BYRNE “Amongst the last of those mentioned in Sir Ian Hamilton’s report for gallantry in the field, Hon. Lieut. and Quarter-master Byrne, of the 6th Battalion of the Dublin Fusiliers. The people of Naas will remember Sergeant-Major Byrne, who was well-known in the 3rd Battalion during his service at the Depot. The Sergeant-Major received his promotion for gallantry in the field and his numerous friends will welcome the news of this well merited recognition.” Leinster Leader.-12 February, 1916
COX, Col P 6th Battalion. Commanding Officer at Dardanelles
DINAN, George Albert, 2/LT (TP), Killed in action, 09/09/16, 6th Battalion. from date prob with 9th
DOYLE, Lieutenant John Joseph 6th Battalion. died 10/08/1915 4th son of Joseph James Doyle. of Fairview. Clontarf. Merchant, by his wife, Margaret, dau. of Edward Fetran, of Broadfield. Naas ; b. Clontarf, Dublin, March, 1893; educ. Blackrock College, Dublin. and the National University of Ireland, where he was an engineering student and was within a year of being qualified. When war broke out he volunteered, joined the Trinity College (Dublin) O.T.C., 6 Aug. 1914, and was given a 2nd Lieut 's commission in the Dublin Fusiliers on 19 Sept. following, and promoted Lieut., 5 Feb. 1915. He left with his regt. for the Dardanelles on 9 July, 1915, and was killed in action there, 9 Aug. 1915; His Commanding Officer, Col. P. Cox, wrote : " He fell early on the morning of the 10th when most gallantly leading his platoon. His death must have been instantaneous, as the poor boy was shot through the temple. His death is a great loss to me and the regt. He was a right good boy, who was always keen, always did his very best, loved his work, and had no idea what the word ' Fear ' meant. Your son and his young brother subalterns have done splendid work for the regt., and it is due to their great devotion to duty that the regt. lias done so well." Lieut. Doyle was a well-known footballer. His two brothers, Capt. E. C. Doyle A VC and Lieut. F. H. Doyle, A.V.C., are on active service. (Lt F H Doyle died 12/10/1916)
JENNINGS Major John Gilderdale attached 6th Battalion, Major, 66th Punjabis, attached Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Died 10 August 1915. Aged 37. Son of the late Gen. Sir Robert Melvill Jennings, K.C.B.; husband of Adeline Braund Jennings, of 1, Hyde Park Terrace, London. Helles Memorial. Additional details show he attended the United Services Collage as a pupil or member of staff. Note: 9th August 1915 the 6th Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers took part in the attempt to recapture Scimtar Hill and to manage to gain some ground but experienced ferocious resistance from the Turks that eventual forced the British to withdraw, the same date that he died. Late 66th Punjabis I.A., who was 2nd in command of the battalion in April, 1915. (He had previous war service with the 34th Pioneers I.A. in India and also during the China Campaign, 1900.) educ. Westward Ho! College, Devon and the Royal Military College, Sandhurst; gazetted 2nd Lieut. Unattached list, 5 Aug, 1896; posted to the I.A. 6 Oct, 1897; promoted Lieut. 5 Nov, 1898; Capt. 5 Aug, 1905 and Major 5 Aug, 1914; served (1) on the North-West Frontier of India 1897-98, including actions at Malakand, operations in Bangaur and those in Mohmand (medal with clasp); (2) in the Tirah Campaign 1897-98, operations in the Bara Valley 7 to 14 Dec, 1897 (Clasp); (3) in China 1900 (Medal); (4) on the North-West Frontier of India, taking part in Waziristan Expedition 1901-02; (5) in the European War 1914, where he served with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force at the Dardanelles, attached to the 6th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, and was killed in action during the attack on Chocolate Hill, Suvla Bay, 10 Aug. 1915, while leading hi men after he had been wounded three times. Buried near where he fell.
McGARRY Second Lieutenant William Frederick Cecil. 6th Battalion Died 10 Aug 1915 William Frederick Cecil McGarry was born on 8 September 1885. He was a man whose only ambition in life was to be a soldier. From a very young age McGarry was adamant that when he grew up he would join the army. He came to Belvedere on 15 September 1906, having been educated before that at the Holy Faith Convent in Glasnevin. His family lived at 4 Belfast Terrace, North Circular Road, not far from Belvedere. William was an excellent student. In 1908 he sat and passed his Preparatory Grade Exam in English, French, History & Geography, Algebra & Arithmetic and Science. Two years later, he sat his Junior Grade Exams, getting Honours in four subjects (English, French, History & Geography, Algebra & Arithmetic): the best results in his year. McGarry was not just an academic. In 1909, he was a member of ‘The Holy Angels’, a religious society at the college for the younger students. A year later he was elected to the Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was for the senior students. Fervent students had to apply for membership, which was regarded as prestigious. Members of the Sodality were then elected, in a manner similar to the way Prefects are chosen nowadays. McGarry was a member of the 1909 Rugby Junior Cup Team. This was the inaugural year of the Leinster Junior Cup. They went all the way to the final (beating High School 43-0, Terenure 5-3 (after a scoreless first match), and King’s Hospital 14-0 in the semi-final). They lost 9-0 to St Andrew’s College in the final. But this was not a bad result, as they had lost 60-0 to the same team just two months earlier. McGarry was also on the 1911 Senior Rugby XV, in a year when they met with little success (they were knocked out of the Cup by Wesley College 24-0). He was also on the Senior Rugby Committee, alongside Rupert Coyle, who later joined the Jesuits and became a headmaster at Belvedere. After he left school in 1912, William joined the Volunteer Corps. As a member of the Volunteers during the first months of their existence, he had to deal with civil disturbances at Bachelor’s Walk in Dublin - a baptism of fire that stood to him when he later received a commission. McGarry’s ambition was realised when he enlisted in October 1914. He was first stationed at the Curragh (where he was complimented for the efficient way he performed his duties as Detail Officer) and then at Basingstoke. But he was really satisfied when he was sent to the front line - to Gallipoli in Turkey - in the summer of 1915. He was reported to have been surprisingly happy on the voyage - delighted finally to get his chance. He spent his spare time writing letters to his friends and family. He reached Mytilene (a town on the Aegean island of Lesbos) towards the end of July 1915, and stayed there until he was moved to the front on what he wrote was ‘the happiest August Bank Holiday of my life’. He spent his last few days near Suvla and during these days he managed to save the life of a fellow north Dubliner. While on a reconnaissance mission, a party led by himstumbled upon a badly injured man whom McGarry knew from his time in Dublin. All present believed there was no hope for the man - except McGarry. Against the odds, he managed to bandage the soldier’s wounds himself and to locate medical assistance afterwards. This fallen soldier was saved, but on Tuesday 10August 1915, McGarry himself was not so lucky. On this tragic day, he led his platoon in an attack on a tactical position on the slope of Scimitar Hill. Once they had taken this position, they were outnumbered, and a combination of stiff Turkish resistance and difficult terrain forced his platoon to flee. Lieutenant McGarry and his entire platoon were wiped out. His family, shortly after receiving his upbeat letters about how happy he was, received the grim news that Second Lieutenant William Frederick Cecil McGarry was missing, presumed dead. McGarry lived his life, according to his obituary, ‘as a shining beacon of hope and courage around whom others rallied’. The colonel in charge of the 6TH battalion said of McGarry: Everybody who saw him in action was full of his courage and good leading, and he was a very great loss to the regiment. There was no keener boy anywhere, and his delight on coming out here was unbounded. The losses of this regiment have been terrible, but it has done magnificently. Its success has been chiefly due to the great courage and respect of company and platoon commanders. These boys HA ve all done brilliantly. The words are quite ironic as the Gallipoli campaign was a disaster despite the best efforts of people like McGarry. The British casualties were 213,980 (of which at least 145,000 were due to sickness). Turkish losses were as high as 350,000. Allied forces in Gallipoli were evacuated in 1916, a humiliation for the Anglo-French alliance and a remarkable victory for the Turks.
NEWTON, Arthur Winstanley played rugby for England Internationals: 1 : 1907 S- Arthur Newton was born on 12 September 1879. Commissioned in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers 7 May 1900 and promoted to Lieutenant on 2 August 1902. Played for the Officers of the Army v the Officers of the Royal Navy in February (14-15) and December 1907 (0-15). Played for Barbarians: v Cardiff (0-17) v Exeter (18-3) in 1907. Resigned his commission in the RDF 18 July 1908. There is an “A Newton” listed on the Indian Army List of 1912. He is shown as T/Major, 6th Battalion in the Army List of January 1915. Arthur Newton is believed to have been killed in action during the 1914-1918 War, and many Rugby references indicate this. However, he is not listed on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Register. It looks like reports of his death were rather exaggerated! He went on to live in Melbourne. It looks like Arthur really was Andrew, who resigned his commission in the RDF on18 July 1908. An unknown compile made a mistake and condemned Andrew to obscurity, and sent historians searching for someone who didn't exist.
PRESTON Captain Arthur John Dillon 6th Battalion Mentioned in Despatches. Died age 29 0n 15/08/1915. Only son of Maj. Arthur John and Gertrude Preston, of Swainston, Kilmessan, Co. Meath; husband of Sylvia Wyke Preston, of Clowbryn, Greystones, Co. Wicklow. Born Luther House, Huddersfleld. 16 Nov, 1885; educ. Malvern College ; gazetted 2nd Lieut, to the 3rd (Militia) Battn, of the Durham L. 5 Oct. 1904, posted to the 1st Battn. Dublin Fusiliers. 2 March. 1907. promoted Lieut. 15 Dec. 1909. anl Capt. 2nd Battn. 7 June, 1914 ; served with the 2nd Battn. in Egypt, where he joined the Mounted Infantry, winning at Cairo the Lloyd Lindseiy prize, at tthe outbreak of the European War he was ordered to Naas and afterwards to the Curragh to raise the 6th Service Battn. of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers, with which he proceeded to the Gallipoli Peninsula on 9 July. He took part in all the heavy hghling at Suvla Bay until 15 Aug. when he fell in the moment of victory. The Colonel of his battalion writing to his widow, remarked : " I am sure all Ireland will soon hear of the charge of the Dublins and Munsters on that 15th afternoon. Your husband (Capt. Preston. second in command) was responsible for it and organised it splendidly, and in conjunction with Capt. Whytem he brillantly led it. It was a magnificent sight considering they charged up a hill through a hail of bombs and bullets, Capt. Preston got safely on the hill (capturing the trench), but in the counter-attack was fatallv wounded in the right breast. I was the last officer to speak to him. and told him how splendidly he had done. Personally. I feel his d«ath very much. No man could have helped his colonel more than he. the success of the action was greatly due to him." Capt, Whyte, Royal Dublin Fusihers. wrote : " We closed on the Munsters. and all collected on some dead ground about UM) yards from the crest ; I was sitting beside John, and he was in his usual spirit, laughing and joking. When the word came that we were to clear the ridge we fixed bayonets, then we all started together. Dublins and .Munsters. John shouting 'Come on boys.' They (the Turks) threw bombs and opend fire upon us as we neared the top. but we went straight on and rushed the trench. The Turks put up their hands. 1 saw John stop his men who were just going to bayonet a Turkish officer. As you know, he was my best friend, and was loved by every one in the regiments. officers. N.C.Os. and men. The only consolation is that he died a glorious death . leading his men to victory, the death I am sure he would have chosen." Capt. Preston wrote to his wife on that fatal 15 Aug remarking : " I ha\e had six hours sleep and am full of buck and life." Also to his father a five-page letter. The batlle had even then commenced in the valley below, It was written under stenuous circumstances, no change of clothes for five nights, and only six hours sleep, no chance of a wash, and exposed to the heat of a tropical sun, yet his last written wonls were " Iove to you all ; 1 am very fit and quite happy." He and the .Adjutant. Capt. Richards who fell at the same time, were buried side by side in the same grave close to the sea shore at Suvla Bay. A fiat gravestone covers AZMAK CEMETERY, SUVLA
RICHARDS Capt William Reeves, 6th Battalion, Adjutant. KIA: 15/08/1915 Age: 24 Mentioned in Despatches. Son of John William Richards, J.P. (of Rath, Greystones, Co. Wicklow, and 51, Merrion Square, Dublin) and of Adelaide Prudentia Richards (nee Roper). GREEN HILL CEMETERY
STANTON 2nd Lt Robert, 6th Battalion, aged 29 died 09/08/1915. Born in 1886, the son of John and Catherine Stanton, of 5, Alexandra Place, Cork. Solicitor practising at 47, South Mall, Cork; and a Senior Moderator. B.A., LL.B. of Trinity College, Dublin. Mr John Stanton ran a family law firm in Cork. He was the eldest son of a family of nine. The boys went to CBC and the girls to private ‘finishing schools’ in Cork and in England. Bob Stanton went to study Law at Trinity College, Dublin. In 1907, he graduated from Trinity with B. A. and L.L.B. Degrees and was awarded a Gold Medal which was an award given to honours Law graduates. When he graduated he went back to the family practice in Cork. He fell in love with a postmistress and wanted to marry her. His father forbade the marriage as he believed there was a history of TB in her family. In disgust, Bob left the law firm and went to Dublin It was on a train to Dublin that Bob met an ex-Trinity classmate of his who told him he should go to Clones, Co. Monaghan, as there wasn’t a catholic solicitor in Clones and he would do well. The Great War broke out and with it came a fever of excitement and adventure which spread among the young elite professional classes of Dublin, a fever which disguised all its horror behind a veil of youthful excitement and innocence. Like many of his Trinity colleagues, Bob joined the Dublin Fusiliers. He enlisted into the 6th Battalion Dublin Fusiliers.On the 7th of August 1915, Bob was put ashore at Suvla Bay with the rest of his battalion. Lieut. Bob Stanton was killed when the Dublins led the assault on Scimitar Hill which Turks held, overlooking Suvla Bay. His body was never found because the shelling set fire to the bush.On the 16th of August, Bob’s father and mother received a telegram from the War Office, which read, Deeply regret to inform you that 2nd Lieut. R Stanton, 6th Dublin Fusiliers is reported wounded and missing believed killed in action between the 7th and 10th of August. Lord Kitchener expresses his sympathy. The word believed suggested to Mr. and Mrs. Stanton that there was a chance that Bob might still be alive in a Turkish POW Camp. With the help of the American Embassy in Constantinople, his parents had a search done for Bob in the Turkish POW Camps. There was no luck as they received yet another telegram from the War Office stating that Bob was not a POW and it therefore must be assumed that he was dead. On the 1st of July 1916, the first day of the Battle of the Somme, Bob’s brother, Captain George Stanton, a young medical graduate from Trinity College Dublin serving in the R.A.M.C., received terrible stomach wounds. He too died in August 1916, at the age of twenty seven. George’s body was returned to Cork and given a full military funeral headed by a band of the Dublin Fusiliers. Many years later, Bob Stanton’s younger brother Tom, himself to serve in Malta as a Doctor with the R.A.M.C. in the Great War, said of Bob: "We younger brothers worshipped him. I should say he never became a solicitor by desire, but, he was born in a period when the eldest son as a rule stepped into his father's shoes. He was a very gentle type and every inch a man. He was twenty eight years old when he laid down his life at Gallipoli. We have never forgotten him." As a footnote to this story, the young girl who was to marry Bob died at the age of eighty one in 1976. She never married. Bob Stanton’s name, along with Ernest Julian, John and Harry Boyd, are among the 480 Dublin Fusiliers on the Helles Memorial who died in Gallipoli.