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Terence Tully - Atlantic Aviator

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by Jim Condon

The fascinating article in the last Medal Society Journal (No 29, August 1994) led me to try to establish Terence Tully’s pre-RFC/RAF days.

But what I found was not what I expected. First, the only Terrence Tully was one Terence Bernard Tully AFC, of Swinford, Co. Mayo. He did not serve in an Irish Regiment before joining the RFC, and was not awarded a DFC or any MIDs.
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The Red Triangle

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by Oliver Breen

I have read with interest the article by Pat O’Daly in your February issue No 31 1995 on the pipe sergeant model of the Royal Munster Fusiliers and I must congratulate Pat on his excellent details relating to the Munsters.

The Red Triangle seems to be giving some confusion so may I tell the story of the Inniskillings Red Triangle hoping that it might help and wonder if there is more than one red triangle.
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Bangor War Memorial

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by R. McGaughey

In Ward Park, Bangor, Co. Down, there is the unusual sight of a British war memorial being guarded by the gun from the W.W.1 German submarine U.B.19. The gun was presented by the Admiralty to Bangor, Co. Down, in recognition of the award of the Victoria Cross to Commander The Hon. Edward B.S. Bingham in 1916. The inscription on the gun reads - This gun taken from German submarine U.B. 19 was allotted to Bangor (Co. Down) by the Admiralty in recognition of the valorous conduct of Commander The Hon. Edward Barry Stewart Bingham, of H.M.S. “Nestor” at the battle of Jutland on the 31st May 1916 for which he received the Victoria Cross.
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Some Irish Units of the American Confederacy 1861-’65

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by Charles Raleigh

Alabama:-

 Emerald Guards
 -
 No. 1 Company Alabama Infantry
 Emmett Guards
 - B Company South Alabama Regiment
 Irish Volunteers
 - A Company South Alabama Regiment
 Mobile Dragons - Later Absorbed into 56th Alabama Cavalry
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Officers’ Medals I.G.S.M. (1854) Bar Pegu 18th R.I.R.

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by Derek Lister

Readers of our JOURNAL No. 26 (Nov. ‘93) may remember my article on the above where I stated that I had in my collection three of the five officer casualty medals for this campaign, namely, GILLESPIE, LILLIE and COCKBURN and pondered the acquisition of all five. I can now advise that I have obtained a fourth, that of Col. C.J. COOTE, who died 4th May 1853 from wounds previously received when commanding the force in the capture of Rangoon 11/14th April.
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Presentation of the Military Medal in Dublin

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by G. Callaghan

The following item was noticed in the Irish Times issue on Thursday 5th April 1917

On Friday last Colonel H.G. Kennard, Commander Dublin Garrison presented 43114 Lance Corporal Robert Hopkins, The Royal Irish Fusiliers, with the Military Medal for Bravery in the field … for his conspicuous conduct on the Somme on 3rd Sept 1916 … the circumstance were:-
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Men of Military Age in Ireland

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Courtesy J. Ryan

Statement giving Particulars regarding Men of Military Age in Ireland 

THESE statistics, compiled by the Irish Registrar-General, show (a) the number of men of military age as returned under "The National Registration Act, 1915," for the parts of Ireland outside the Dublin Metropolitan Police area, and the estimated number of such men in the Dublin area; (b) the number of men considered indispensable for agriculture, industries, &c.; (c) the number who have joined His Majesty's forces since the 15th August, 1915; (d) an estimate of men unfit for military service; (e) the estimated number of men at present available for military service -- 161,239; and (f) the number of men who have joined His Majesty's forces since the outbreak of the war. 

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Q.S.A / K.S.A. Medal Roll

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Militia Reservists of the 8th (Militia) Bn, the K.R.R.C.

Compiled by Irvin L. Mortenson


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From Aghada, Co. Cork, To Grim Gallipoli

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by C.M. Herbert

Gallipoli – the name has a certain romantic tone, but all who hear of it never fail to associate this area of Turkey with an abundance of grim warfare. The blood of thousands of Irishmen, New Zealanders and Australians stained the golden sands of the beaches to crimson in the terrible battle there in April 1915. In Cork, or wherever Corkmen assemble, the name of a young man from Aghada is always associated with Gallipoli – for this man, who was affectionately known as the “East Cork Giant” was awarded a Victoria Cross for Gallantry beyond all human expectations on this dreadful battlefield of Allies versus Turks.

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Postscript to a Mutiny

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“The mutiny of the Connaught Rangers was recently referred to in an article in AN COSANTOIR written by a captain in the Army of the Irish Republic. He remarks that “To any soldier the word mutiny has an ominous ring and very extraordinary circumstances must arise before recourse will ever be had by good soldiers to such drastic action.” After describing what happened at Jullunder and Solon, this officer of the Irish Army concludes - “The mutineers’ inept conduct of operations can be explained by the fact that they were all privates and corporals, more used to being led than to leading and planning.” 
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The Edwardes Gold Medal

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by Eamonn Dillon

There is no doubt that soldiering in India in the 19th century was a hazardous occupation, what with a largely hostile populace, regular outbreaks of the most violent disorder, appallingly bad living conditions and, above all, a multitude of killer diseases. The crowded military cemeteries still to be seen all over India and Pakistan bear mute witness to this. But it can also be argued that nowhere else were there so many opportunities for glory and advancement, especially for young officers, and he who would dare frequently enough could expect eventually to be noticed and rewarded. Was it Field Marshal Wolseley who said - “The best way for a young officer to better himself is to try to get killed at every opportunity!”
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Two Sides to Every Story

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“The decoration was taken out to Malta in May 1942 by General (later Field Marshal) the Viscount Gort VC, the new Governor of Malta. Lord Gort actually carried the George Cross in his own pocket. The situation was so serious that it was not until September that a public presentation could be made.” 
Article on the Malta George Cross by 
Major A.E. Abela in OMRS Journal, Summer 1992
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Band Of Brothers

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In a note written by headmaster Patrick Pearse, in reference to 1909, he states: “I dreamt that I saw a pupil of mine, one of our boys at St Enda’s, standing alone upon a platform above a mighty sea of people; … I felt an inexplicable exhilaration as I looked upon him, and this exhilaration was heightened rather than diminished by my consciousness that the great silent crowd regarded the boy with pity and wonder rather than with approval –as a fool who was throwing his life away rather than as a martyr that was doing his duty. It would have been so easy to die before an applauding crowd or before a hostile crowd: but to die before that silent, unsympathetic crowd!” 

This might be described as a coincidence or a premonition. It was certainly coincidental that the dream came to him in 1909, the year that Geald Keogh joined St Enda’s in Cullenswood House, Rathmines. When it reopened on January 11th Gerald became a day-boy in the senior school. The following June he appeared as a soldier in Pearse’s play The Boy-Deeds of Cúchulainn. It had been Pearse’s close association with Thomas MacDonagh that brought the school into increasing contact with theatrical circles.3 The pupils began to attend Abbey performances and in time, under the guidance of their headmaster, produced their own plays whose audiences included well-known Dublin celebrities. Besides, these plays were widely reported on in the press.

 

In November 1913, in opposition to the Ulster Volunteer Force, Pearse became co-founder of the Irish Volunteers and in December of the same year joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB). Unknown to Pearse, Con Colbert had earlier recruited some of St Enda’s older pupils into the IRB. It is easy to understand how, in this increasingly charged political atmosphere, Gerald could fall under growing militant influences in the lead up to the 1916 rising. Added to this was the boy’s knowledge that his father had been connected to the Fenians and his family had had associations with the United Irishmen movement in the 1790s. It is not surprising, then, that Gerald Keogh became an Irish Volunteer.

 

A photograph of Gerald exists in his Volunteer uniform. Contrary to the comments made that many comrades-in-arms were carelessly turned out, Gerald’s attire was of high quality. This is not surprising considering that his late father, James Keogh, had owned a shirt and glovier business in Sackville Street and many of the family were closely linked to the drapery trade. Gerald was an apprentice draper in 1911. This prompted Elsie Mahaffy, daughter of John P. Mahaffy Provost of Trinity College, to write in her diary that he was: well dressed and from a respectable street. The respectable street was 25 Elmgrove, Cullenswood in Ranelagh. The family, known as The Keoghs of Ranelagh, consisted of eight living children and one step child from a former marriage of James Keogh. Gerald was the youngest of three other brothers who took part in the 1916 rising in Dublin.

Gerald was a dispatch rider and was sent out by Pearse from rebel headquarters in the General Post Office to Stephen’s Green on the evening of Easter Monday and was killed on his return journey to the GPO early the following morning. In a letter conserved in the archives of Trinity College from Gerard Fitzgibbon to William Hugh Blake, Fitzgibbon states:  “One thing that terrified was early on Tuesday morning, just after dawn. Three of their dispatch riders came pelting down on bicycles from Stephen's Green, bringing dispatches to the Post Office, and we had twelve or fifteen men posted in windows and on the roof in front of College. They fired on the cyclists. Killed one, wounded another, and the third left his bicycle & rifle & bolted down a side street.” Fitzgibbons also states that: “The man they shot on the bicycle in the early dawn was riding fast, it was a hard shot at a downward angle from a high window, I believe they only fired four or five shots and he had two through his head, one through his right lung, and a fourth that hit and winged the second man of the party. If they hadn't concentrated so much they would have bagged all three.” The soldiers had who killed Gerald were composed of Canadians and Anzacs on leave from the front line in France during World War I and these were aided by units of the Leinster Regiment.  

Gerald’s body was removed from the street and carried into the College by three men and acting Porter George Crawford. A Mr. John Joly wrote: “Later I saw him. In no irreverent spirit I lifted the face-cloth. He looked quite young; one might almost call him a boy. The handsome waxen face was on one side concealed in blood. Poor boy!” The body lay for three days in an empty room. According to Michael Foy and Brian Barton in their book The Easter rising - physical decay of the corpse became so unpleasant that it had to be buried in the college grounds. It lay there for a fortnight.

 

Gerald was the youngest of three other brothers who took part in the rebellion. Cyril, who described himself as an actor, was arrested and confined in Richmond Barracks. On April 30th he was sent, along with two hundred other prisoners to Knutsford Detention Barracks in England where he arrived on 1st May. Leo, like Gerald, had been a despatch rider. Frank was, according to his niece, Finola Keogh, also interned. In 1941 the Irish Government struck a medal to mark the 25th anniversary of the 1916 Rising for those who had taken part in it. Gerald received his posthumously. I have no information about Frank and Leo but Cyril received the medal and both his and Gerald’s are conserved in Kilmainham Gaol

 

The medals were designed by Corporal Gerard O'Neill of the Corps of Engineers of the Irish Army and were manufactured by two companies: P. Quinn Limited and The Jewellery and Metal Manufacturing Co. Ltd. This led to slight differences, particularly in the suspender pin bar, which has an interlaced Celtic design. The ribbon is half-green, half-orange. The eight-star medal is suspended from the ribbon by a ring fixed to a smaller ring on the top point of the star. The figure of the dying Celtic warrior Cuchalainn is represented, tied to a tree stump. This champion fighter from Celtic mythology stood alone and saved the kingdom of Ulster against desperate odds. The figure of Cuchalainn inspired the militant republican movement in the lead-up to the Rising. Pearse was obsessed by the heroic figure which was, for him, the perfect emblem for self sacrifice and resistance against the greater foe. The students of St Enda’s had their fill of Cuchalainn to the extent that one pupil visualised him as “ ... an unseen but powerful member of the staff.”

 

Cyril Keogh was released from prison on 15th July 1916, too late to attend his brother’s funeral. He continued in active service and received a War of Independence (or Black and Tan) medal. This bronze emblem was also struck in 1941 and on the back is engraved: C Company, 4th Battalion, Dublin Brigade. Cyril lived to over 70 years and died in April 1964.

 

At this stage one might be forgiven for concluding that the Keoghs of Ranelagh was a wholly committed rebel family. However, it is not widely known that J. Augustus Keogh manager of the Abbey Theatre - who brought Bernard Shaw to Dublin in the 1916-1917 season - was also a brother. He had little interest in politics. Furthermore, their step-brother, Bartholomew Keogh was a Dublin business man who shared J. Augustus’ lack of interest in politics. However, another brother, John Baptist, joined the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles and was killed in action in Flanders on 25th October 1914. This spectrum of lacklustre interest or divided loyalties in politics was a common feature of Dublin families in the lead up to independence and underlines the need to avoid generalisations when dealing with Irish identity.

 

R. M. Keogh is grandson of Bartholomew Keogh, who was step-brother of Gerald.

 
References 
Dudley Edwards, R., 1990. The Triumph of Failure. Poolbeg Press Ltd. 
Foster, R. F., 1989. Modern Ireland 1600 – 1972. Penguin. 
Foy, M. and Barton, B., 1999. The Easter rising. Sutton Publishing. 
Hegarty, S. and O’Toole, F., 2005. The Irish Times Book of the 1915 Rising. Gill and Macmillan. 
Keogh, F., 1992. Lifting Lady Gregory’s skirts. Summer Edition. Theatre Ireland. 
Keogh, R. M., 2008. Universal Identity. A personal journey of discovery. (unpublished - family history). 
Kildea, Dr Jeff. Called to arms: Australian soldiers in the Easter Rising 1916. http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Called+to+arms:+Australian+soldiers+in+the+Easter+Rising+1916.-a0120109468
1916 Rebellion Handbook. 1998. The Moyne River Press.
Last Updated on Friday, 26 February 2010 16:26
 

Air Raids on Ireland during the Second World War.

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Introduction. 

 

When the ‘Blitz’ is mentioned, many think of London first and then cities such as, Coventry and Liverpool. However, Ireland, North and South, did not escape bombardment from the air during the Second World War. Many do not know, that after London, Belfast suffered the single worst air raid.

 

There are many sources of information about the air raids on Ireland. These range from formal documents including state papers, histories and also books by those who were directly involved and put their personal experiences in print. These personal accounts are very interesting social histories and will be focussed on in this article.

 

The ‘Blitz’. 

Major bombing of cities was initially to be focussed on military targets and on facilities supporting the war effort such as ammunition factories, dockyards building warships, aircraft and tank building works. Once, Berlin was bombed, Hitler’s response was to have all out bombing, no pretence was even made that civilian casualties were to be avoided if at all possible.

 

The ‘Blitz’ on London as seen by the people on the ground is described by Richard Collier in his book ‘The City That Wouldn’t Die’ which records the experiences of ordinary people be they citizens, firemen, ambulance crews, ARP wardens. This is a rich source as much of the book is based on the accounts of 471 people who were there. The book is dedicated to “those who wondered what it was like – and to those who knew”.

 

Belfast is bombed. 

Many felt that Belfast would not be a target for major bombing and little pre-planning was made and practically no equipment was provided for air defence or additional emergency services. While an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) service was established, the general public did not take it seriously. The major air raids on Belfast happened on the 14th /15th April 1941 and on 4th/5th May 1941. Up to 1100 people lost their lives, half of Belfast houses were, at least, partially demolished

 

James Doherty who joined the ARP as a Warden in Belfast City has recorded his experiences in his book ‘Post 381’. This account written at first hand is very illuminating and is a major source of the local social history of that time. It contains much information not readily available elsewhere. His descriptions of the events he personally witnessed are vivid and project the true horror of the destruction of Belfast. He was present at the Falls Road Swimming Baths when they were used as a temporary place for the dead. “We had volunteered but were totally unprepared for the real horror that was to follow. Hundreds of bodies brought in from scattered incidents were lying all around us”.  He well describes the full horror “I was thirsty, the smell of burned and decomposed flesh was in my nostrils and there was a horrible taste in my mouth. Even to this day the smell and taste returns to me occasionally”. The Baths were inadequate and St. George’s Market was then brought into use for dead bodies.

 

When Belfast was no longer under any threat of air raids, James Doherty volunteered and went to serve in London during the V2 rocket attacks. He died in 2009.

 

Eire’s assistance to Belfast. 

The authorities in Eire set up a Passive Air Defence Service under the command of Major Sean O’Sullivan. This comprised Air Raid Wardens, Casualty Service (which included the Irish Red Cross, the St. John Ambulance Brigade, and the recently formed Order of Malta Ambulance Corps), Decontamination Squads and Anti-War Gas Units.

 

The heavy raid on Belfast in April 1941 caused multiple deaths and major damaged to houses. It was a crisis for the ill-prepared City. A request for help went from Belfast to Dublin. The response was immediate and fire engines and ambulances were sent from Dublin, Dun Laoghaire, Drogheda and Dundalk.

 

Sean Redmond, in his book ‘Belfast is Burning 1941’, attempts to tell the story of the assistance given by the emergency services from Eire. Alas, as he writes “Information is hard to obtain (in 2002) much of it is simply not available. Most of those who went to Belfast have passed away”. He refers to Robert Fisk, the author of ‘In Time of War’, who interviewed some of those who had travelled north to Belfast and incorporated their memories in his book. “But what shocked both the Belfast and Irish crews was their growing awareness of the number of dead around them. There were corpses in the streets, spread-eagled on the pavements, sometimes even collapsed across the roofs of buildings where they had been blown by the explosions during the night”.

 

Nevertheless, Redmond’s book is a detailed account, and deals with the important matters of who in the North asked for assistance and who in the South made the decision to provide help. It was John MacDermot, the Minister of Public Security, after talking to Sir Basil Brooke, who contacted Dublin with the request for assistance. Ireland being neutral, there were major problems to be faced in reaching the decision to send personnel across the border to Belfast. As the firemen and ambulance men going north had all to be volunteers, the important question arose as to who would provide for their families if some were injured or killed? In Dublin Eamon de Valera and Major Comerford the Dublin Fire Chief faced up to these serious implications before sending the volunteers on their way. In addition to Firemen, members of the Irish Red Cross Society and St. John Ambulance Brigade also went to Belfast to assist.

 

Bombs on Dublin. 

It was not long after the bombing of Belfast that Dublin was targeted. Why was Dublin bombed?. There was a school of thought that it was a German response to the breaking of its neutrality by Eire. Another possibility was the bending of the radio beams used by the Germans to guide their bombers to their targets and so divert them away from their intended British targets. Or could it be simply that a bomber lost its way and jettisoned its bomb load and so made its return to base a less risky journey?  The most serious bombing, in May 1941, was that on the North Strand in Dublin, when thirty-four were killed and ninety wounded and about three hundred houses were either damaged or destroyed.

 

Northern Ireland War Memorial Building in Belfast. 

After the war had ended, a site in the centre of Belfast City, devastated by the ‘Blitz’, was selected for the building of the Northern Ireland War Memorial Building. This building as well as being the memorial to all people of Northern Ireland who had died as a result of the war included an office block for the British Legion and other charities caring for ex-servicemen and their families. It also records the links formed with the American Forces who were based in Northern Ireland.

 

The Memorial Building in Waring Street was officially opened on 29th October 1963.

 

Due to many reasons including the decrease in the level of activity of the various charities the Memorial Building experienced problem in maintaining its operation. It closed in 2007.

 

The War Memorial was moved to a new site in nearby Talbot Street, which had also been devastated in the ‘Blitz’. The associated ‘Home Front Exhibition’ is smaller than it was in Waring Street but it makes good use of audio-visual presentations which supplement the various displays of uniforms and memorabilia of the Military Services, the Home Guard, Air Raid Precautions and Fire Services.

 

National Museum, Collin’s Barracks, Dublin. 

The exhibition ‘Soldiers and Chiefs; the Irish at War at Home and Abroad 1550 – 2001’ has a section dealing with “The Emergency” as the 2nd World War was officially known in the South. This section includes exhibits of the auxiliary services and the North Strand Bombing.

 

Conclusion. 

The horrors of the 2nd World War were evident both north and south of the Border. The mutual support was recognised as a significant event. 

In Stormont, Minister MacDermot said “The help offered by our Southern neighbours was not related to any bond of war or to any political consideration. It was above and beyond any political consideration, it was based on a common humanity and we gratefully accepted and acknowledge it as such”.

 

Frank Aiken is quoted as saying “Of course we should go to Belfast. They are Irish people too”.

 

Sources

In Time of War, Robert Fisk, Paladin Books, London, 1985.

The City That Wouldn’t Die, Richard Collier, William Collins & Co., London 1959.

Post 381, James Doherty, The Friar’s Bush Press, Belfast, 1989.

Northern Ireland in World War II- Permanent Exhibition Souvenir Booklet,

Brian Barton, Council of the Northern Ireland War Memorial, Belfast. (undated).

Belfast in the 1940s, Joe Baker, Glenravel Local History Project, Belfast, 2008.

Belfast is Burning 1941 (The Story of the emergency services from Eire following the German bombing of Belfast), Sean Redmond, IMPACT Trade Union, Dublin, 2002.

Down Ratra Road- Fifty Years of Civil Defence in Ireland, Padraic O’Farrell,

The Stationary Office, Dublin, 2000.

The Dublin Fire Brigade, Tom Geraghty & Trevor Whitehead, Dublin City Council, Dublin, 2004.

The Emergency 1939-1945, Journal of the Military History Society of Ireland, Dublin, 1993-4, XIX (75 & 76).

Last Updated on Tuesday, 02 March 2010 09:52
 

Cavalry thunders across Curragh in display of military prowess

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One of the highlights of the summer of 1899, as reported in the local press, was the visit of the Duke of Connaught (third in line to the British throne) and his wife the Duchess of Connaught (a Prussian princess) to the British military encampment on the Curragh plain. The Curragh was then the pre-eminent cavalry training establishment within the British Empire. The cavalry was considered the elite of the military establishment and the 5,000 acres of the Curragh plains gave tremendous scope for fast-galloping military manoeuvres including mock battles which ranged from one side of the plains to the other. But in between the military exercises the royal visitors to the Curragh put aside some time to take in a little sightseeing in the Liffey valley east of the plains. The Kildare Observer of 8th July 1899 records that on the Tuesday afternoon of their visit the royal couple took a carriage drive towards Kilcullen in enviable weather conditions, according to the Observer ‘the weather was most enjoyable, a cool breeze from the north-west tempering the heat of the sun.’ The paper goes on to record that the royal pair took in many of the great landmarks of County Kildare: ‘In moving through the Curragh they drove near Donnelly’s Hollow, and the site of the famous fisticuff encounter was pointed out. The drive included a brief visit to Newbridge cavalry barracks, and led on to French Furze and on towards the Liffey to a point from which the view was obtained of the Round Tower of Kildare and of the immense fortification of Knockaulin, where the Kings of Leinster had their residence, and where a hundred years previously the insurgents were encamped and sustained the charge of the English troops.’ What the royal visitors thought of being shown the site of a famous stand by the 1798 rebels against English rule is not recorded. The Duke and Duchess were accompanied on their sightseeing drive by the Commander of British Forces in Ireland Lord Roberts, accompanied by Lady Roberts.  However it was back to serious military manoeuvres for the next event on the programme for the royal visitors. The Curragh Command had set up a major war-game event at brigade level which saw opposing cavalry, infantry and artillery units, take position on either side of the plains. An elaborate scenario was created to replicate a real battlefield situation extending over the mid-Kildare landscape. A Western force commanded by Col Knox of the Royal Horse Artillery from Newbridge barracks had, according to the exercise scenario, been defeated in the vicinity of Milemill, Kilcullen and had retreated across the Curragh in the direction of Edenderry while expecting reinforcements to come from that direction.  The Western force was to take up positions in the district of Dunmurray hill and the Grange Hills. This Western force comprised the 14th Kings Hussars cavalry, the Oxford Light Infantry and the Q Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery.  For the purposes of the exercise the rail line across the Curragh was to be represent a river which could be crossed by fords at two points –  the railway over- bridge at Rathbride and the under-bridge through the embankment on the Curragh plain.  Ranged against the Western force was a highly-geared Eastern force which comprised elite cavalry regiments including the 8th Royal Irish Hussars, and the 6th Inniskilling Dragoons, as well as an Infantry Brigade including Dublin Fusiliers, Connaught Rangers and the Leicestershire Regiment. At 10 o’clock the Eastern force assembled near the Kilcullen side of the Curragh. They received the order to advance and in what must have been a spectacular sight on the Curragh plain, advanced westwards with the Fusiliers leading the way, supported by the Rangers while the Leicesters were held in reserve, the object being to intercept the Western force in their retreat before they could reach Rathbride bridge. Another iconic Curragh landmark of 1798 fame, Gibbet Rath just to the west of the camp, was a strongpoint available to either force to capture. The cavalry of the Western force succeeded in doing so, but after a time were driven out of the Eastern force, and then retired across the river (in reality the railway line), hotly pursued by the cavalry and artillery of the opposing force. The mock-battle was monitored by a Chief Umpire who gave the cease fire order at 12 noon following which the entire troops of both sides drew up in formation about half a mile from the Curragh stand-house and marched past, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught taking the salute. The reports of the occasion in the Kildare Observer demonstrate how the Curragh was a powerhouse of the Imperial war machine in the golden years of the Victorian era.  SourceSeries no. 128.
 

Kingstown Police Court

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Mr. Swifte presided at the Court on Monday. James Moore and William Gorman, were charged with being deserters, the first from the Leinster Regiment, and the latter from the Royal Irish Regiment, and were remanded to await military escorts.

 Source
Bray and South Dublin Herald - Saturday 3rd March 1906.
 

Irish U.N. Veterans’ 2009 Wreath Laying Ceremony

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On Sunday November 8th 2009 the annual wreath laying ceremony organised by the Irish U.N. Veterans’ Association took place at the U.N. Memorial Garden in Arbour Hill, Dublin. The attendance included about 200 bereaved family members, retired officers and serving members of the Defence Forces, an Garda Síochána, representatives from the U.S. Air Force, the Royal British Legion and the Combined Irish Regiments Liverpool, and local residents from the Arbour Hill and Stoneybatter areas. Lieut-General Gerry McMahon, former Chief of Staff of the Irish Defence Forces, said that these men had made the supreme sacrifice and that it would be remiss of him not to recall those left behind. He went to ask all those present to remember the fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, wives, girlfriends, and partners who were left behind and who suffered the tragic loss of their loved ones. He asked that they all remember the children who had to grow up without the guidance, companionship and love of a father who had died far from home. Ms. Emer Costello, Lord Mayor of Dublin, laid the first wreath on behalf of the people of Dublin. Included in the other wreaths laid were five poppy wreaths presented by a number of organisations including the Royal British Legion, the Irish Guards Association and the Royal Air Force Association. The ceremony coincided with the 49th anniversary of the 1960 Niemba ambush in the Congo in which 9 soldiers were killed by Baluba tribesmen and was the greatest single loss of life sustained by the Defence Forces since the foundation of the State. Wreaths for the soldiers who died in the Niemba ambush were laid by family members Sally Tallon, daughter of Sgt. Hugh Gaynor, and Lily Kelly, widow of Cpl. Peter Kelly.  Prayers were led Msgr. Eoin Thynne, head chaplain of the Defence Forces, and Very Rev. John Marsden, Dean of Kildare, after which the names of the 90 men who lost their lives in the Congo, Lebanon, Cyprus, the Middle East, East Timor, Somalia, Sarajevo and Liberia between 1960 and 2005 were read and a minute’s silence observed. Also remembered were two non-members of the Irish Defence Forces who also lost their lives while on U.N. service  - Garda  Paul Reid who died in Sarajevo  and Sean Deveraux  of  Unicef  who died in Somalia.  The ceremony concluded with the playing of the Piper’s Lament  by Cpl. Paul Mulreay , 5  Bn  McKee  Barracks,   followed by The Last  Post.    
 

Out of the Dark 1914-1918

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 I am haunted by the events of the First World War, especially the thought that so many young Irishmen lie forgotten in some “corner of a foreign field,” and the noble cause for which they fought, written out of Irish history. Those young men, of all religions and none – middle class and working class – the cream of Irish society, were slaughtered in their thousands.   I embarked on a project in 2001, which I hoped would reveal substantial information on the military and family lives of about 170 officers and men from south and south-east Co. Dublin, who fell in the First World War. The results of this research will be published shortly in a book with the above-mentioned title. It will represent my contribution to the forgotten heroes of the war from my place of birth in south Co. Dublin. The aim of the book is to add to the limited family and military information available in the public domain on many First World War dead. It is also an attempt to keep before the public eye the story of heroism and heart-break of Irishmen who fought and died together in the trenches on the Western Front, Gallipoli and elsewhere. The book will also contain a great number of photographs of our dead heroes, together with images of the villages, towns and houses where many of them lived.  It would greatly help my research, if relatives of officers and men who were born, or lived for a time in south and south-east Co. Dublin, could contact me for the purpose of sharing information.   In contributing these profiles of three young men who sacrificed their lives to achieve peace in Europe, I hope to offer you a flavour of the finished book.   

Roll Of Honour,  Dundrum, Co. Dublin 

Davoren, Ambrose Joseph Stainislaus. Lieutenant.  Royal Field Artillery, Trench Mortar Battery, Commanding Z Battery of 25th Division. Last Day in Action:  He was killed in action in sector G15C, near Poperinghe, Flanders, on 18 July 1917, age 27.                                                                                                                     

War Diary for 18 July 1917 near Poperinge, Flanders, Belgium: The Brigade sustained a severe military, personal loss in the death of Capt. P. M. Chaworth-Musters M.C. and Lt A. Davoren Commanding Z Battery of 25th Division, who were killed by a shell.1   Military Notes: With a brilliant future ahead of him, Ambrose Davoren, decided to join the R.F.A. in 1915 and went to France in 1916. The War Office wrote to his parents on the 28 June 1917 seeking confirmation of the name of his next-of-kin and referring to him as, “Second Lieutenant Davoren.”  His mother replied immediately:                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

As a consequence of the death of my husband, the late Richard Davoren, I am now the nearest living relative of my son, Lieutenant Ambrose Joseph Stainislaus Davoren. I may add that my son was gazetted 1st Lieutenant in August 1917 with precedence from June 1916.   A response from the War Office confirmed that indeed her son was promoted to full Lieutenant.  The extracts from two letters that follow; one from his Chaplain, Father Smyth, and a second from a fellow officer, Lt.  A.  J.  Cunningham, who had been a clergyman in Scotland before the war, gives a faithful portrait of Ambrose Davoren. 

Letter from Father W.P. Smyth S.J.: You will, no doubt, have received official news of your son’s death. It is a sad loss to us all, officers, men, and myself not least. I went across to the Trench Mortar lines this morning and spoke in the same way about him. “Such a splendid officer.” “He was always so thoughtful for others.” “We could afford to lose him least of all.” Since I was attached to the Artillery of the 25th Division four months ago I have always found him most kind and most ready to help me to get the few Catholics in the Trench Mortar Battery together for Mass. Two Sundays ago he was present at my Mass in an open field. He really enjoyed a chat with me about Clongowes and his old rector and masters, most of whom I knew very well.It always surprised me that one of his great ability and disposition took so readily to and seemed so much at home in the very rough and tumble life we had out here. Of course, his heart was in his work, and it was a pleasure to see him arranging his gun positions in the trenches, fixing up telephones and setting so quietly and so thoroughly about all the little details of his duty, as though he had never done anything else and never intended to do anything else in his life. He told me himself that the strangeness of things out here wore off for him in about a week after he came out. That admission meant a very great deal, I assure you, and reveals more than anything the quiet determination that was the stamp upon his character.  This afternoon I have arranged to bury him in a cemetery away from the line, so he will lie in a blessed grave and the prayers of the church will be said over him as they would have at home in Ireland.                                                                                                        

A. J. Cunningham, Lieut. R.A. Adjt. 25th Division: I write to express my deep sympathy with you and yours in the loss of your son and my own dear friend. It is hard for me to realise that even yet that he has gone, though I brought his body back from the line and saw him buried. He rests in a quiet military cemetery well behind the range of the guns, and we have had a cross made to mark the grave. Captain Nowell Usticke has checked the articles of your son’s kit and is writing you an account of how they have been disposed. For friendship sake, I ask your permission to keep a little book of Shakespeare which he and I used many a time to read together. He was the best friend that I made in France, and there was none among us who did not admire his gentleness and humour, his ability and learning, his broad generous outlook and firm character. He was loved with equal warmth and sincerity by all his men, whether in his particular battery or not. I trust that God will send you comfort equal to the sacrifice he called you to make for he surely does not make love and worthy objects of love only to use them as a means to afflict us. You may rest assured that your dear son suffered no pain in his death, and he never feared his death while he lived. The truest, kindest friend that I had made in France. Captain Smyth, the padre who buried him, was a Roman Catholic, so that his burial was according to the rites of his faith. 2                                                                                      

Note: Lt. A. J. Cunningham was killed in action during March 1918. 

Campaign Medals:  British War * Victory.  

Grave/Memorial Notes: Grave II. B. 42, Poperinghe New Military Cemetery, West Vlaanderen, Belgium. He is commemorated on the War Memorial, St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church, Haddington Road, Dublin, and the Great War Memorial, Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare. 

Family & Personal Information:  He was born on 13 November 1889, the son of Richard and Catherine Davoren (nee Nugent) of ‘Friarsland’, Roebuck, Dundrum, Co. Dublin, where the family lived during the years 1887 to 1914. There were nine children in the family of whom seven survived.  Six of the children were named; Margaret, Mary, Esmey, Ambrose, Frances and Carmen. The children’s aunts, Margaret and Mary Davoren and uncle Ambrose Davoren were recorded at ‘Friarsland’ during years of the national census in 1901/1911. Davoren was educated at Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare; University College Dublin and at King’s Inns, Dublin.                                                                                                                                

A Master at Clongowes Wood College wrote: I should like to add the following little incident which took place in the dormitory when Ambose was in the Third Line. I was standing at the end of the dormitory when Ambrose came up to me and said, “Sir, there is a new boy just arrived, who says he has not brought any soap with him. May I give him some?” This little act of kindly consideration for others was to my mind, the key to his       character. It was not confined to the boys but extended to his masters and prefects. To his mother and sisters and also to his nephew, who is at present with us, we tender the very  sincere sympathy of his masters and prefects. We feel that his Alma Mater has lost a very devoted son. May his soul ever rest in peace! 3 The union of Clongowes pastmen was founded in 1897 and the first President was Chief Barron Palles. He had often discussed legal topics, as an equal, with a neighbour in Dundrum, Dublin, a young Clongownian, Ambrose Davoren. A brilliant young law student at University College Dublin and at the King's Inns, Davoren was not called to the Bar as he preferred to fight in the battlefield rather than in the courts. Maurice Healy, in his memoirs about the Munster Circuit, recalled Ambrose Davoren reading John Buchan's,  A history of the war, and wishing to translate into Greek the historical references to heroes and loyalty to king and country. 4 Following his departure from Clongowes Wood College he followed the Arts course in Classics and secured his B.A. with first place and first class honours. He would have benefited by a Postgraduate Scholarship but for being a solicitor’s apprentice in his father’s office. Some years after he gained his L.L. B. with first class honours, he was elected Auditor of the Solicitors’ Apprentices’ Debating Society, reading a very brilliant paper on The Rights of Minorities. This society awarded him its goal medal for oratory. He was Auditor of the Classical Society in University College and a member of the council of the National Student to which he contributed several articles. Davoren had completed his course for the Bar before he was actually “called.”  One might easily imagine that with such a splendid academic record he would not have had much time for the lighter side of University life. But such was not the case as he was one of the founders of the College Tennis Club; in fact, he took a large share in the college life and had made his mark as a very happy after-dinner speaker at college banquets. 

His father, Richard, a well-known Dundrum solicitor, was born in Co. Clare and practised from his offices at Dame Street, Dublin.  

Dundrum mother devastated by loss of two sonsThe Verschoyle Family of ‘Woodley’ Dundrum, Co. Dublin 

Family Information:  William Henry Foster Verschoyle (solicitor) and Frances H. H. Verschoyle (nee Jackson), 'Woodley', Dundrum, Co. Dublin, lost two sons in the war. It is said that the boy’s mother, who was born in France and died in 1924, never recovered from her tragic loss. There were four children in the family; George John Foster, William Arthur, Francis Stuart and Kathleen. The children’s aunts included; Catherine Frances Verschoyle, Matilda Anna Verschoyle and Catherine Foster Jackson.                                                                                         During the troubles, William Verschoyle received threatening letters, and on one occasion was even shot, but managed to chase his assailant across the fields and capture the gun. In the years following his wife’s death, he married Winifred Letts. When he died in 1943 his body was interred at Rathcoole Cemetery, Co. Dublin.  Their eldest son, George, served as curate at St. George’s, Dublin, during the years 1919-1925, followed by three years at Taney, Dundrum. In later years, he was rector of Killennel & Ardmine, Killenagh, and died in 1954. George and Frideswide had two children, Peter and Patricia, and five grandchildren.  Rev. George Verschoyle enjoyed landscape painting in oils, which led to a family art exhibition in 1929 at the Mills Hall, Merrion Row, Dublin. His wife, Frideswide, Sister Kathleen and three other members of the Verschoyle family took part in the exhibition. Kathleen married Rev. William Hogan and died in August 1948.                                                                                                                              

Arthur and his wife, Sarah Verschoyle were relatives of the Dundrum Verschoyle family and lived near James Joyce in Dublin. The couple featured in the following extract of a poem from ‘Ulysses’: “Love loves to love love,Nurse loves the new chemist. Constable 14a loves Mary Kelly.Gerty MacDowell loves the boy that has the bicycle.M.B. loves a fair gentleman. Li Chi Han lovey upKissy Cha Pu Chow.Jumbo, the elephant, loves Alice, the elephant.Old Mr. Verschoyle with the ear trumpet loves old Mrs. Verschoyle with the turned-in eye.” James Joyce  

 Verschoyle, Francis Stuart. Second Lieutenant. Royal Engineers, 2 Siege Company, Royal Anglesey.                                                                        

Last Day in Action: He was killed in action near Ypres, Flanders, on 24 April 1915, age 19.  

Letter from Cpl. Greenhalgh: On the 19th April we left for the trenches, your son being Lieutenant in charge of a mining party. Things went well with us until the Saturday of the 24th, when at 4 a.m. the enemy commenced a heavy shelling which lasted for five hours, and completely       destroyed our mine and part of the trench. The shelling having ceased, your son ordered the roll of the men to be called and found there was only himself and two men, of which I am one, left, the remainder having been cut off. I then asked him if he intended leaving the trench, but this was impossible, as there was no way out. We decided to remain until the following night, but unfortunately for us they again started shelling our trench for seven hours. At the end of that time we were ordered to stand to. Your son called another man and myself to the lower part of the trench to man our rifles, as the Germans were advancing. This was at 1:15 p.m. on Sunday the 25th. We were firing together with Capt. Jollie of the East Surrey Regiment. After half-an-hour fighting, I  was distressed to see your son and Capt. Jollie shot. Thinking it was only a wound, I immediately bandaged his head, but, to my profound sorrow, he died. Soon after the Germans retreated back to their own trenches, barring 30 officers and men whom we took prisoners. An officer of the East Surreys spoke in high praise of the coolness of your son, and said his name would be held in high esteem by the East Surreys. There being no other officer left, I was compelled to report myself to our Commanding Officer. I informed him of your son’s death, and the major and officers and men were deeply grieved, as they felt they had lost a good leader and kind friend. 

Letter to Mrs. Verschoyle from Cpl. J. Whelan: He died fighting with only four men in a trench with him. Lt. Verschoyle himself killed ten Germans in holding the trench so he died a noble and peaceful death. He never spoke a word; his wound was in the head. On the night of the 25th he was to come out of the trenches and one hour before he was to leave he met his death. The evening he was going to the trenches he gave me his fountain pen to mind for him in the presence of our Quarter Master Sergeant, so I made a remark in an innocent way; what will happen if you do not come back?  He said, “keep it as a present from me,” so of course Mrs. Verschoyle if you would like it I will let you have it willingly, but if you do not want it, I assure you I will treasure it as a keepsake of the officer I loved to serve, not me alone but everyone in the company. 6                                                                             

Military Notes: He left Chatham for France on the 13 September 1914.       

Campaign Medals: 1914/15 Star * British War * Victory.  

Grave/Memorial Notes:  Grave G.7, Ypres Town Cemetery, West Vlaanderen, Belgium and he is commemorated on the War Memorial and Verschoyle Memorial, Christ Church of Ireland, Dundrum;  Great War Memorial at Castlepark School, Dalkey; Hall of Honour, Trinity College, Dublin and the Roll of Honour and walls of the College`s Memorial Hall at Marlborough College, Wiltshire, England.                                                               

Personal Information:  He was born on 9 April 1896 and educated at Castlepark School, Dalkey and Marlborough College, leaving the latter in the summer term of 1914 to enter Trinity College.   

Roll Of Honour, Foxrock, Co. Dublin Reynolds, Dominick. Private. Connaught Rangers, 6th Battalion, Service No. 4259.                                                                                                      

Last Days in Action:  He was killed in action at Mazingarbe on 27 April 1916, age 19 years.  

Official War Diary for 27 April 1916 at Mazingarbe: At 5 a.m. the enemy launched an attack accompanied by gas against the 8th and 9th Brigades. The gas was very slightly felt by our men in the huts. The enemy bombarded our huts from 5 a.m. to 7.30 a.m. and got some direct hits. The three men killed on this day included; L/Cpl, Monk, Pte. Reynolds and Pte. Duane. 20 other ranks were wounded. Across the entire 16th (Irish) Division there were almost two thousand casualties of which, 1260 were gassed. It emerged that the respirators used by Allied Forces were ineffective and the production of a new more effective respirator was rushed ahead. 7     

Other information: General Hickie ordered the strengthening of defenses, especially wire. Blankets soaked in Vermorel, an anti-gas agent, were to cover entrances to all dug-outs. The Irish infantry opened fire, but under cover of gas and smoke, the Germans advanced through the saps close up to the Irish trenches before assaulting. The front-line trenches of the 16th Division were smashed, parapets were blown down, trenches filled in, material and equipment lay scattered all over the battlefield. Walking wounded and gas cases, blinded, choking and retching green bile, supported each other or leaning on fit friends, formed long lines down the choked and chaotic communication trenches making their painfully slow way back to the Regimental Aid Post before being evacuated to the Casualty Clearing Stations. 8 

Military Notes: Dominick Reynolds enlisted for the duration of the war, on the 3 May 1915, with neighbour and friend, Daniel Byrne (K.I.A.). The Recruiting Officer’s recommendation was based on the following facts, “He is a smart, intelligent and respectable lad, his three chums have joined the Connaught Rangers and he would not join any other Corps.”  His early training took place at Fermoy, Co. Cork. He was posted to France on 17 December 1915. Regrettably, there were no effects found for him.                        

The late Brendan Reynolds, local historian, related an amusing incident, involving Dominick, which took place in the trenches at the front-line:                                                                                                    

The German and Allied trenches were about a hundred yards apart and during a lull in fighting the ‘Rangers’ got the opportunity to shoot and kill a hare, which was passing between the two lines. The sudden return to shooting caused some German helmets to rise above the parapet to observe what was happening.                                                                                                                                       

Later that evening, under the cover of darkness, Dominick, probably because of his small size (he was 5ft. 2ins.) was chosen to go out and get the hare. A rope was tied around his waist and he headed out in the direction of the German trenches. He was gone some time before pulling on the rope indicating that he wanted to get back to the relative safety of his trench. When he returned his comrades enquired about the hare; Dominick retorted, “The bloody Germans got there first – but the smell of hare soup was lovely.” 9 

Campaign Medals:  1914/15 Star * British War * Victoy.His mother signed for the 1915 Star medal on 9 June 1920, and his father received  the British War * Victory medals on 12 December 1922.  

Grave/Memorial Notes: Grave I. A. 6. Mazingarbe Communal Cemetery Extension, Pas de Calais, France.  

Family & Personal Information:  Dominick Reynolds was the son of William (Batty) Reynolds (gardener) and Kathleen Reynolds of, 8, Brighton Cottages, Foxrock, Co. Dublin. There were seven children in the family; Thomas, Edward, Daniel, William, Dominick, Julia and Cathleen. Dominick was educated at St. Brigid’s National School, in nearby Cornelscourt, and he was an unemployed gardener prior to enlisting. 

Three families with the Reynolds’s name lived in Brighton Cottages: Brendan Reynolds said: “There were three families living in Brighton Cottages with the Reynolds surname, and each head of family had a nickname. They were the brothers, Thomas (Gosh), William (Batty) and my father was Edward (Panter). My father, who was not related to Thomas or William, earned his nickname because he was employed as a gardener with George William Panter of ‘The Bawn’, Kerrymount Avenue, Foxrock. The Panter’s son, George, a confirmed Unionist, survived the war despite his left arm being shot off in air action.”  9 

Notes         

1.     The National Archives, Kew, London.

2.     Margaret V. Doyle, archivist, Clongowes Wood College.

3.     Margaret V. Doyle, archivist, Clongowes Wood College.

4.     In Wigs and wars,  by Anthony P. Quinn,

5.     Joan McPartland (nee Verschoyle).

6.     The National Archives, Kew, London.

7.     The National Archives, Kew, London.

8.     Orange Green & Khaki , by Tom Johnstone.

9.     Brendan Reynolds (the late)

Last Updated on Thursday, 24 November 2011 11:26
 

Memorial to Soldiers Unveiled

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On Monday April 12th serving and retired members of the 4th Western Brigade attended the unveiling a memorial at Athlone Castle to their 19 fallen comrades.

Some 100 members of the Defence Forces including the Band of the 4th Western Brigade and lone piper took part in the ceremony.

To date 84 members of the Irish Defence Forces have died on U.N. service, 19 of which were from the West of Ireland.

Last Updated on Thursday, 24 November 2011 11:46
 

Record of Irish Police Force in the Great War - Part 2

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Part 2 of 2


Scots Guards

Cummings J.N.

 Wounded, re-joined R.I.C.

 

Royal Horse Guards

Ratcliffe Thomas

 Wounded, discharged medically unfit

 

Royal Field Artillery

McKeown Samuel

 

 

Royal Garrison Artillery

Cooper Alfred Henry

 Reported to have succumbed to influenza in France, served in Brown Square Station Belfast

McEvoy V.T.P.

 

Spratt Richard

 

 
 

Royal Army Medical Corps

Manning T.F.

 Discharged medically unfit, re-joined R.I.C.

Ryan D.D.

 Wounded, re-joined R.I.C.

                                                              

South Irish Horse

Brennan James

 Prisoner of war

Curley J.P.

 

Harpur J.J.T

 Prisoner of war

Kenny J.E.

 

Morgan Martin

 Discharged medically unfit, re-joined R.I.C.

O’Neill Denis

 Prisoner of war

Scott Gerald W

 Wounded

Stratford William A

 Obtained a commission

Wilson Sidney G

 Prisoner of war

 

North Irish Horse

Drennan Michael

 Prisoner of War

Hughes Robert

 Wounded

Jamison Robert W

 Wounded

 
 

King’s Liverpool Regiment

Taylor N.L.

 Gained a commission, killed

 

King’s Royal Rifle Corps

Johnston Robert

 Gained a commission

 

Manchester Regiment

McDonnell O.J.

 Re-joined R.I.C.

 

Officer’s Training Corps

Conlon James J.

 Commissioned

Cummings David

 Commissioned Inns of Court O.T.C.

Dolan J.H

 Wounded, commissioned

Gouley Michael

 Commissioned

Molloy Joseph P.

 Commissioned

 

Connaught Rangers

Byrne James W,

135 E – Received a commission, severely wounded, granted the D.C.M. and a Parchment Certificate from General Hickie for conspicuous bravery

 


Grenadier Guards

Anderson G.J.

Wounded  West Yorkshire Regiment

McGrath William

Obtained a commission Military Mounted Police

Goodwin Robert  

Military Foot Police

Connolly Michael

 

Connor Stephen

Wounded, re-joined R.I.C.

Hewitt Thomas

Wounded Machine Gun Corps

Glover James

Discharged medically unfit

 

Dublin Metropolitan Police

 

Irish Guards

Allen Thomas

102 D – Wounded, transferred to Military Foot Police, then to 3rd Reserve Battalion, promoted corporal, wears the  Mons Star

Butler Thomas

134 B – Wounded, re-joined, promoted sergeant

Carroll James,

A Division – Wounded three times last occasion 22nd October 1918, now in hospital, promoted sergeant, received the Mons Star

Curtin Denis

74 A – Killed

Flanagan Patrick

155 A – Killed at Ypres 1914

Fogarty Patrick 

141 F – Wounded, prisoner of war, received the Mons Star

Hallahan Timothy

 J 116 D – Wounded 1916, gassed 1918

Kane Henry 

138 B – Wounded in the right thigh 1917, awarded Military Medal

Kavanagh Joseph

155 D – Wounded at Ypres, promoted sergeant

Kelly William

115 F – Killed 1915

McGregor Michael

168 A – A reservist called up August 1914, re-joined D.M.P. 23rd September 1918

Mara Michael

144 B – Wounded, discharged unfit for further  military service, re-joined D.M.P.

Murray Thomas

116 F – Wounded, re-joined D.M.P. after three years’ service

O’Connell Timothy

190 D – Missing since Battle of Loos 1915, presumed killed

Phelan James

101 B – Wounded, buried twice by bursting shells

Reilly Anthony

159 A – Wounded for the second time 21st August 1918 also gassed

Ryan Patrick

172 A - Killed

Shanahan William

68 A – Wounded, now attached to the Depot  Coldstream Guards

Fitzsimons Nicholas

113 B – Wounded, promoted sergeant  Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers

Boyd Robert

69 A – Killed

Parke William A,

111 E – Transferred to a labour corps, wounded, now in a Canadian Hospital in France

 

Royal Field Artillery

Burkett James J,

139 E – Stationed in Athlone Co. Westmeath

Carey Martin

53 A – Invalided from France, now on home service, wears the Mons Star

Carey John,

A Division  - Reservist, re-joined 5th August 1914, died in No 17 Casualty Clearing Station 19th October 1917 from wounds received in action

Kelly John J,

A Division – Served in Mesopotamia where he suffered from malaria, received the Mons Star

Rutherford Robert 

97 E – Promoted sergeant, wounded in the head by shrapnel July 1917, gassed October 1918, at present in a military hospital in Liverpool

 


Royal Garrison Artillery

Fitzgerald Henry

50 E – Serving in France with a Siege Battery of the R.G.A. when hostilities ceased

Ryan Patrick

47 A  - Wounded, re-joined D.M.P.

 

King Edward’s Horse

Healy Lawrence

145 A – Joined the King Edward’s Horse and while serving was awarded the Military Medal. Then selected for training for commissioned rank and now in training in an officer cadet battalion

Keeshan Daniel

115 A – Joined in April 1915, wounded, re-joined D.M.P. 8th November 1918

Neill Patrick

156 A – His horse being shot dead under him, the animal then falling crushed one of his feet, he was placed on home service in Kilkenny

Nicholls Henry

167 A – Joined April 1915, discharged unfit for further military duty and being found unfit for service in the D.M.P. was discharged on pension from the force 6th February 1918

 

Military Foot Police

Coulter James H

187 A – Sergeant in this corps, stationed in Dublin, has performed much important work for the military authorities

 

South Irish Horse

Byrne Thomas

195 B – Transferred to Royal Irish Regiment, prisoner of war in Gustrow Mecklenburg Germany

Newman William

171 C – Killed by a bursting shell 1917

O’Connell Timothy

171 C – Killed Battle of Loos 1915

Rooney John

89 E – Corporal attached to Dorset Yeomanry, serving in Egypt

 

Leinster Regiment

Cullen Michael

36 E – Transferred to Connaught Rangers, seriously wounded

 

Inniskilling Dragoons

O’Dowd Francis

45 F – Wounded at Cambrai is now attached to the 4th Reserve Cavalry Regiment Aldershot England

 


Worcestershire Regiment

Gregory Frederick

208 D  - A sergeant drummer, he suffered from trench feet in 1916, now attached to another regiment in France

 

Lancashire Fusiliers

Dunleavy Charles

39 E – Originally attached to the Royal Engineers, obtained a commission and gazetted to the Lancashire Fusiliers. Since wounded and gassed, was on the incoming boat the evening of the Leinster disaster on sick leave. He was invested with the Military Cross by the King at Buckingham Palce in November 1918

 

Rifle Brigade

Lynch Bartholomew P

137 E – Killed on the Somme 1916


 

Who Pays The Ferryman?

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Who Pays The Ferryman?


Richard and Alfred Edward Turner were the two younger sons of David Turner, the Manager of the well known firm of David Allen and Sons whose posters and billboards once adorned the streets of Dublin city. The family lived at 1, Mountpleasant Square, Ranelagh, Dublin and the boys received their education at Christ Church School, Leeson Park, Dublin.  Richard the elder of the two was born in Londonderry in 1892 and Alfred was born in Dublin five years later.

When War broke out in August 1914 Richard was quick to enlist, joining the ranks of the South Irish Horse on the 4th September, 1914.  His educational standard was quickly recognised and he was commissioned as a Temporary 2nd Lieutenant in the 6th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on the 11th November, 1914. His brother Alfred was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant into the 10th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry on the 28th May, 1915. 

Richard in due course went off to fight in the Dardanelles from September until December, 1915 at which point he received a gunshot wound in the left arm. He left his unit on the 8th December, 1915 and arrived back in England on board the SS Rewa on Christmas Day.  He was granted leave from the 29th December until the 19th February.  He was placed at the disposal of the Department of Recruiting Ireland for one month on the 1st March, 1916 and returned to the front line in France from August to December, 1916.  He had still not recovered from his wound and the Medical Board held at Caxton Hall London on the 18th December, 1916 granted him leave from the 18th December until the 29th January, 1917.  In the meantime he had been awarded the Military Cross (London Gazette 3rd June,. 1916).

His brother Alfred went to France with the 10th Battalion of the Durham Light Infantry and wasn’t leading his platoon during the Battle of the Somme, when he too was wounded, on the 16th September, 1916. He was awarded the Military Cross and his citation states that it was awarded “for conspicuous gallantry in action with great courage and initiative. Later, although severely wounded, he sent a message to ascertain the situation, and himself accounted for two of the enemy”. He became an Acting Lieutenant on the 14th December, 1916 and a Lieutenant on the 1st July, 1917. He transferred to the 13th Battalion Durham Light Infantry on the 22nd August, 1917 and while he recovered from his wounds he was transferred to a Training Reserve.

Meanwhile their Father back in Dublin found himself in the middle of an uprising as Rebel Forces took over key buildings around the City in Easter 1916 and caught the Authorities on the hop.  David Turner went to his office on the day after Easter Monday but found the situation had changed dramatically.  There were no police or military about and when he got on the telephone he was told that only military calls could be connected and all businesses and offices were closed.  A messenger arrived from Chief Commissioner of Police asking if bills proclaiming Marshal Law in Dublin City and County could be posted as soon as possible.  David promised that the job would be done and then cycled around the city observing where the Rebels were ensconced.  Sniping was general and continued through Tuesday and Wednesday, but despite this David Turner continued to turn up at his office every morning. On Thursday morning he was asked to carry out some further bill posting and immediately agreed.  He got together his billposters and while waiting for the posters to come in from the printers he asked them to stay in the billroom.   All but two of the men got cold feet with the result that David decided to take on the job himself together with his eldest son William.   William and one of the men were to tackle the Northside of the City while David and the other man tackled the southside. They were given military passes to allow them through the military barricades.  In spite of the rifle and machine gun fire they got on well and nothing occurred more serious than a grumble from the crowd which gathered when they stopped to put up their posters and who wanted to know why they had none of the Republican Governments proclamations.  In spite of this and the occasional shot fired in their direction they did their job.  They called to the police on the following days looking for instructions but none were forthcoming.  On the Sunday William was told in the Police Office that Marshal Law for the entire country had been proclaimed and that proclamations to that effect had to be posted.  They witnessed the destruction of parts of the city caused by the rebellion and saw the soldiers at the barricades and from time to time caught glimpses of the rebels as they traversed the city putting up their posters.   Mr. Turner was a loyalist and stated that, “It is the duty of every loyalist to do all in his power to keep the Union Jack flying”, and he continued, “I can claim that although if only by posting the King’s Proclamations, my son and myself have done our bit equally as much as the men fighting, of which I have two sons making up the number”.   David Turner was as remarkable as his two sons and as we shall see he was to leave his mark on the War in another way. 

When the second brother Alfred was awarded his Military Cross (London Gazette 14th November, 1916) City and County of Dublin Recruiting Committee forwarded the following resolution to his Father; “that the Committee do tender their congratulations to Mr. David Turner upon his son – Lt. Alfred Edward Turner, Durham Light Infantry and Lt. Richard Turner, Royal Dublin Fusiliers – having both been awarded the Military Cross, and note with satisfaction that Lt. Richard Turner has lately been mentioned in despatches, the Committee recalls with pleasure that Mr. Turner and his sons assisted materially in recruiting in this City”.

Gold watches were presented to the two brothers by Maurice Dockrell on behalf of the Committee.  David Turner accepted the gift on behalf of his son Richard who was in France. He went on as previously stated to earn himself a footnote in the history of World War 1 when his son Alfred was summoned to Buckingham Palace to receive his Military Cross from the hand of King George V.   A soldier summoned to the Palace for an investiture had to pay his own expenses and in the case of young Turner this included boat and train fares from Dublin to London.  Following the ceremony Alfred was asked to pay £4 railway fare but his father advised him not to pay it.  He explained his reason in a letter to the Secretary of the Army Council.  He stated that his son “attended there, (Buckingham Palace), in obedience to the command of His Majesty, and he was on duty.  In the performance of his duty in attending he was entitled to a warrant for the ticket, and to ask a 2nd Lieutenant to pay out his army allowance for travelling on duty seems to me outrageous.  I would point out that my son has taken many journeys in obedience to orders, amongst others to Suvla Bay and from there to Bulgaria, and why payment is asked for in this journey and not in another is to me extraordinary, as I can’t see what difference there is in attending at Suvla Bay or other firing lines in obedience to orders to making a journey to London or elsewhere on military duty”. 

The War Office responded with a bland statement saying that it was in accordance with ordinary army practice for Officers who attend investiture to have to pay their own expenses.  David Turner was not about to give up.  The Man who had risked his life putting up posters under the guns of both sides during the Easter Rising was not about to surrender in the face of bureaucracy.

He wrote back: “In travelling to London to be present for investiture by his Majesty the King at Buckingham Palace, my son was carrying out orders, and had he refused or neglected to so attend as per command, then he would be liable to be tried by Court Martial equally the same for refusing to obey order in the face of the enemy,  and rightly so.  But could it be considered just and reasonable to make Officers pay all expenses incurred in carrying out orders?  I would point out that the railway and steamship fares are not the only expenses incurred in making such a journey and staying in London,  and in my opinion hotel and other expenses necessarily involved in making such a journey should be defrayed by the Military Authorities”.

The War Office coldly replied that they had nothing further to add to their previous letter.  The correspondence was sent to Lloyd George but he refused to interfere with the decision of the War Office.

The matter was after some time raised and debated in parliament in the presence of David Turner who eventually got his way and travel warrants were issued by the War Office to members of the Armed Forces travelling to London to receive decorations.  Both brothers Richard and Alfred were fortunate enough to survive the War and return to a changed Ireland.
 


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Newsflash

Medals, Militaria and Collectables Fair

A warm welcome awaits at the Medal Society of Ireland hosted "Medals, Militaria and Collectables Fair"

in Knox Memorial Hall, Monkstown, Dublin on Saturday 3rd February from 10 am to 2 pm

FREE ENTRANCE for members while admission charge for all other adults is €4 each (accompanied children free)