had to be done. The Irish were without grenades and could not retaliate. A party of them was only too eager to attempt a bayonet charge under Captain Poole Hickman when ordered to do so by Major Harrison. They dashed up the hill to meet a storm of fire and Captain Hickman was mortally wounded. Major Harrison took his place and was struck by a grenade. Only four men made their way back over the crest.
A few remaining officers of the 7th Dublins, bravely trying to encourage and calm their men, exposed themselves to snipers; lost in this way was Captian Richard Patrick Tobin, Lieutenant Michael Fitzgibbon and Lieutenat Edward Weatherill. Brave Private Wilkin of the 7th Dublins threw Turkish bombs back five times before they exploded, to be tragically killed on the sixth. The 6th Irish Fusiliers, with the 5th sent to reinforce them, were both almost annihilated; nearly all the Irish Fusilier officers fell, including the 5th's Regimental Sergeant Major Mulligan, killed. Captains Panton and Kidd and 2nd Lieutenant Heuston earned the Military Cross. For the ' Pals ' of D Company, which had arrived at Suvla with 239 men, casualties during the night reduced it to 108. Only 79 would leave the peninsula in September.
These untried citizen soldiers had been in the peninsula only two weeks and were expected to fight like regulars. Immediately thrust into battle, they were not introduced gradually nor trained sufficiently, as were the New Army Division soldiers in the 36th and 16th Irish Divisions in France. Despite the inadequacies and confusion in the Gallipoli Command, Irish soldiers fought with great bravery, determination and heroism in a lost cause. One stretcher-bearer bringing wounded, was the young Irish poet Francis Ledwidge. An Infantryman in the 5th Inniskillings ( Francis is mentioned in other chapters on this website ) he had volunteered to help the Medical Corps, who could not cope with all the wounded. One friend he brought in was his friend Robert Christie, whose voice he recognised in the dark; they spoke only briefly, then Ledwidge was off to carry in more wounded. Ledwidge was appalled at the suffering of his fellow Fusiliers, yet amazed at their bravery as he wrote to his friend and mentor Lord Dunsany:
A few remaining officers of the 7th Dublins, bravely trying to encourage and calm their men, exposed themselves to snipers; lost in this way was Captian Richard Patrick Tobin, Lieutenant Michael Fitzgibbon and Lieutenat Edward Weatherill. Brave Private Wilkin of the 7th Dublins threw Turkish bombs back five times before they exploded, to be tragically killed on the sixth. The 6th Irish Fusiliers, with the 5th sent to reinforce them, were both almost annihilated; nearly all the Irish Fusilier officers fell, including the 5th's Regimental Sergeant Major Mulligan, killed. Captains Panton and Kidd and 2nd Lieutenant Heuston earned the Military Cross. For the ' Pals ' of D Company, which had arrived at Suvla with 239 men, casualties during the night reduced it to 108. Only 79 would leave the peninsula in September.
These untried citizen soldiers had been in the peninsula only two weeks and were expected to fight like regulars. Immediately thrust into battle, they were not introduced gradually nor trained sufficiently, as were the New Army Division soldiers in the 36th and 16th Irish Divisions in France. Despite the inadequacies and confusion in the Gallipoli Command, Irish soldiers fought with great bravery, determination and heroism in a lost cause. One stretcher-bearer bringing wounded, was the young Irish poet Francis Ledwidge. An Infantryman in the 5th Inniskillings ( Francis is mentioned in other chapters on this website ) he had volunteered to help the Medical Corps, who could not cope with all the wounded. One friend he brought in was his friend Robert Christie, whose voice he recognised in the dark; they spoke only briefly, then Ledwidge was off to carry in more wounded. Ledwidge was appalled at the suffering of his fellow Fusiliers, yet amazed at their bravery as he wrote to his friend and mentor Lord Dunsany:
Gallipoli
" It was Hell ! Hell ! No Man thought he would ever return. Just fancy out of D Company 250 strong, only seventy-six returned. By Heavens, you should know the bravery of these men . . It was a horrible and a great day. I would not have missed it for worlds. "
Those that did survive and returned home were taken to the beach at Suvla and evacuated
Robert Christie, after months in hospital, was discharged from the army, and sent back to Belfast on crutches. The friendship of Christie, a Northern Ulsterman, and Ledwidge, a Southern Irishman, would have gladdened the heart of Bryan Cooper, who had hoped for reconciliation in Ireland between Unionist and Nationalist after the war. Ledwidge, writing to Christie after the Easter Rising in 1916, expressed their common love of Ireland: " Yes poor Ireland is always in trouble. Tho' i am not a Sinn Feiner and you are a Carsonite do our sympathies not go to ' Cathleen ni Hoolihan ' ?
Francis Ledwidge
Very much forgotten in such tragic campaigns were the incredibly brave chaplains. Two such men were the chaplains of 30th Brigade, Canon McLean, sometimes called the jewel of the Protestant chaplains, and Father Murphy, his courageous Roman Catholic counterpart. Canon McLean, called that dear old Irishman from Limerick, was 61 years old, and had been rector of the Church of Ireland at Rathkeale, County Limerick. Father Murphy, 20 years younger than Canon McLean, described him as his ' splendid colleague ' while McLean always paid great tribute to Father Murphy: " I cannot express the admiration and affection i have always felt for his sterling character, he was always looking after me. "
A service was customary for any who could attend and on the 15th August Canon McLean recorded in his diary that he had celebrated Holy Communion at Divisional HQ for Lord Granard's Pioneer Regiment ( 5th Royal Irish ) and for the 6th and 7th Dublins in the trenches before the attack. Before an advance of his Irish Regiments Canon McLean would always celebrate Holy Communion in the firing line, frequently placing himself in danger, sniped at several times. Father Murphy also celebrated mass for the 7th Dublins on the 15th August; Lady Day was an important Church festival for all Roman Catholics. Indeed both chaplains faithfully attended the wounded and the dying; no danger or hardship was too great. As one officer wrote of them and whose sentiments were repeated in the many soldier's letters home: " They put a great spirit in the men, who love them both . . Catholic and Protestant are hand in hand, all brought about by the gentleness and undaunted courage displayed by these two splendid soldiers of Christ. " Only men who have faced terror and fear in war can understand such feelings.
Robert Graves, in his book ' Googbye to All That ' was very hard on the Protestant clergy, maintaining that the soldiers had very little respect for the Anglican regimental chaplains who obeyed orders to avoid getting mixed up with the fighting and to stay behind with the transport. Roman Catholic chaplains were ' not only permitted to visit posts of danger but definitely enjoyed to be wherever the fighting was . .to give extreme unction to the dying. ' Canaon McLean clearly exemplifies the number of protestant chaplains who ignored the ban, as does the high number of casualties among them. The rule was infact relaxed in 1916, which Graves seems not to have known about, but the troops still let their feelings be known.
The great bravery and spirit of the Irish was never more in evidence than in the memorable charge of the 5th Connaught Rangers ( The Devil's Own ) at the Kabak Kuyu Wells on the 21st August. They would live up to the reputation of this fine regiment. In a battle that in terms of numbers has been called the greatest battle fought in the Campaign, the Connaught Rangers were part of a coordinated attack by ANZAC forces and those of IX Corps to capture Hill 60 and the two important wells of Kabak Kuyu. The wells were the objective of the Rangers and their first main action. Like all battalions, the Rangers had already suffered casualties, whether on fatigue due, carrying water, bringing in wounded or burying the dead; no plcae was safe in the peninsula. Lieutenant Colonel H. F. N Jourdain, who had raised the battalion in Ireland in August 1914 would lead them.
Major General Alex Godley visited the Rangers waiting in their gully and told them what was expected of them; the 9th Worcesters had attempted to take the wells on the 12th August and failed, and he now looked to the Rangers to carry the position ' by cold steel . . .and an Irish yell. ' His words spoken in the spirit of General Picton to his ' Devil's Own ' before the Battle of Ciudad Rodrigo, were calculated to appeal even to modern - day Connaught Rangers.
A service was customary for any who could attend and on the 15th August Canon McLean recorded in his diary that he had celebrated Holy Communion at Divisional HQ for Lord Granard's Pioneer Regiment ( 5th Royal Irish ) and for the 6th and 7th Dublins in the trenches before the attack. Before an advance of his Irish Regiments Canon McLean would always celebrate Holy Communion in the firing line, frequently placing himself in danger, sniped at several times. Father Murphy also celebrated mass for the 7th Dublins on the 15th August; Lady Day was an important Church festival for all Roman Catholics. Indeed both chaplains faithfully attended the wounded and the dying; no danger or hardship was too great. As one officer wrote of them and whose sentiments were repeated in the many soldier's letters home: " They put a great spirit in the men, who love them both . . Catholic and Protestant are hand in hand, all brought about by the gentleness and undaunted courage displayed by these two splendid soldiers of Christ. " Only men who have faced terror and fear in war can understand such feelings.
Robert Graves, in his book ' Googbye to All That ' was very hard on the Protestant clergy, maintaining that the soldiers had very little respect for the Anglican regimental chaplains who obeyed orders to avoid getting mixed up with the fighting and to stay behind with the transport. Roman Catholic chaplains were ' not only permitted to visit posts of danger but definitely enjoyed to be wherever the fighting was . .to give extreme unction to the dying. ' Canaon McLean clearly exemplifies the number of protestant chaplains who ignored the ban, as does the high number of casualties among them. The rule was infact relaxed in 1916, which Graves seems not to have known about, but the troops still let their feelings be known.
The great bravery and spirit of the Irish was never more in evidence than in the memorable charge of the 5th Connaught Rangers ( The Devil's Own ) at the Kabak Kuyu Wells on the 21st August. They would live up to the reputation of this fine regiment. In a battle that in terms of numbers has been called the greatest battle fought in the Campaign, the Connaught Rangers were part of a coordinated attack by ANZAC forces and those of IX Corps to capture Hill 60 and the two important wells of Kabak Kuyu. The wells were the objective of the Rangers and their first main action. Like all battalions, the Rangers had already suffered casualties, whether on fatigue due, carrying water, bringing in wounded or burying the dead; no plcae was safe in the peninsula. Lieutenant Colonel H. F. N Jourdain, who had raised the battalion in Ireland in August 1914 would lead them.
Major General Alex Godley visited the Rangers waiting in their gully and told them what was expected of them; the 9th Worcesters had attempted to take the wells on the 12th August and failed, and he now looked to the Rangers to carry the position ' by cold steel . . .and an Irish yell. ' His words spoken in the spirit of General Picton to his ' Devil's Own ' before the Battle of Ciudad Rodrigo, were calculated to appeal even to modern - day Connaught Rangers.
