Dublin - British Units on the opening day of the Easter Rising

Following up on a query on one of the groups on Facebook, there were a variety of units in Dublin on the opening day of the Easter Rising.


Sir John Maxwell's despatch following the Rising states :

The fighting strength of the troops avail- 
able in Dublin at this moment were:— 

6th Reserve Cavalry Regiment, 35 officers, 
851 other ranks. 

3rd Royal Irish Regiment, 18 officers, 385 
other ranks. 

10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, 37 officers, 430 
other ranks. 

3rd Royal Irish Rifles, 21 officers, 650 other 
ranks. 

Of these troops an inlying picquet of 400 
men, which for some days past had been 
held in readiness, proceeded at once, and the 
remainder followed shortly afterwards.

Headquarters at Parkgate
Colonel Kennard - in charge of forces in Dublin
Colonel Henry Cowan - Adjutant and Assistant Adjutant General
Major Owen Lewis

Army Service Corps
615 MT Company were located in Parkgate. American Clive Wilson Warman was with this unit.

Ordnance Corps
At the Magazine Fort in the Phoenix Park

Pay Corps
A number of Pay Corps personnel were located in Linenhall Barracks

Royal Dublin Fusiliers
10th (Service) Battalion RDF were located in Royal Barracks (now Collins Barracks)
37 officers and 430 men

Royal Irish Rifles
3rd (Reserve) Battalion were located in Portobello Barracks (now Cathal Brugha Barracks)
21 officers and 650 men

Royal Irish Regiment
3rd (Reserve) Battalion were located in Richmond Barracks.
18 officers and 385 men
Commanding Officer : Lt Colonel Robert Owens
Adjutant : Major Edmund Roche-Kelly

6th Reserve Cavalry Regiment
Located in Marlborough Barracks.
35 officers and 851 men
Made up of 5th (Royal Irish) Lancers, 12th Lancers, 3/1st County of London Yeomanry, 3/1st City of London Yeomanry, 3/1st Welsh Yeomanry


Other soldiers were posted to positions at :

Dublin Castle (8 soldiers in the Guardroom)
GPO Telegraph Room (8 soldiers)
Ship Street Barracks (approx 25 soldiers)
Trinity OTC
Beggars Bush Barracks
Islandbridge Barracks

Film Clip : "The aftermath of the Dublin Easter Rising, Ireland, 1916"

The Imperial War Museum has a nice film clip of Dublin before and after the Rising labelled "The aftermath of the Dublin Easter Rising, Ireland, 1916"

http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060022694

Links in to a number of my interests :

1. no Brodie helmets visible on or being carried by any of the British troops

2. one of the improvised armoured vehicles on film (this snippet also appears in Mise Eire film)

3. an ambulance is visible with the number plate RI-2700. Not showing up in the Irish Motor Directory listing for 1915 unfortunately. Full page of 1914/15 directory data here.

Wilhelm Schramm

9th September 1916 saw the award of the Victoria Cross to William Leefe Robinson, an RFC pilot who shot down the first "Zeppelin" using newly designed bullets for dealing with the "baby killers" of WW1 propaganda. Leefe Robinson had previously been involved in the defensive operations against the Zeppelin raids supporting the Easter Rising.

The "Zeppelin" shot down was SL-11 - technically not a Zeppelin. All 16 crew were killed.

The twist in the tale is that the Captain of this airship, Wilhelm Emile Ludwig Schramm, was born in Old Charlton, Kent in December 1885, the son of Otto Schramm of 9 Victoria Road, Old Charlton.

Otto Schramm died in 1900 and it appears that Wilhelm then went to Germany where he eventually joined the German Army and later became commander of SL-11.

The crew of the SL-11 were buried in Potters Bar and a film clip of the funeral is available online.

They were moved to Cannock Chase in 1962 and Wilhelm Schramm is oddly noted on the CWGC site as being German Navy.

Leefe Robinson was later captured by the Germans and badly treated. He died shortly after his release in 1918.

No thanks to the Great War Forum. Sadly, no longer a forum worth visiting for WW1 research.

Sherwood Foresters Killed and Wounded

Lots of numbers get thrown around re the number of Sherwood Foresters killed and wounded around Northumberland Road and Mount Street Bridge, often forgetting that some died at the South Dublin Union and that 1 soldier from the 2/5th Battalion was killed in the City on the cordon closing in on the GPO.

The 2/5th and 2/6th Battalions landed in Kingstown first and made their way to The Royal Hospital in Kilmainham on the 26th April with no problems encountered and no casualties.

The 2/7th and 2/8th Battalions landed slightly later in Kingstown and took the route that led to the action at Mount Street Bridge. There is often talk of the Sherwoods being ambushed which is sort of half right. They believed that the School House was occupied and that this was where they were about to go into action. The DMP knew that 25 Northumberland Road was occupied by Irish Volunteers but this information doesn't seem to have filtered down to the 2/7th as they proceeded to the School House past number 25.

Although several civilian members of the Irish Association of Volunteer Training Corps (The Gorgeous Wrecks) had been killed on the Easter Monday (24th April) and the survivors had become part of the garrison at Beggars Bush Barracks, there doesn't appear to have been any attempt to use this local intelligence. The IAVTC men had been fired on from no 25 and wounded had taken shelter in numbers 29, 31 and 33.

A platoon of the Sherwood Foresters was "grabbed" by Colonel Shaw, the Commanding Officer at Beggars Bush Barracks to assist with the defence of the barracks.

Mr Robert Andrew Anderson, a Platoon Commander with the IAVTC, was wounded by buckshot on Wednesday the 26th April at the "detention post" at the corner of Northumberland Road and Haddington Road. No further information about what this "detention post" was. Mr Joseph Hosford of the IAVTC was shot and killed in Beggars Bush Barracks on the 26th April 1916.

The Bombing School at nearby Elm Park was likewise not approached by the Sherwood Foresters until several hours after the shooting started at 25 Northumberland Road.

Captain Dietrichsen was one of the first shot and he appears to have either died in number 26 Northumberland Road or that his body was moved to this house. Number 26 appears to have been used as a First Aid/Dressing Station, presumably set up by Captain Satchell, RAMC, who was with the lead company, C Company, of 2/7th when they were fired on from number 25. Number 33 is mentioned in the 1916 Rebellion Handbook as also being used as a dressing station.

After the action at Mount Street Bridge finished and the various outposts had been captured (25 Northumberland Road, the Parochial Hall, the School House and Clanwilliam House), number 23 Northumberland Road was used as the Headquarters of the 178th Brigade, having moved up from the RDS.

Royal Navy casualties Easter 1916

The 1916 Rebellion Handbook lists a single Royal Navy casualty during the Easter Rising. Robert Glaister was in Dublin from Queenstown when he was shot and killed by a soldier.

The Royal Navy casualties from the German raid in support of the Easter Rising don't generally get associated with the Easter Rising. Some of those killed during the raid :

On Shore :
HOLLIS, William Thomas, Petty Officer. Killed in Lowestoft by German Navy shell along with 3 civilians

Conquest, light cruiser , damaged in action with battlecruisers

 BALDRY, Arthur F, Able Seaman, J 43124 (Ch)

 BALL, Alfred, Petty Officer 1c, 209945 (Ch)

 BARTON, Joseph, Private, RMLI, 16153 (Ch)

 BATHO, Arthur W, Officer's Steward 3c, L 6439 (Ch)

 BATTER, Frederick E, Private, RMLI, 16282 (Ch)

 BLUNDELL, George H, Boy 1c, J 38330 (Ch) (born 18th Nov 1898)

 BRODRICK, Percy J, Stoker 1c, K 17397 (Ch)

 BULL, Charles, Able Seaman, J 43070 (Ch)

 CURTIS, Ernest H, Officer's Cook 1c, L 7908 (Ch)

 GARDNER, William R, Boy Servant, L 5341 (Ch) (born 17th May 1898)

 HENSLEY, Frederick H, Stoker 1c, K 21402

 HUTT, Alfred T, Able Seaman, 212357 (Ch)

 JUSTICE, James E, Officer's Steward 2c, L 7223 (Ch)

 LAWRENCE, James J, Cooper, 340001 (Ch)

 MERRITT, John E M, Able Seaman, 224919 (Ch)

 MICALLEF, Luigi, Officer's Chief Cook, 356069 (Ch)

 NUNN, Arthur, Officer's Steward 1c, L 4637 (Ch)

 PACKHAM, Percy Albert, Boy 1c, J 34876 (born 20th September 1898)

 PENDLETON, Frank R, Engineer Commander

 POTTER, Fred, Officer's Steward 2c, L 7207 (Ch)

 ROSTRON, John H, Private, RMLI, 11490 (Ch)

 SYMONS, Reginald J M, Leading Stoker, 301117 (Ch)

 TURNER, Charles A, Officer's Cook 3c, L 6159 (Ch)

E 22, submarine, on patrol line to intercept German force, torpedoed and sunk by UB.18

 BACON, Harry S, Leading Seaman, 238739 (Ch)

 BEWERS, William J C, Chief Stoker, 280241 (Ch)

 BREWER, James W, Stoker 1c, K 16024 (Dev)

 CARLES, Alan J, Lieutenant

 CARTER, Fred, Act/Engine Room Artificer 4c, M 7328 (Ch)

 COLLIER, Edward Des F, Act/Lieutenant, RNR

 DADFORD, Charles H, Stoker 1c, K 8711 (Po)

 DIMSDALE, Reginald T, Lieutenant

 DUMELOW, William H, Stoker 1c, K 7807 (Po)

 DWYER, James, Stoker 1c, K 22241 (Dev)

 ELLIOTT, Wilfred, Chief Engine Room Artificer 2c, 270779 (Po)

 FLYNN, Patrick, Stoker 1c, K 21302 (Dev)

 FROST, Charles A, Petty Officer, 183901 (Ch)

 HAYWARD, George J, Stoker 1c, K 16817 (Po)

 HAZLETON, Harold, Boy Telegraphist, J 38792 (Dev) (aged 16, born 26th April 1899)

 HINGSTON, Richard H B, Stoker 1c, K 11199 (Dev)

 HOOD, Charles R, Able Seaman, J 406 (Ch)

 HOSKIN, John C, Stoker Petty Officer, 300765 (Dev)

 HUNT, Ernest W, Petty Officer, 193302 (Po)

 JECOCK, George W, Able Seaman, J 6004 (Po)

 JELF, Ernest S, Leading Seaman, 224881 (Po)

 NORTON, Harold F, Able Seaman, 239583 (Po)

 ORGAN, Frederick J, Engine Room Artificer 3c, M 1694 (Ch)

 PUCKHABER, Herbert A V, Petty Officer, 233222 (Ch)

 RAYER, Arthur, Leading Stoker, K 4046 (Ch)

 REGAN, Edward F O, Able Seaman, J 7543 (Po)

 ROOK, William, Leading Stoker, K 7179 (Po)

 SKINNER, William H, Act/Leading Stoker, K 3851 (Dev)

 SKOYLES, Henry T, Able Seaman, 239694 (Ch)

 TREBBLE, John, Able Seaman, SS 3243 (Po)

 WOODLAND, William R, Engine Room Artificer 2c, M 321 (Po)

Moss, hired drifter, patrol boat, damaged during bombardment of Lowestoft

 BARBER, Henry, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 1076

 BIRD, Francis A, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 9024 (listed as aged 16)

 COOKE, Charles, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 1075

 GAY, William J, Engineman, RNR, ES 528

 PAYNE, Walter T, Deck Hand, RNR, DA 10726

 SHREEVE, Percy S, Ty/Skipper, RNR

Easter Rising and the motor car

Interesting article re the Easter Rising and the motor car

http://www.rte.ie/centuryireland//images/uploads/further-reading/Carsin1916.pdf

Mr and Mrs Chaytor

Mr and Mrs Chaytor get a short mention in the following newspaper article following the Easter Rising re their work with the Irish Automobile Association ambulance work during the Rising

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DOM19160719.2.4

Mrs Chaytor gets a mention in the write up of the 59th Division, sitting beside the driver of a Red Cross ambulance during the Rising going through heavy fire to take the wounded to various hospitals in Dublin.

Though neither were members, Mr Herbert Stanley Chaytor and Mrs Edith Chaytor were both recognised by the Saint John Ambulance following WW1

http://eprints.maynoothuniversity.ie/5060/1/Clare_O'Neill_20140620131550.pdf

Easter Rising Mastermind

Forwarded the following link to a video re Mastermind questions re the "Easter Rising"

http://www.joe.ie/movies-tv/video-this-mans-bbc-mastermind-specialist-subject-is-the-easter-rising-can-you-beat-his-score/530872

Great that the Easter Rising appears as a topic but the questions are just so basic (and the first question is way too long for a simple answer that anyone with a basic grasp of the Rising should know let alone someone with specialist knowledge)

Here are some slightly harder questions to get the brain cells going :

1. What organisation links a ship involved in the Easter Rising with the current location of the Irish Embassy in London?

2. The standard rifle of the British Army in WW1 was the .303 SMLE. Some members of the 2nd line battalions of the Notts and Derby Regiment were trained with what unusual rifle?

3. Who were known as the Gorgeous Wrecks?

4. Which organization owned the HMY Helga (which shelled parts of Dublin) and the farm in County Galway which was shelled by HMS Laburnum?

5. Which medal has been awarded to both Sir Roger Casement and to Robert Monteith long before they were landed on the Kerry coast?

6. Who was the most senior British officer to die as a result of the Easter Rising?

7. From which county in Ireland was the Canadian soldier killed in the Rising from?

8. Which author "did good work" as a stretcher bearer during the Easter Rising?

9. Which British ship picked up the wireless messages sent by the Irish Volunteers announcing the establishment of an Irish Republic?

10. Name the actors from opposing sides from the Rising who played roles in the Hollywood film "How Green Was My Valley"?

11. Name an "American" citizen involved in the Rising on the Rebel side (easy), a civilian casualty (harder), a participant in the British Army (mentioned in a previous blog post).

12. Name the Chief Secretary of Ireland at the time of the Rising.

13. How was Norway "involved" in the Easter Rising? (several possible answers; be creative)

14. Which town was shelled by the German Navy in an operation supporting the Rising?

15. Name 3 of the people murdered by Captain Bowen-Colthurst other than Francis Sheehy Skeffington.

16. How many British officers and Guinness employees were executed by members of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in the Guinness works?

17. Name the Irish judge involved in the Easter Rising who wrote "The Pals at Suvla Bay" re the 7th Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers at Gallipoli.

18. Which British General spoke very highly of Patrick Pearse having met Pearse at his court martial?
"I have just done one of the hardest tasks I have ever had to do. I have had to condemn to death one of the finest characters I have ever come across"

19. Which British officer killed in the Easter Rising is buried in the same grave in Glasnevin as his brother who fought with the Irish Volunteers?

20. St Stephen's Green saw truces to allow the park keeper to feed the ducks. Which British officer involved in the Rising wrote about wild ducks and how to rear and shoot them?

21. Who was "James E Landy"/"Mr Hammond"?

22. Chalk and Granite were used for what during the run up to the Easter Rising?

23. Following the Easter Rising, Irish rebels were held where in North Wales?

24. Where was Room 40?

25. Name the 2 civilian women who were awarded the Military Medal as a result of their helping the wounded whilst under fire.

26. What was Michael Collin's role during the Easter Rising?

27. Who allegedly declared himself to be a Sinn Feiner "from the backbone out"?

28. Who helped wind the clock?

29. Who was James Connolly's secretary?

30. Which priest stayed with the rebels in the GPO?

31. On what date were most Irish prisoners in released in 1916?

32. Name a winner of the Sigerson Cup who fought in the GPO?

33. Why was Liberty Hall not destroyed by the artillery shells fired at it (unlike the building next door)?

34. What what the time difference between Dublin and London during the Easter Rising?

35. Name the commanders of the 5 Dublin battalions of the Irish Volunteers.

36. Who commanded the British forces in Dublin until the arrival of General Maxwell?

37. Name 2 Irish Volunteers who were conscripted into the British Army after the Easter Rising.

38. How many incendiary shells were fired by the 4 18pounder artillery pieces from Athlone that were used in Dublin during the Easter Rising?

39. In spite of verifiable service including being wounded several times during the Easter Rising, why was Margaret Skinnider refused a military pension?

40. Which member of the GPO garrison was a player on the field at Croke Park on Bloody Sunday?

41.How were the 16 rebels executed after the Easter Rising killed and where?

42. Which regiment captured the flag which carried the words "Irish Republic"?

43. How many rounds of ammunition could a Howth Mauser hold?

44. Which building was captured and held by Captain Sean Connolly?

45. What was the name of the railway station near Boland's Bakery?

46. What sentence did Eoin MacNeill receive after the Easter Rising courtmartials?

47. Where was Lt Michael Malone killed?

48. Who led the Irish Volunteers out in Galway for the Easter Rising?

49. How many members of the Royal Irish Constabulary were killed during the Easter Rising and where?

50. Where was the headquarters of the Enniscorthy Volunteers during the Rising?


Drop answers to doylejsd@gmail.com :-)

Recommended reading for anyone wanting to get a good overview of the Easter Rising is "When The Clock Struck in 1916" By Derek Molyneux and Darren Kelly.

1916 Photo Collection

A lot of nice material starting to appear with the Easter Rising Centenary approaching.

Nice photo collection from Trinity College

https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/collection/trinity-college-dublin-library?projectId=easter-rising-1916

Richard O'Carroll TC

An interesting site re Richard O'Carroll, a Dublin Councillor and Secretary of the Bricklayers Union.

https://richardocarroll1916.wordpress.com/biography-3/

He took part in the Rising and was at the Delahunt Pub when captured and shot by Captain Bowen-Colthurst. He died some days later.

Captain Bowen-Colthurst wasn't charged with the murder of Richard O'Carroll.

Online Exhibition

An interesting online exhibition relating to the sites of the Easter Rising in Dublin

https://dublinrising.withgoogle.com/welcome/