Waterford memorial to the fallen of first World War

The youngest Allied soldier killed in the first World War will be included in a roll of honour on a memorial to commemorate the men and women from the southeast killed in that war.

The Memorial to the Fallen in Waterford has been opened to coincide with the 90th anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. It includes a roll of honour and memorabilia from the 100 people from the southeast who participated in the first World War between 1914 and 1918.

Pte John Condon, just 14 when he died fighting with the Royal Irish Regiment in the Second Battle of Ypres, has his name on the memorial.

He was recruited in Waterford on October 24th, 1913, where he gave his age as 18 years, although he was only 13. He used the identity of his older, deceased brother, also named John. Pte Condon took the oath and signed up to the army reserve for six years' service. The permanent exhibition will, when completed, showcase a matching recording of the servicemen and women from Newfoundland and Labrador in Canada at Waterford Institute of Technology's College Street campus.

The First Newfoundland Regiment was virtually annihilated on the first day of the battle. The link between Waterford and Newfoundland dates back to the 16th century when up to 200 sailing ships a year travelled from Waterford to fish on the Grand Banks, off the east coast of Canada. They remained there for months on end.

Again, during the Famine, young emigrants flocked to Newfoundland, with almost 85 per cent of the Irish settlers there hailing from within a 30-mile radius of Waterford.

One hundred people, 92 men and eight women, came from the southeast region and are named on the memorial, while 58 of those listed came from Waterford; 21 from Kilkenny; 13 from Tipperary; six from Wexford and two from Carlow.

John Redmond MP then made a call to arms to Waterford people, asserting that fighting with the British armed forces would improve the prospects of Home Rule.

Seven of the listed women in the exhibition served as nurses, while the eighth was a mechanic who drove an ambulance. She was a great grand-daughter of Charles Bianconi, responsible for establishing public transport in Ireland.

Launching the exhibition, Ms Agnes Aylward, director of the Ireland-Newfoundland Partnership, said: "This will serve as a fitting tribute to the men and women from the southeast and from Newfoundland and Labrador who so courageously set out to face an uncertain future in the battlefields of the Great War."