I am so impressed by what you guys have come up with. The expertise of people on this forum never ceases to amaze me. Thank you to everyone who contributed. I never expected to receive such excellently sourced information.
I'm guessing there must have been a recruitment station for the RDF in the Glasgow area, as my Great Uncle, James McGinley 17608 1st Batt RDF, was a miner in Hamilton. He was KIA 4/6/1915 in Galiopolli.
That is very interesting about your Great Uncle. Gallipoli was a horrendous campaign, as all amphibious beach landings tend to be. It would be fascinating to be able to find out if there really was such a recruitment station somewhere in Glasgow. My father had thought that his uncle travelled to Dublin, however I think that would have been unlikely.
One question I have is: given that my great uncle was likely conscripted in 1916, he must have been given a choice over which regiment to join?
As he is recorded as "Died of Wounds", it is always hard to determine where and when he was wounded, but the attached is an extract of an Operation Report for the Battalion on the day before he died, and this MAY have been the action in which he was wounded.
That is an incredible record Stephen. How on earth did you find it? I truly appreciate this. It is indeed possible that this was the action in which he was wounded. At the very least, he must have been wounded somewhere near this area since that is where the Battalion where in late 1918.
Amazing find.
The Irish Times (1874-1920) [Dublin, Ireland] 17 Sep 1917
WOUNDED.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
Murphy, 28270, J. (Govan.)
The Scotsman (1860-1920) [Edinburgh, Scotland] 15 Oct 1918
RANK AND FILE – SCOTTISH LOSSES.
DIED OF WOUNDS.
Royal Dublin Fus. - Murphy, 28270, J. (Govan.)
Rex
Once again, I am so impressed by people on here. You have just answered for me a question that I have had for years.
I have in my possession a postcard that John Joseph Murphy sent to his parents after being wounded at the Front and sent back to England. I always wanted to find out in what battle or operation he could have been wounded in and when. On the back of the postcard was a photograph of himself seated with his company. It says that they called themselves, "
The Seven Clinkers".
I've attached the postcard and photograph to this post. My Great Uncle John Joseph is the young man on the bottom far left.
Its quite hard to read but this is what he wrote:
"Dear Mother and Father,
I have arrived in England from France. I don't yet know what hospital I am going too but will write the first chance I get. It is not serious, so don't worry. Had no money for stamp. Hope you are all well,
Your loving son,
John"
Given that your post above indicates that he was wounded in September 1917, I checked and found out that the 1st Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers were then involved in the
Battle of Passchendaele, which I presume must then have been where he was wounded the first time but survived and returned.
Thank you to each one of you!