New book reveals the personal stories of WW1

World War One, or The Great War, as it was known at the time, has no parallel in history. As Westmeath resident Neil Richardson points out in his exceptional new publication, “A Coward If I Return, A Hero If I Fall”, in one morning alone, during the Battle of the Somme, 60,000 people were killed. The war and its horrendous toll has left a deep and lasting resonance in some countries - but in Ireland, there has been a collective amnesia. In the book, Richardson quotes The Irish Times security analyst Tom Clonan who contrasts the public remembrance of the 50,000 troops from the island of Ireland who died during World War One and that of the 58,000 American troops who died during the Vietnam War. This book aims to restore these forgotten Irish men and their stories to the forefront of debate. The author, in the introduction, says the focus of the book is not on the motivation of the soldiers, their political views, or the rights and wrongs of the war, but on the personal experiences of individual soldiers. “While the reasons why all these men went to war are certainly interesting, they should not form the basis of whether we remember them, acknowledge them, or mourn those who suffered tragic deaths. Why these Irishmen chose to go is worthy of mention, but when the artillery opened up, when the gas clouds rolled in a cross no-man’s-land, and when the order was given to fix bayonets, those reasons melted away leaving each man - idealist, pauper, or idiot - exposed as a mere mortal. Therefore the details that are really significant in any First World War story are who the men were, what they experienced, what they saw, and what they did to them afterwards.” The book is a collection of veterans’ stories culled from soldiers’ families, medical records, diaries, documents and letters. There is a strong local angle to the book, not least because the author’s initial interest in researching World War One was sparked by the story of his own great-grandfather, Martin Gaffey, from Athlone. And the book is dotted with stories and anecdotes relating to other Athlone soldiers, including Michael Curley, the inspiration of a recent play, From The Shannon To the Somme written by the same author and presented to popular acclaim at Athlone Little Theatre last year. Michael Curley helped to form the first ever nationalist volunteer movement anywhere in Ireland - the Midlands Volunteer Force (which pre-dated the formation of the Irish Volunteers) - and then went on to fight in the trenches of the First World War. Also mentioned in the book are Private Martin Gaffey; Private Fred Kelly; Private Jack West; Sergeant Jack Kelly; Corporal Hubert Gaffey and Private Thomas Whelehan. It’s not surprising that Athlone has such a prominence in the book, given the town’s heavy enlistment numbers. It’s estimated that between 800 and 1,200 men from the wider Athlone region fought during World War One, with close to 100 never returning. The personal stories are, in many cases, poignant, like that of Private John Oliver, from Galway, who took part in the famous Connaught Rangers mutiny in India, but who took his own life back in Ireland, haunted by shell shock. There’s evidence of the indomitable human spirit too. There’s the story of Private Patrick Kennelly from Ballybunion, who during an advance on German lines, was shot through the body, and was left lying on the ground fading in and out of consciousness. By pure chance, he was found by a fellow townsman, who carried the wounded soldier back across no-man’s-land on his shoulders, before returning to battle. This is the strength of the book. Extensive research and family accounts serve to bring the stories of the World War One veterans back from the mists of time. Ireland’s deliberate amnesia surrounding World War One is at last being punctured and a fine book such as this serves a key role in humanising the suffering. All in all, it’s a fantastic read. One small weakness though lies in its refusal to consider the war from a political context. One cannot separate World War One from its politics. Some wars may well be justified, but World War One was a cruel exercise in mass human slaughter. The absurd pointlessness of this wholesale loss of life should not be forgotten. Yes, the motivation of the individual soldiers and their own political beliefs should not distract from what happened them during the war. Their individual stories should be allowed speak for themselves. But their stories are all the more relevant because of the very pointlessness of World War One. That they went through such suffering for so little reason should be a key starting point in any study of Ireland’s World War One involvement.