209012 Pte. Anthony Doyle British Army 7th Batallion Royal Dublin Fusiliers from:Wexford St, Dublin (d.23rd Sep 1916) My great-uncle Anthony Doyle, an Irish boy, ran away to join the Royal Dublin Fusiliers in August 1914. He was just 16 and lied about his age to get into the army. After initial training, he went out to Gallipoli in 1915 but for some reason, missed the landing at Suvla Bay which saw so many of his comrades killed and injured on 7th August 1915. He joined the 7th Battalion a couple of days later and survived the Battle of Kiretch Tepe Sirt. With the rest of his Battalion he was moved to Salonika and lived through the harsh winter of 1915 up in the Macedonian mountains. Injured, he was sent home to Ireland in 1916, just in time for the Easter Rising in Dublin. In common with many Irish families, the Doyles were neither the first nor the last to have members fighting both for and against the British. Several of Anthony's brothers were actively involved in the IRA and a story from my father tells of the family hotel being raided at the front door by Crown forces whilst the arms cache hidden in the basement was hastily got out through the back door!
Anthony resisted his elder brother's request to turn and went back to Salonika. The 7th Battallion was sent to the Struma River sometime around September 1916 to establish a line across the river against the Bulgarians. Despite gaining a foothold at first, the Allies were forced back to their own side of the river. On the 23rd September they tried again to take the village of Karadzakoj-Zir-Bala but retired in the face of fierce opposition. It was during this retreat that Anthony was killed outright by a sniper. He was 18 years old.
The role of the Irish soldiers in the First World War is a difficult and emotive subject even now in Ireland. My father was named Anthony after his dead uncle by my grandfather Tom who was a distinguished IRA veteran. I remember this great-uncle I never knew every Armistice Day - I play The Green Fields of France for him and all those like him. He is buried at Struma Military Cemetary - IV.B.8. If you pass that way, stop a while and tell him he's remembered. Ar Dheis de go raibh seid.
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