An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir November 2014 www.dfmagazine.ie 16 | The Devil's Paintbrush BY SGT STEPHEN MC CABE, MECHANICAL SECTION, ORDNANCE SCHOOL O ccasionally, be- cause of the unique skill-sets of ord- nance technical personnel, we receive requests that can make you sit up in the chair and reply "Could you say that again?" On this particular day, I received a phone call from Sgt Dessie Mooney (D tpt Office) who wanted me to take a look at a Maxim machine-gun that was on permanent display in the museum in 'the Joy' (Mountjoy Prison) in Phibs- boro, Dublin. After receiving permission from Lt Col Ray Lane, (Sch Comdt Ordnance School) I arranged a visit to the prison where I met Governor Edward Whelan and his staff, including the officer who had contacted Sgt Mooney, Train- ing Officer Phil Brennan, a former member of 2 Fd Arty Regt. I also met Mr Séan Reynolds, a former prison officer who is the current curator of the museum. The museum is a fascinating place with a large collec- tion of material covering the period since Mountjoy Prison opened in the mid 19th century. Notable exhibits include execution paraphenalis (hangman's ropes, a white death- hood and a practice dummy), various uniforms, a cat o' nine tails (a whip made of strands of knotted rope), the 'auld triangle' (a metal triangle traditionally used to wake inmates and which is reckoned to be the inspiration of Brendan Behan's song of the same name), and of course the Maxim machine-gun. The latter artefact was on display for many years as a 'gate guard' (a withdrawn piece of equip- ment mounted on a plinth to symbolise the guarding of the entrance to a military facility or prison). Then, for some unknown reason, it was removed from its plinth and buried in the foundations of the prison kitchen until it was dug up during renovations in October 2006. It was cleaned and restored by the staff and inmates and put on display in the museum. Unsurprisingly, it was in very bad state of disrepair, due to considerable damage and corrosion. I was convinced, however, that I could return this historically important weapon to close to its original state. With permission from DFTC HQ I took the weapon back to the Ordnance School's workshops and started the restora- tion process. After some research in the Curragh Military Library and the Curragh Museum, I was able to determine that it was a German 'Maschinengewehr 08' (MG08), which was virtually a direct copy of the American Maxim machine-gun (1901 model). The German version was named after the year of its introduction into the German military in 1908. The MG08 was mounted on the unique schlittenlafette (sled mount) and the barrel was water cooled. The weapon gained a fearsome reputation on the battlefields of France during the Great War and indeed, it is fair to say, helped to change warfare. It was quickly un- derstood by the Germans that when used in conjunction with other MG08 teams, arcs of interlocking fire could be brought to bear on advancing Allied troops to absolutely devastating effect, which led to it being given the moniker 'the Devil's Paintbrush'. How it got into Mountjoy Prison in the first place is a mystery: it was thought it may have been among the weapons smuggled in from Germany in advance of the 1916 rebellion but there is no record of MG08s being supplied. Alternatively, it is possible that it was a war trophy pre- sented to the governor of the prison by an Irish regiment of the British Army on returning to Dublin. Unfortunately, any

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