Badges of the Connaught Rangers
Tuesday, 01 August 1989 00:00
Michael Walsh
The two volume work THE CONNAUGHT RANGERS by Col. Jourdain, published in 1927, is now something of a rarity, not readily available to the average collector. It contains, inter alia, ten pages of illustrations of the badges and insignia of the Rangers (88th and 94th) and it may be of interest to badge collectors to reproduce these in the next few issues of the Journal. First offering herewith…
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Disorderly Soldiers
Monday, 01 September 2003 00:00
Liam Dodd
by Liam Dodd In the Southern Police Court before Mr. Swifte K.C. on Saturday, Private James Trimble, Royal Irish Fusiliers, who had been a patient in King George V Hospital was charged with assaulting his wife, Martha Trimble at Grenville Street on Friday night. He was also charged with assaulting Constable 72C and damaging his uniform, with Private Daniel Ryan of the same regiment. Trimble was further charged with assaulting Inspector Campbell and Constable 72C, 64C, 119C, 173C and 106C.
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U.S. Navy Sinks U.58
Sunday, 01 June 2003 00:00
J. Morton
by J. Morton Ten miles or so to the south of Daunt's Rock off the coast of Cork lies the wreck of the German submarine U.58. During the 1914-18 War the German Navy lost some 203 submarines, or U-boats as they were generally called, and U.58 was the only one to have been sunk by United States forces unaided although U.S. ships contributed indirectly to the destruction of others.
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Death of Soldier
Saturday, 01 March 2003 00:00
Liam Dodd
by Liam Dodd Inquest held in the Morgue yesterday by Dr. Louis A Byrne City Coroner, in connection with the death of a soldier named Private Johnston Stothers Royal Irish Fusiliers, whose dead body was found floating in the Grand Canal at Portobello the previous day by Thomas Parsons Lock Cottage Portobello. It appeared that the deceased joined the army on the 14th September 1914. He was a native of Portadown, his mother residing at 12 Bridge Street in that town. The deceased left Portobello Barracks on the 8th December and had been missing since.
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David & Goliath
Saturday, 01 June 2002 00:00
James Morton
A GALLIPOLI ENCOUNTER by James Morton On 25th April 1915 Allied forces stormed ashore on the beaches of Gallipoli in an attempt to force Germany's ally, Turkey, out of the war and open up a supply route to Russia. It was the start of a disastrous campaign, subsequently to be cited as ‘an example of how not to carry out a military operation’.
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Tribute to Forgotten Irish War Hero
Friday, 01 February 2002 00:00
Michael Walsh
Tortured and Shot Daring Dubliner Commando Betrayed to GestapoWith permision of Michael Lavery, Evening HeraldThe story of a hero Irish SAS officer who battled the Nazis is told in a new book. Dubliner Captain Pat Garstin was tortured by the Gestapo and yelled at his men to run for it as an execution squad lined up in front of them. Captain Pat Garstin was shot dead along with four of his men - three of them Irish born - in a wooded area at Beauvais outside Paris on August 8, 1944. Two others ran for their lives after Garstin's shouted warning's and managed to escape the Gestapo. Garstin had led a section of 12 men, half of them Irish-born, who parachuted into Nazi-occupied France on July 4, less than a month after D-Day. Seven landed in the drop zone, a corn field in the forest of Fontainbleu outside Paris, while the other five came down in the woods. The first soldiers to touch down were met with a cry of ''Vive la France'' from a group of men in civilian clothes - then German machine guns opened up. The SAS men had been betrayed either by a traitor within the French resistance or by a French agent telling all under torture.
Last Updated on Sunday, 18 October 2009 01:46
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Irish Militia and the War
Saturday, 01 December 2001 00:00
Eddie Sullivan
by Eddie Sullivan The case of the Irish Militia is being kept well before the House of Commons. In the course of the debate on the war supply vote the other evening, M.P. O’Brien said there seemed to exist an organized system of evasion in the War Department to answer a very reasonable and straightforward question. It has been stated that the Louth Militia, now stationed at Sheffield had consented to go abroad, the consent of the men having being obtained by hook or by crook, and to the credit of an Irish journal, the Dundalk Democrat, the legal rights of the men in this matter were put before them. At that they saw reason to change their minds. The consequence was that the men were accused of disloyalty, and all sorts of attacks were made upon them in the London Press so that surely it was in the interest of everybody to know what the law was in this matter.
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Orders is Orders!
Wednesday, 01 February 1989 00:00
Michael Walsh
Lt. Col. Alfred Wintle, a distinctly odd but very gallant officer, was in hospital at Aldershot in 1943 with a broken leg when he chanced to see in a corner of a ward reserved for moribund cases a very young soldier of his regiment, desperately ill with mastoiditis and diptheria. Wintle hobbled over to him. “What is all this nonsense about dying, Mays?” he roared. “You know that it is an offence for a Royal Dragoon to die in bed. Stop dying at once. And when you get up get your bloody hair cut!” Mays recovered and admitted in later years “After that order from the Colonel I was afraid to die”.
From ECCENTRIC SOLDIERS, Carol Kennedy, London 1975.
Evelyn P. Dickinson, R.I.C.
Wednesday, 01 November 1989 00:00
Roger Willoughby
by Roger Willoughby Dear Roger, I have just seen a copy of the Journal No 9 of the Medal Society of Ireland. You have an article on the RVM to the RIC. As I think I told you I have the awards of E.P. Dickinson. You might be interested in knowing what I know of him and I enclose a photostat copy. Quite by chance I found a photo of him, and I send a copy of this too.
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Key to a Better Future
Thursday, 01 February 1990 00:00
Anonymous
From the IRISH INDEPENDENT 25 May 1989 The keys to what will become a new home for former soldiers were handed over in Dublin yesterday. Paddy Murray, National President of the Organization of National Ex-Servicemen (ONE) accepted the keys to the four storey premises at No. 23 Henrick Place from Davy Byrne, Dublin’s Asst City Manager. It is intended to convert it in to a suitable retirement home for ex-servicemen who have fallen on hard times and similar plans are envisaged for Cork City. The newly acquired premises are in good structural repair but considerable moneys will be required for conversion work. ONE is setting about fund-raising immediately.
He Fired the First Shot
Wednesday, 01 August 1990 00:00
Michael Kavanagh
by Michael KavanaghEdward Thomas was born in Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, enlisted in the Royal Horse Artillery at fourteen years of age and transferred to the 4th Royal Irish Dragoon Guards when he was sixteen. The 4th left Tidworth on 15 August 1914, embarked at Southampton on HMS WINNIFRIAN, arrived at Boulougne the next day and took position at Camp Haupont on the 19th.
C Squadron, including Drummer Thomas, were moved forward to St. Denis on reconnaissance and on 22 August were on the Mons-Charleroi road near the Chateau de Ghislain when their scouts reported enemy cavalry moving towards them. Major Bridges (later Lt Gen Sir Thomas Bridges), in command of C Squadron, ordered the 4th Troop to dismount for action and 1st Troop to draw swords ready for advance.
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A Unique Stole?
Thursday, 01 November 1990 00:00
Anonymous
In the June 1980 issue of AN COSANTOIR (The Irish Defence Journal) there appeared an obituary of the Very Reverend Chancellor F.W.R. Knowles MA who died on 30 January of that year. This much loved priest, known to his many friends as Freddie, was appointed rector of Ballysonnion Union, which included St. Paul’s Garrison Church in the Curragh Camp, on 2 May 1952 and was made an Honorary Chaplain to the Defence Forces with the honorary rank of Colonel.
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Mention in Despatches
Saturday, 01 February 1992 00:00
Michael Kavanagh
by Michael Kavanagh From earliest times it was the custom for field commanders to name particularly deserving officers in their routine reports or despatches to the monarch, the government or other higher authority but, in the British Army, other ranks were not included until Sir Charles Napier’s despatch of 2 March 1843 covering the Scinde campaign. Since that time it has been the common practice to name anyone deserving of mention, irrespective of rank.
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The Connaught Rangers at Jullundur
Thursday, 01 August 1991 00:00
Michael Walsh
(from the IRISH INDEPENDENT of 20 March 1950, submitted by T. Mullan)A great deal of water has flowed under the bridge of Athlone this thirty years past, and I doubt if there are many who can bear me out in that better than Sergeant Patrick Joseph Gogarty, who was Chief Marshal of this year’s St. Patrick’s Day parade in that fine town on the Shannon. For Sgt Gogarty, who was born in Kiltoom and is now with the Ordnance Corps at Custume Barracks, has seen the Wheel of Destiny take a mighty full turn in his own lifetime.
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The 1918 Absent Voters List
Friday, 01 November 1991 00:00
Ed Sullivan
by Ed SullivanFor one with an interest in WW1 medals to Irishmen the current dearth of material is rather frustrating. Medals to the disbanded Irish regiments are fetching high prices and even those that do appear in dealers’ lists are usually sold to UK collectors (and the best of luck to them) by the time the lists arrive further afield.
To see a pair or trio to R.A., R.F.A., or R.N. in an Irish antique shop window named to O’Brien or Murphy poses the question as to whether he was a local man or not, because of course large numbers of Irish served in units, corps and ships other than the traditional Irish regiments. In the case of Waterford many locals enlisted in the Artillery Barracks, which were long a feature of the city.
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Private Timothy O’Hea V.C.
Sunday, 01 March 1987 00:00
E.H. O’Toole
by E.H. O’Toole Since its institution in 1856 the Victoria Cross has been awarded 1354 times, a figure which includes the American Unknown Soldier of WWI (Cross on display in the Arlington Cemetery Museum), three bars and two Falkland VC’s. Originally intended as an award for exceptional valour in the face of the enemy, an amending warrant in 1858 extended eligibility to valorous deeds NOT in action. This regulation, never popular with the military, was rescinded in 1881 but in the interim period six ‘non-combat’ VC’s were awarded. Five of these went to a doctor and four men of the 24th Regiment for dramatic rescues in shark-infested waters off Little Andaman Island in May 1867. The other award, first of its kind, went to Private Timothy O’Hea for a deed of valour in Canada 1866. This VC is of more than ordinary interest and a great deal has been written about in various publications but as many of these are out of print, fragmentary or otherwise inaccessible to collectors it may be appropriate to summarise the story in the pages of the Newsletter.
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Arctic Interlude
Tuesday, 01 May 1990 00:00
Col. F.W.S. Jourdain
By Col. F.W.S. Jourdain The year 1919 was an eventful one for me in spite of the urging of my seniors to get back to 1914, ’real soldiering’ and all that. Early in the year I was sent to an intelligence course at Harrow-on-the-Hill where a number of off-beat military subjects were taught - such as the interpretation of aeroplane photographs, the correct way to handle message-carrying pigeons and so on. At the end of the course we were asked if any of us wanted to be considered for an ’Intelligence job.’ Everyone put up their hands to say yes and then forgot all about it.
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Dublin University O.T.C.
Wednesday, 01 May 1991 00:00
Michael Kavanagh
by Michael KavanaghReaders of Roger Willoughby’s book MILITARY HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN AND ITS OFFICER TRAINING CORPS 1910-22 may be interested in the following list of employees of the Bank of Ireland who were members of that Corps. If medals named to them turn up the DUOTC will be a starting point for research.
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Oglaigh na hEireann - Origin, Growth and Numbering System
Sunday, 01 August 1993 00:00
Michael Kavanagh
by Michael Kavanagh Oglaigh na hEireann, the official title for the Irish Defence Forces, was born as the IRISH VOLUNTEERS on the 25th November 1913 in Dublin, “In a surge of national feeling, eight thousand Irishmen from a wide cross section of our people created by acclamation an IRISH ARMY.” It’s aims were three fold:- - To secure and maintain the rights and liberties common to all the people of Ireland.
- To train to this end, discipline, arm and equip a body of IRISH VOLUNTEERS.
- To unite for this purpose all Irishmen without distinction of creed, class or politics.
Cap Badges of the Irish Militia 1855-1881
Tuesday, 01 February 1994 00:00
Michael Walsh
The badges worn in headdress by the Irish Militia prior to the year 1881 have received little recognition in the form of published articles or notes, although there can scarcely have been many more attractive and well designed badges than they were. The absence of information on the badges has made it most difficult for many people who are interested in collecting such insignia properly to catalogue their collections. Another difficulty encountered is that some of the corps were at various times in suspended animation and possibly did not use any special identification on their shakos and other headgear apart from numerals.
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