Vincent Augustine McInerny was born in Swansea at the start of 1897. He was the son of John and Julie McInerny.

His Niece kindly provided the following; Vincent was the 3rd child of a family of 10, my mother born in 1912 being the youngest. He came from a devout Roman Catholic family. His mother was French, daughter of the French Consul in Swansea and had travelled with her family to India, she had actually been born in Melbourne, Australia. Vincent's father was Anglo Irish - his grand father had come over from Ireland and married a Cornish girl.

In the 1901 Census, Vincent is 3 years old and living with his parents and 3 siblings at 10 Mirador Crescent, Swansea. His father, John, was working as a Copper Works Agent.

By 1911, the family had moved to Milverton, Uplands, Swansea. The house was full, Vincent was living with his parents, 7 siblings and 2 servants.

According to a Roll of Honour published in the Cambria Daily Leader, he was educated the Municipal Secondary School, leaving in 1914.

Shortly after leaving school, at the outbreak of the Great War, Vincent joined the 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade in Swansea. Because he was still only 17 years old, he remained in the United Kingdom and did not travel abroad with the rest of the Brigade.

At some point during his service, he was involved in an incident that ultimately led to his discharge from the army. He returned to his family in Swansea in December 1917 where he remained for the rest of the War.

Vincent was not to be deterred from a military career and later joined the 7th Dragoon Guards.

In November 1920, tragedy struck and Vincent’s father died of lung cancer leaving his mother to look after their 9 children.

Shortly after, on 11 April 1921, Vincent also lost his life in an accident whilst serving in Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq). Vincent was only 23 years old.

Vincent Augustine McInerny was buried in a military graveyard in Basra. His mother had the words SWEET JESUS, HAVE MERCY ON HIS SOUL, RIP inscribed on his headstone.

Vincent Augustine McInerny enlisted in the 1st Welsh (Howitzer) Brigade as a Driver on 7 August 1914 in Swansea. This was only the second day of war-time recruiting into the Brigade which would have placed him at the front of the queue to serve his country.

Unfortunately, his service record was destroyed in the Blitz, however it is possible to piece together much of his service using surviving records.

On enlisting, Dvr McInerny would have been given a Brigade service number, although there are no records to confirm this, based on other records it was most likely 887.

Dvr McInerny enlisted at the age of 17 and a quarter (confirmed by a surviving photo), which meant he was not allowed to serve overseas - as enlisted men in the Territorial Force were not allowed to serve abroad until the age of 19. Despite this, he still put his name forward for Overseas service - known as Imperial Service, and a separate photo from early in the war shows him proudly wearing his Imperial Service Badge as well as a Signallers Insignia.

For the rest of 1914, he would have trained in Swansea with the rest of the recruits, but then would have been posted to the 2nd Line of the Brigade until he reached the age of 19 (a parallel unit whose role was defend Britain, allowing the 1st Line to go overseas).

The 2nd Line moved around the country, spending time in Swansea, Northampton, Reigate, St Neots nr Bedford and East Anglia. A surviving photo of Vincent was taken in a studio in Northampton, which can date the picture to between May and July 1915.

At some point, Dvr McInerny transferred to the 68th Division Ammunition Column which supported the artillery of the 68th (2nd Welsh) Division and was promoted to Acting Bombadier.

A/Bdr V.A. McInerny appears to have been involved in a traumatic incident that impacted him deeply during this time and as a result of it was discharged sick on 7 December 1917. Despite volunteering, he did not ultimately serve overseas during the War and was not eligible to receive any medals. He did however receive the Silver War Badge, recognising his honorable discharge from the army on medical grounds.

Vincent appears to have recovered from this incident and rejoined the army as a Trooper in the 7th Dragoon Guards following the War and was deployed to Mesopotamia, where following the end of the war in the region, the British had occupied the area and created the modern day country of Iraq and were in the process of transitioning rule back to local authorities.

On 11 April 1921, Trooper Vincent Augustine McInerny lost his life in an accident in Basra, Iraq. He was buried at the Baghdad (North Gate) War cemetery.