Neil Cameron MacNamara - early British armoured cars

A while back I wrote an article for the Vickers MG Collection and Research Association regarding the early development of armoured cars by the British, straying off slightly into other countries efforts.

Johnny Doyle, 'The Early Development of British Armoured Cars', Zero Post: The Journal of the Vickers MG Collection & Research Association, 1 (2024), 50-63

One mistake I made that those proofreading and checking wouldn't have been able to pick up was that I erroneously attributed the name Colin to Neil Cameron MacNamara. I was doing some work looking at Colin Gubbins at the time and think this was the source of my error.

MacNamara was the son of the UK Member of Parliament (MP) Thomas James MacNamara. As well as being an MP, he was also the Parliamentary and Financial Secretary to the Admiralty so well positioned to get his son involved in an Admiralty project, in the same fashion Churchill involved his cousin Lord Wimborne. 

Both Wimborne and MacNamara get a mention in Admiral Sueter's claim to the Inventions Commission but little real details about their involvement in the development of armoured cars sadly.

MacNamara junior would later serve in France with the Army Service Corps being Mentioned in Despatches 3 times and being awarded a Croix de Guerre. Nothing is mentioned about MacNamara's work with the Admiralty.

His Medal Index Card shows he entered France in early November 1914 so whatever work he did with the Admiralty did not last too long and perhaps wasn't enough to keep him in England.

In applying to be registered as an Engineer, he doesn't mention his work with the Admiralty but at least there is enough information to understand why he might be a good fit to be involved in the armoured car development given his work in the motor industry.

MacNamara would later become Chair and Managing Director of construction company Trollope & Colls Ltd.

Lord Wimborne moved on and shortly afterwards was in Ireland as the Viceroy. He would be there when Roll-Royce armoured cars would be sent to Ireland following the Easter Rising. 

A Rolls-Royce can be seen at approximately 45seconds in on this clip hosted by the Irish Film Institute, driving from left to right as the camera pans from right to left

Dublin Rebellion

The film clip is also available to view on the IWM site, ref  NTB 245-2 TOPICAL BUDGET 245-2.

Neil Cameron MacNamara's grandfather, another Thomas, was born in County Clare in 1830 and died in Devon in 1899. He enlisted in the British Army in May 1847 and served in Canada with the 47th Regiment of Foot at the time of the Fenian Raid, having served in Malta, Gribraltar and the Crimea (Crimea medal with Sevastapol clasp). An example of the Fenian Medal issued is available on the Australian War Memorial site, in this case another soldier of the same regiment. The 47th would later be renamed The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment.

Next Trip to UK National Archives

Heading to the UK National Archives at Kew later this month. The following on order covering a range of interests :

1. WO 95/4406 General headquarters troops: Headquarters Light Armoured Car Brigade (1917 Aug - 1918 Oct). Headquarters Light Armoured Car Brigade (1919 July). 1 Armoured Motor Battery (1917 May - July). 1 Armoured Motor Battery (1918 Jan - May). 2 Armoured Motor Batte
2. WO 32/18595 Derbyshire Yeomanry: conversion into an armoured car company
3. WO 95/5399 10 Armoured Motor Brigade Machine Gun Corps: Headquarters (1919 June - 1921 Feb). 10 Armoured Motor Brigade Machine Gun Corps: 5 Armoured Motor Battery (1919 Aug - 1921 Aug). 10 Armoured Motor Brigade Machine Gun Corps: 7 Armoured Motor Battery (1919 J
4. WO 95/4415 General headquarters troops: Headquarters Hejaz Operations (1918 Mar - 1919 Sept). Officer Commanding Troops, Northern Hejaz (1918 Apr - June). Motor Section Royal Field Artillery Hejaz Operations (1917 Nov - 1918 Nov 10). Armoured Car Section Hejaz Oper
5. WO 35/56B Courts martial: military. (Described at item level). Individual cases: larceny, aiding escape of convicted prisoner, neglect of duty and loss of armoured car
6. WO 374/10257 Captain Ronald Bingham BRUCE. (County of London) Armoured Car Company.
7. FO 141/494 Sudan Mutiny of 1924: List of officers and other ranks killed in action (British Brigade and Egyptian Army); compensation for families of victims
8. STAT 14/1814 HMSO presses: consolidated trading account
9. STAT 23/15 HMSO Presses: Foreign Office, India Office, War Office; inventories of plants
10. STAT 14/288 Accommodation and Equipment, London: Princes Street to be renamed
11. STAT 14/1075 War Office Printing Press
12. STAT 14/816 Losses: War Office General Procedure

Your reserve documents

1. CO 904/29 Dublin castle records
2. WO 35/172 Movement of troops in Ireland. Also need to look at WO 35/173 to WO 35/214. For another trip.
3. WO 35/215 Composition of Headquarters and Officers in Command, Forces in Ireland

Battle of Saragarhi, 12th September 1897

 On the agenda for viewing once again - the film Kesari.

An interesting treatment of the story of 21 Sikh soldiers holding a small heliograph signalling station at Saragarhi during the Tirah Campaign against overwhelming odds OTD 1897.

All 21 awarded the Indian Order of Merit posthumously (the Victoria Cross not an option for troops in the British Indian Army until 1911).

Outside the time frame for the Imperial War Museum but there are a few related objects in the National Army Museum collection.

As a slight Rabbit 'ole, 3 British officers in the British Indian Army were awarded the Victoria Cross during the same campaign. In the case of Lt Hector MacClean his award was not gazetted until 1907 when the rules were changed to allow for the award of posthumous VCs.

London Gazette 15th January 1907

MacClean's cousin was the better known (Charles) Bruce Bairnsfather.

#SaraghariDay #TirahCampaign #RabbitHoles

The Printing Press at Liberty Hall after the Easter Rising

 

One of the many files available to view at the UK National Archives at Kew relates to the disposal of the printing press at Liberty Hall seized following the Easter Rising and moved to Dublin Castle, then Ship Street Barracks, and later Islandbridge.

There was an attempt to see if it could be used by the British garrison in Cork but this came to nothing.

Towards the end of 1919, the press was set to the HMSO officers in London to disappear from sight.

A cursory look at some HMSO correspondence files from the period held at Kew did not throw any more light on what might have happened to the printing press. An item of research that will be kept on the back burner for later follow up work.

 Another blog mentions James Connolly and the printing press at Liberty Hall in relation to a raid on The Gaelic Press at 30 Upper Liffey Street, Dublin. The file at Kew has a nice letterhead from The Gaelic Press signed by Joseph Stanley in relation to an attemp by new purchasers (Mr Leon Spiro of The Pearl Printing Works) to acquire back some of the items taken in 1916.

IWM interview with Ralph Alger Bagnold

The Imperial War Museum has an interesting set of 3 reels of an interview held with Ralph Alger Bagnold, founder of the Long Range Desert Group, reference IWM 9862.

While his WW1 service is mentioned as well as some of his inter war exploration and then the creation of the Long Range Desert Group, there is much missing e.g. his service in Ireland during the War of Independence with the 5th Division. So far, no sign of Bagnold in the 1921 census serving in Ireland. His boss, Richard Ernest Barker, is listed in the census at Marlborough Barracks, Dublin as part of Special Signal Company, Royal Corps of Signals.

There's not much mention of the Special Signal Company in the Royal Signal Corps 1920 compilation book The Wire.

On an unrelated side note, a relative by marriage, Michael Sweeney, appears to have been involved in the shooting of a despatch rider, Signalman De Orfe, belonging to the Special Signal Company.

Bagnold and team can be seen in a 1930 film hosted by the British Film Institute on expedition into the desert in stripped down Ford Model A cars using sand mats etc

Denis "Sonny" O'Neill

A project a few years ago looking into the capture of a Non Commissioned Officer (NCO) from the South Irish Horse in January 1918. It wasn't too difficult to identify Corporal Denis "Sonny" O'Neill as the missing NCO after a delve into WW1 Prisoner of War Records held by the Red Cross.

Repatriated in a batch of severely wounded soldiers in June 1918, O'Neill would later find himself one of the chief suspects in the shooting of General Michael Collins in August 1922. 

I don't discount O'Neill as a potential suspect - I just don't think there is enough untainted "evidence" and unbiased opinion to come to an absolute conclusion. What I can say is there is no evidence to show that he was a trained sniper with a record of "kills" but I would expect his service in the Royal Irish Constabulary and the South Irish Horse to have established a good knowledge of how to use a rifle to shoot to a reasonable standard. 

Without a proper autopsy on Collins to confirm absolutely what type of bullet was used and what type of wound was inflicted everything is just opinion and red herrings.

Over in Sweden, an autopsy was conducted in 1917 on the remains of King Charles XII who had been killed in 1718 under less than clear circumstances. A good little analysis of the research into the possible weapons etc. Perhaps it needs that time distance to move forward with the Collins theories.

The Military Archives team generally do a great job with the archives but collected a bullet from a wall in Portobello/Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin and believe that a .44 Magnum (not developed until the 1950s) was used in the 1916 murders of Francis Sheehy Skeffington, Thomas Dixon, and Patrick McIntyre. I would love to be able to see the ballistic report to see if this is really the conclusion reached.

The research into O'Neill capture and wound status is used in Paddy Cullivan's show "The Murder of Michael Collins". I'm not too sure I agree with Paddy's take on the role of a Musketry Instructor but he does raise other interesting observations.

Paddy's shows are well worth checking out just to see the reaction and rejection of some of his take on the world of Irish "history". Mark Perry's book on The South Irish Horse in the Great War is a good read too.

O'Neill's pension claims records are available to download from the Military Archives website, 4 files in total under the reference MSP34REF4067.

Arbour Hill Commandant in 1916

A nice set of plans for the British built Arbour Hill Detention Barracks in Dublin is available to view on the Irish Military archives website. These plans carry a variety of dates up to 1913 so likely the layout at the outbreak of WW1 and during the Easter Rising.

We know that Sir Roger Casement passed briefly through the building on his way to imprisonment in London thanks to reporting by the Irish Times in 1916. Collected by Sergeant Thomas Bracken (number 762) of the Military Foot Police (formerly number 5931, Royal Dublin Fusiliers). Bracken was a Company Sergeant Major when discharged from the British Army in 1920, having enlisted in 1896. Like Sir Roger, Bracken had been awarded the Queen's South Africa (QSA) medal for service during the 2nd Anglo-Boer War. Bracken also awarded the King's South Africa (KSA) medal.

The National Library of Ireland holds a list of Easter Rising prisoners in the barracks on 2nd May 1916, which includes Patrick Pearse. Pearse executed the following day. This list signed off by Major Cotton, Commandant of the Detention Barracks.

Major Cotton's name also appears on a pass held by the South Dublin County Council Library Service. The pass allowed a Miss Callender to bring food to Patrick Pearse during his detention in Arbour Hill. Mrs Callender owned a restaurant nearby.

Her son, Lance Corporal Brian Callender (number 22218 Royal Dublin Fusiliers) was killed in France on the 29th April 1916 and I have blogged about him previously.

There aren't too many references to Major Cotton in any Easter Rising related books or repositories. He appears to be Major Benjamin Temple Cotton (1862-1925) of the King's Shropshire Light Infantry. He left the British Army in 1892 after being wounded in the "Soudan" but rejoined at the outbreak of WW1. Served in France early in WW1 but returned to England due to illness and assigned a new role. The following from the London Gazette mentions his appointment under the heading Detention Barracks but not specifically mentioning Arbour Hill :

Benjamin Cotton served under Sir Francis Grenfell's command in Egypt and Sudan, as did Grenfell's nephew John Grenfell Maxwell. Maxwell taking command in Ireland during the Easter Rising.

Cotton appears to have been the British officer most seriously wounded at the Battle of Toski (there weren't many casualties on the British/Egyptian side - 25 killed).

A recent arrival, "Tokar 1891" by Mark Reid carries a small summary re the career, wounds, medals, etc of Benjamin Cotton.