Can anyone help with research?

R.Dub.Fusilier

my grandfather was in the Free State army in the early-mid 1920s and i want to find information about his time in the army , unit , service etc. thanks

Latchy

The Irish defence force website has a section on public relations which might be able to help you

http://www.military.ie/

Praetorian Saighdiuir

Send a letter with as much info as possible to:

Enlisted Personnel Management Office,
Defence Forces Headquarters,
Colaiste Caoimhin,
St. Mobhi Road,
Glasnevin
Dublin 9.

They will look after it for you.

arybvtcw0eolkf

benwavner wrote: »

Send a letter with as much info as possible to:

Enlisted Personnel Management Office,
Defence Forces Headquarters,
Colaiste Caoimhin,
St. Mobhi Road,
Glasnevin
Dublin 9.

They will look after it for you.

+1

They're the lads.

.

R.Dub.Fusilier

cheers lads will let you know how i get on.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Hey OP, just really noticed your username and thought you might be interested in this..

Its my great-grandfathers last will and testimony before leaving for France.

(I've pixelled over my surname).





Notice his unit!.

.

tribulus

MakikomiI think you may have missed a pixelation if you check again.

R.Dub.Fusilier

Lane Hallowed Vista wrote: »

Notice his unit!.

.

great stuff . i have a great intrest in the RDF ( but am not an expert )as i have been told my grandfather mentioned above was in the RDF.we dont have much information about his british army service either other than my grandmother got a pension from them .he was from the northstrand so not a million miles away from your great grandfather

arybvtcw0eolkf

R.Dub.Fusilier wrote: »

great stuff . i have a great intrest in the RDF ( but am not an expert )as i have been told my grandfather mentioned above was in the RDF.we dont have much information about his british army service either other than my grandmother got a pension from them .he was from the northstrand so not a million miles away from your great grandfather

Have you been in touch with the good people of the British Legion?.

You'll find they'll bend over backwards to help you.

.

arybvtcw0eolkf

tribulus wrote: »

MakikomiI think you may have missed a pixelation if you check again.

Cheers, its not big deal really but no point in helping the enemy either

.

iceage

R.Dub. this may help as well. You need to give them as much info as you can.

http://www.veterans-uk.info/service_records/service_records.html

johnny_doyle

I see the address is Summerhill, Dublin. My Gt Grandfather, Sapper Joseph Niland, would have been a neighbour.

http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=574620


I was looking on Ancestry today for a James Murphy who co-incidentally lived at 23 Summerhill.

Lane Hallowed Vista wrote: »

Hey OP, just really noticed your username and thought you might be interested in this..

Its my great-grandfathers last will and testimony before leaving for France.

(I've pixelled over my surname).





Notice his unit!.

.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Johnny I've PM'd the URL of this thread to my father, he might know something about those family names.

.

Rashers

johnny_doyle wrote: »

I see the address is Summerhill, Dublin. My Gt Grandfather, Sapper Joseph Niland, would have been a neighbour.

I was looking on Ancestry today for a James Murphy who co-incidentally lived at 23 Summerhill.

I remember my Grandmother used to tell me a lot about Granda and his time in France. She used to tell me that he and some of his 'butties' (as she called them) used to meet in a pub on Summerhill on Armistice Day every year and 'fight' the battles all over again -- but as they'd have done things. I recall some of the names she used to mention and I'm sure Niland was one.

Granda was in the 9th Bn RDF, but the strange thing is that his papers show he was also an airman in the Royal Flying Corps, stationed in France at the same time. My brother and I contacted the Royal British Legion a few years ago and they couldn't have been more helpful. Even to giving us names of men who wanted to contact my Granda (as you can imagine this was a few years ago).

Anyway, the explanation for apparent dual service was given to us by the Royal British Legion. Seems mostly Dubs had this scam going. They'd get home leave for a sickness, minor wound or a death in the family. (Remember this was in the days when records were all hand written and typed up later) As soon as they arrived back in Dublin they'd join a different unit, maybe even going so far as to go overseas with them. Then they'd get leave from that unit and return to their original one... and on it went... back and forth. They must have led charmed lives to do this in such a terrible war... and survive.

The object of the exercise? Two pay packets and two 'separation' allowances for the missus.

It seems the War Department didn't suss the scam until long after the war ended.

Was there such a scam? The British Legion swear there was and thought it very amusing... though personally I find it a bit hard to swallow.

Still... they were Dubs! :-)

And here's the man who engaged in that scam if such it was.....



And the other side of his will.



I wonder why that bit was stuck on the back of his will.

R.Dub.Fusilier

Rashers wrote: »

I remember my Grandmother used to tell me a lot about Granda and his time in France. She used to tell me that he and some of his 'butties' (as she called them) used to meet in a pub on Summerhill on Armistice Day every year and 'fight' the battles all over again -- but as they'd have done things. I recall some of the names she used to mention and I'm sure Niland was one.

Granda was in the 9th Bn RDF, but the strange thing is that his papers show he was also an airman in the Royal Flying Corps, stationed in France at the same time. My brother and I contacted the Royal British Legion a few years ago and they couldn't have been more helpful. Even to giving us names of men who wanted to contact my Granda (as you can imagine this was a few years ago).

Anyway, the explanation for apparent dual service was given to us by the Royal British Legion. Seems mostly Dubs had this scam going. They'd get home leave for a sickness, minor wound or a death in the family. (Remember this was in the days when records were all hand written and typed up later) As soon as they arrived back in Dublin they'd join a different unit, maybe even going so far as to go overseas with them. Then they'd get leave from that unit and return to their original one... and on it went... back and forth. They must have led charmed lives to do this in such a terrible war... and survive.

The object of the exercise? Two pay packets and two 'separation' allowances for the missus.

It seems the War Department didn't suss the scam until long after the war ended.

Was there such a scam? The British Legion swear there was and thought it very amusing... though personally I find it a bit hard to swallow.

Still... they were Dubs! :-)

And here's the man who engaged in that scam if such it was.....



And the other side of his will.



I wonder why that bit was stuck on the back of his will.

brilliant story.

arybvtcw0eolkf

Rashers wrote: »

Frightening how much alike you both are!!..

I was genuinely surprised (I've never seen this photo).

.

Rashers

Lane Hallowed Vista wrote: »

Frightening how much alike you both are!!..

I was genuinely surprised (I've never seen this photo).

.

I should have the full photo here somewhere. He's standing with a cane or swagger stick. Can't remember why I cropped it, think the bottom half was all creased.

Rashers

Just too add a bit to the thread (and after all this time).

I was told my grandfather never went to bed after he came home because he could not sleep. He made up some kind of armchair and he'd sit in that overnight, sometimes sleeping for awhile, sometimes not.

It seems that he couldn't lie down because of lung damage caused by a gas attack, but he couldn't sleep because he witnessed his pal, the man he signed up, being killed beside him by a shell burst (apparently the fragment caused no injury to those close by). He never described the injury that killed his friend, at one time telling his friend's wife that she was better off not knowing but to take some comfort in the fact that his friend died instantly.

The friend's surname was Osborne, if anyone's interested.