An Cosantóir

28 | A JILDY SOLDIER W e all grew up being told tales from our Grandparents, Grand uncle or aunt. 'When I was your age there were no cars around, we had to walk to school'. Times always seemed harder, especially when they went on about the depression and rationing during the war. No fancy Chinese or Italians then. The mistake many of us make however is we do not record our family history. It is only when a grandparent passes away that we realise those stories will never be told again. I am fortunate to have one grandpar- ent left. Patrick (Patsy) O'Neil from Glebe House, Crumlin Village Dublin, born on August 1st 1921. He is now 90 years of age. Patsy saw many changes in Ireland from the early days of the Free State, the birth of a Republic, and onto the Celtic Tiger. The story our readers will be interested in is his time serving in the Defence Forces during the Emergency Years; known to others as World War II. Hopefully his story will inspire you to record your family history. "At the outbreak of the war, I was studying carpentry in Bolton Street College. There was much talk of the war in Europe. As German armies moved east and west nobody knew whether Ireland would join the Allied powers or wait and see if the Germans would come over to us." While some young men seeking adventure went off to join the British forces Patsy joined the rapidly expanding Irish BY WESLEY BOURKE PHOTOGRAPHS BY ARMN NEVILLE COUGHLAN & B/W COURTESY OF MILITARY ARCHIVES Over the years I have interviewed many veterans. Their stories of Korea, the Congo, Vietnam, and Lebanon have all transported me back to a time long before I was born. The world was a lot different than it is today. No computers, no fancy CIS equipment or DPM uniform, no Mowag APC's to transport you around the battlefield, you go back far enough and the jet aircraft and helicopter were only making their first appearance. History however is right on our doorsteps and most of us don't even realise it. Defence Forces. At the wars outbreak the Defence Forces only numbered 5,915 regulars and 14,470 in the reserve. By 1943 the regular force had reached just under 41,000 while the reorganised Local Defence Force num- bered 106,000. Volunteers like my grandfa- ther were known as E-men (Emergency men) or Durationers (those who had enlisted for the duration of hostilities). Money and equip- ment was scarce, food, fuel, tea, cigarettes, were all rationed. Turf battalions were even formed to make sure homes were heated. Mobilisation saw the formation of two divisions and two independent brigades. The 1st Division, under Maj Gen M. J. Costello, had its headquarters in Cork while the 2nd Division, under Maj Gen Hugo McNeill, had its headquarters in Carton House, Maynooth. The independent 5th and 8th Brigades were based in the Curragh and in Rineanna (Shan- non Airport) respectively. My grandfather joined C Coy, 25 Inf Bn, 5th Brigade based in the Curragh. For a Crumlin man Nass was considered the frontier. "I remember sheep shit and soldiers. The only nice thing about it was the trees as you drove in. There was no doubt training was hard. We had the British pattern uniform, helmet and forage cap. We had another name for the forage cap which I won't repeat. You'll see pictures of other lads wear- ing a German style uniform. This was the Vickers helmet that had been issued back in the 30's. You made friends with men like 62 Sanders. We called them by their last name and their army number. We were issued the Lee Enfield .303 rifle, lovely weapon. The drill on this rifle was really impressive, I remem- ber it clearly. On parade was the best "Fix... Bayonets". When you saw a whole battalion doing that it was an amazing sight." "I was trained on the .303 Enfield. I also did a course on the Lewis and Vickers machine guns. These machine guns like today you had to have a crew. The Lewis was on a bipod and had a round magazine whereas the Vickers was on a tripod and was belt fed." "The Enfield was my favourite. They weren't all in good condition as some were old and had to have repair work done. Five rounds in the small black magazine and one up the breech. One of my proudest days was being awarded the marksmanship badge. With the Enfield you didn't pull the trigger, you squeezed it gently." 25 Inf Bn was mainly tasked with guarding K-lines and Tintown. These were the camps where the Allied, Axis and IRA internees were kept during the war. Ireland of course was neutral, so any Allied or Axis sailor or aviators that happened to crash or get beached on Irish shores was interned. "In the Curragh all the sentry posts were elevated. So you would have full view of your section of the camp you were guarding. There were two men in each box. Nine boxes in total. A guard house An Cosantóir February 2012

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