1st Battalion, Royal Irish Fusiliers (British Army)
Date Of Birth:
05/11/1904
Died:
23/05/1940 (Killed in Action)
Age:
35
Summary
William Slaine was the eldest son of William and Elizabeth Slaine. He was born in November 1904. The family lived in Kildress. His father was a linen finisher and his mother was a seamstress. William Slaine went on to become the husband of Annie Slaine. They had two children, William and Elizabeth. William Slaine served with the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers in world War Two. Fusilier William Slaine was involved in the Dunkirk evacuation when he was killed in action on 23rd May 1940.
The town of Dunkirk is located in the department of Nord in the extreme northern tip of France approximately 12 kilometres from the Belgian border. During the First World War Dunkirk was a major port of debarkation for the British Expeditionary Force in September and October 1914. Throughout WWI it was a seaplane base and later an American Naval Air Service base. The town was also a French hospital centre and the 8th Canadian Stationary Hospital was there from November 1918 to April 1919. Although an estimated 7,500 shells and bombs fell on the town during the war, ship building and other port activities continued. During the Second World War, Dunkirk was the scene of the historic evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from France in May 1940.
