- See John Aloysius Doyle’s entry on the Board of Trade’s Ancestry public tree.
- This information updates the group’s previous research published on the former DTI website (now archived by the National Archives).
- Do you have any more information about John Aloysius Doyle? If so the War Memorial Research Group would love to hear from you
Name recorded on Board of Trade Memorial: J. A. Doyle
Born: Dublin
Date of Death: 21 October 1916
Age at death: 20
Service, Regiment, Corps, etc: Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Unit, Ship, etc: “D” Company, 10th Battalion
Enlisted: Dublin
Rank: Private (Service No: 26612)
Decorations: WW1 Service Medals (Victory Medal and British War Medal)
War (and theatre): WW1 (France and Flanders)
Manner of Death: Died of Wounds (DOW)
Family Details: Son of Elizabeth and late Martin Doyle, 63 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin, Ireland
Residence:
Home Department: Board of Trade – Labour Department (Central Office)
Civilian Rank:
Cemetery or Memorial: Puchevillers British Cemetery, Somme (V.D.32); Board of Trade War Memorial; Memorial to Staff of the Ministry of Labour; Irish National War Memorial;
Biography:
John Aloysius Doyle was born on 16 September 1896 in Dublin, Ireland. His parents were Martin Doyle (1864-1914) and Elizabeth M Daly (1867-?). He was baptised on 18 September 1896 at St Mary’s (Pro-Cathedral) in Dublin.
He had one brother James J Doyle (1893-1902) and seven sisters – Kathleen P Doyles (1892-?), Judith Mary Doyle (1895-1902), Elizabeth M Doyle (1899-?), Mary Agnes Doyle (1900-1996), Mary Anne Doyle (1901-?), Agnes Doyle (1903-?) and Irene A. Doyle (1905-?)
John was born at 63 Upper Dorset Street, Dublin and the Doyle family are still living at the same address in both the 1901 and the 1911 census.
His father was a coal merchant and it seems that he earned enough money to send John to one of the most exclusive Jesuit catholic voluntary secondary school’s for boys in Dublin called Belvedere College.
According to the school’s biography of him after his death, he had left Belvedere in 1912. He was remembered “as a boy, he had displayed considerable ability, and was an Intermediate Exhibitioner. In his last year at school he passed Middle Grade with Honours, and Matriculation, and without any previous preparation a Civil Service Clerkship examination.”
After leaving school, he had worked for the Irish Land Commission. This organisation was set up the British crown in 1843 to “inquire into the occupation of the land in Ireland” and was responsible for redistributing farmland until it was abolished in 1999. He then joined the Board of Trade working in the Labour Department’s Central Office in London.
According to his military records, John Doyle was formerly in the South Irish Horse (No.1818) which was a Special Reserve cavalry regiment of the British Army.
We also know that John fought as a Private with “D” Company, 10th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Apparently he joined Army “refusing to seek a commission, and refusing any promotion, as he preferred to remain a private with the responsibilities of no other men’s lives in his hands”.
Unfortunately, John’s WW1 Service Record papers do not survive so we don’t know exactly when he enlisted to serve, but his surviving Medal Index Card indicate that he was only awarded two service medals for his WW1 war service. Given he was not awarded the 1915 Star, he did not serve in France until 1916.
We know that the 10th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers was an Irish infantry regiment and one of eight Irish regiments raised and garrisoned in Ireland. The Royal Dublin Fusiliers regiment had been formed on 1 July 1881 but was disbanded after the war in 1922 under the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. The 10th battalion was formed in Dublin on 11 February 1916, which is when John would have enlisted.
The battalion has been largely forgotten in subsequent history due to the fact that the regiment was disbanded when southern Ireland became independent.
The battalion were training at Dublin Royal Barracks in April 1916 when the Easter Rising happened on 24 to 29 April 1916. This event involved Irish nationalists launching an armed assault against British rule in Ireland. It was the most significant rebellion in Ireland since 1798 and the first armed Irish conflict and paved the way for Ireland’s later independence in 1922. As a result of the violence, 485 people were killed including 260 civilians, 82 Irish rebels (including those executed) and 143 British military and police. Additionally over 2,600 people were wounded.
The battalion was involved in relieving Dublin Castle. After this tumultuous time, the battalion continued training in Ireland in May, June and July before leaving for Pirbright Camp, England on 5 August 1916.
We know that the 10th Battalion arrived in Le Havre, France on 19 August 1916 where they fought as part of the 63rd (Royal Navel Division).
John died of his wounds aged only 20 on 21 October 1916. We know from the 10th Battalion war diaries that in mid October the 10th Battalion spent 6 days on the front line around the 14th to 17th October involved with patrols, shelling and trench work and a lot of days on “fatigues” and involved in moving supplies and ammunition. The battalion was relieved on 17 October 1916 for a rest period and returned to billets. Then on 21 October 1916 they were on the march again to form working parties. John died during this period before the Battle of the Ancre (13-18 November 1916) when the battalion suffered 50% casualties. Of the 493 officers and men who were involved in the initial Ancre attack, 242 men were recorded as killed, wounded or missing.
We know additional details from “The Belvederian” article detailing the circumstances of his life and death. This mentions that “…until his death he was constantly in action. Just as he was leaving the trenches after six hard days fighting, he was struck by the splinters of a German shell, and badly wounded in the head and back. He was taken to the base hospital, where on examination, it was found that his condition was extremely serious. He found it hard to believe that he was dying, but was perfectly resigned to his fate. The chaplain attended him constantly during the four days of life that remained and gave him Holy Communion on the day before his death. He writes with admiration of his patience and his piety and of his holy death.”
After his death, his civil service boss wrote to his mother to express regret at losing such an efficient employee and appreciating his good qualities and excellent character. His death came as quite a shock, given the relatively short amount of time that he served overseas.
John is buried at Puchevillers British Cemetery in the Picardie region of France. The cemetery was created near to the 3rd and 44th Casualty Clearing Stations at Puchevillers. John would have been treated and subsequently died at one of these places. John’s grave is one of 1,763 WW1 burials in the cemetery which is designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
John is also remembered on two Civil Service War Memorials – the Memorial to Staff of the Ministry of Labour and the Board of Trade War Memorial in London.
John’s name is also recorded on the Belvedere College Memorial in Dublin. The school later published a memorial booklet of the 68 men named on the WW1 memorial in “The Belvederian” and a photo of him is included along with a brief biography.
He is also remembered at Islandbridge, Dublin by the Irish National War Memorial Gardens, which was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and built in memory of the 49,400 Irishmen who gave their lives during WW1. The name of every single soldier is contained inside the granite bookrooms in sumptuously illustrated manuscripts in “Ireland’s Memorial Records 1914-1918” designed by the famous graphic artist and illustrator Harry Clarke (1889-1931). The garden is a beautiful place of architectural interest and is one of the most famous memorial gardens in Europe with extensive trees, rose gardens and herbaceous borders.
The Trade Historians Group continue to research and try to identify more information about John. Our more recent discovery is that his elder sister, Kathleen Doyle married a John Joseph Scully (1891-1961) in 1916 in Dublin. They later emigrated in February 1927 on the ship “Samaria” with their children including John’s nephew and namesake – John Aloysius Scully (1920-2012) who was born in Dublin on 22 February 1920 and died in Naples, Florida in the United States in 2012.
With thanks to Liam Maloney (https://twitter.com/cheapsellotape) for sharing via Twitter/X in 2018 a copy of John Doyle’s obituary Doyle’s obituary from ‘The Belvederian’, 1917, pp. 70-71.
Board of Trade War Memorial 