Welcome to the WWII Forums! Log in or Sign up to interact with the community.

He Fought For Three Armies

Discussion in 'Military History' started by GRW, Feb 3, 2020.

  1. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    "Short but eventful life". No kidding.
    "The people of New Ross in Co Wexford will on Sunday honour Victoria Cross winner Martin Doyle who returned to the town as a war hero 100 years ago and later joined the IRA.
    There will be a parade through the streets of the town before the unveiling of a paving stone recognising the medal he earned in September 1918.
    Ronan McGreevy tells the story of a man who came to embody the shifting loyalties of Irish people a century ago.

    There are 623 graves for British military personnel in Grangegorman Military Cemetery in Dublin. Each headstone is identical to the other being, according to the old imperial measures, 30 inches (76 cm) tall, 15 inches (38 cm) wide and two inches (3.2 cm) thick. They are made of white Portland Stone.
    The grave of Martin Doyle, tucked into a corner at the entrance of the graveyard, looks like all the rest, but it is not a real Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone.
    Its provenance revealed by the inscription at the bottom - “erected by his old comrades in the regiment” - the regiment being the Royal Munster Fusiliers.
    In his short, but eventful life, Martin Doyle fought for three armies, the British Army, the IRA and the National Army of the Free State. Yet, he was buried as a British soldier, 20 years after his country fought a war of liberation against the same country.
    In death, as in life, this extraordinary soldier personified many of the contradictions of Irish identity in the country he grew up in."
    www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/the-man-who-fought-for-three-armies-british-ira-and-free-state-1.4159106?mode=amp&fbclid=IwAR346bzkyfi9VEFgT_dvLaKbn2dw9awYQ6Ums0vZ2BsvvmdcAYWnVZ4gF-w
     
    CAC and A-58 like this.
  2. Jack B

    Jack B Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 2, 2019
    Messages:
    656
    Likes Received:
    216
    Location:
    Deep in the armchair
    I'd like to have sat down for a pint of Guinness with him.
     
  3. Owen

    Owen O

    Joined:
    May 14, 2006
    Messages:
    2,765
    Likes Received:
    760
    A-58 likes this.
  4. PzJgr

    PzJgr Drill Instructor

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2000
    Messages:
    8,386
    Likes Received:
    890
    Location:
    Jefferson, OH
    Ditto
     
  5. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,021
    Likes Received:
    1,816
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    I was thinking of Yang Kyoungjong, the Korean who fought in the Japanese Army and was captured by the Soviets during the border wars of 1939. Then he was put in the Red Army and captured again, this time by the German Army. The Germans later put him in one of the Ost Battalions that was deployed to Normandy. He was captured by the US Army there.

    Yang Kyoungjong - Wikipedia


    These three men had extraordinary lives to say the least.
     
  6. PzJgr

    PzJgr Drill Instructor

    Joined:
    Dec 19, 2000
    Messages:
    8,386
    Likes Received:
    890
    Location:
    Jefferson, OH
    I remember that story as well. Another extraordinary individual
     
    A-58 likes this.
  7. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    Yeah, remember both those stories. Just shows you.
     
  8. CAC

    CAC Ace of Spades

    Joined:
    Dec 1, 2010
    Messages:
    9,505
    Likes Received:
    3,037
    what county did he hail from?

    Ah...Wexford
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2020
  9. GRW

    GRW Pillboxologist WW2|ORG Editor

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2003
    Messages:
    20,815
    Likes Received:
    3,042
    Location:
    Stirling, Scotland
    Leinster, I think.
     
  10. A-58

    A-58 Cool Dude

    Joined:
    Nov 13, 2008
    Messages:
    9,021
    Likes Received:
    1,816
    Location:
    Baton Rouge, Louisiana
    An HBO 10 part miniseries would do them justice I think. Talk about some great subject matter to work with!
     

Share This Page