death of French President Doumer, as a mark of respect, the ceremony was postponed until July).

Michael's death was reported in the Liverpool Echo 01st May 1917   

ONE OF FOUR BROTHERS

Private Michael Keary (20) King’s Liverpool Regiment, son of Mr James Keary, 39 David Street, Dingle was killed in action on April 9.  He was one of four brothers serving and the second to be killed in fourteen months.

Irish Independent 10th May 1917

Irish Rank and File

Dead.- Liverpools - Keary, 31130, M. (Dublin);

Michael is commemorated on the following Memorials;

Florence Institute for Boys Memorial in Toxteth, Liverpool

Hall of Remembrance in Liverpool Town Hall at Panel 67.

Soldiers Effects for Michael Keary (alias Kelly) to father James, Pension to James (has date of death 4th April 1917).

Michael's loss was not the only grievous burden the family had to endure as his brother Francis (Frank) served in the Royal Field Artillery and was wounded at Hill 60 in Belgium. He received treatment for his wounds and was on route to Salonika when the ship he was aboard, the SS Marquette was hit by a torpedo fired from U-35 on 23rd October 1915. Frank, aged 24, was among the 167 lives lost and his name is recorded on the Mikra Memorial in the British Cemetery in Greece. He was a talented boxer who had won several Championships in the Army.

Liverpool Echo 31st Dec 1915

CLEVER BOXER'S END.

News was received on Christmas morning of the death of Gunner F. Keary, R.F.A., by drowning, off the transport Marquette, in the Mediterranean, on October 23. Previous to the war, had served in South Africa and India, and his time would have been completed a fortnight before war was declared. He was then sent to the Front, and was wounded at Hill 60. After being in hospital for over three months, and home for few days' leave, was ordered to join the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was en route for Salonika that the Marquette was sunk. He was 24 years of age, the third son of Mr. James Keary, of 39, David-street, Dingle, and was one of four brothers serving with the forces. He was an all-round athlete, and won several championship contests in the Army for boxing, and had also fought the old Arena in Christian-street, Islington, A month ago news was received stating that lie was "missing," believed drowned, but now his death has been confirmed. 

Michael's father having suffered the anguish of losing two sons in the war, lived until 1935 aged 78.

We currently have no further information on Michael Keary, If you have or know someone who may be able to add to the history of this soldier, please contact us.