Ireland’s Call - Stephen Walker

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of the Training Corps, attending the School of Musketry at Hythe, and was later given a platoon to command. When the war broke out in the August of 1914, it was only natural that George Grant Duggan and his brother John volunteered for service. George Grant Duggan joined the 5th Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers, and his two other brothers, John and George Chester, joined the Royal Irish Regiment. George Grant was commissioned as a lieutenant, and he was quickly promoted to the temporary rank of captain in October 1914. For the next few months he was involved in training, and by the summer of 1915 he and his brother were ready to do battle with Turkish forces in the Gallipoli Peninsula.

      In July 1915, as part of the 10th Irish Division, George Grant, John and George Chester set sail to take part in a battle that would have devastating consequences. The journey to the Aegean Sea took a number of weeks, and the objective was to establish a foothold on the peninsula and push the Turkish forces back towards Constantinople and force them to surrender. The invasion by British and Commonwealth troops had been ordered after two British ships were sunk, and other ships came under attack, from Turkish forts along the peninsula. In April 1915, thousands of Australian and New Zealand soldiers (Anzacs) were joined by French and British troops. The attack they mounted on Turkish soil was a bloody failure; thousands were killed in the water before they reached the shore, and the attacks did little to push the Turkish forces back.

      Keen to find a new way to attack the Turkish coastline, the British high command came up with the plan of surrounding an area to the north of where the Anzacs and the British had attacked in April. The new plan revolved around an area called Suvla Bay, and the aim was to land forces by boat and then push the Turkish forces inland. Desperate to keep their plans watertight, only a handful of senior British officers were aware of the precise nature of the plan. As the men of the 10th Division sailed to their destination, they had no idea what to expect.

      As they approached Suvla Bay, men from the Royal Irish Fusiliers were placed on a number of boats, one called Honeysuckle and the other Snaefell, which was named after the highest mountain on the Isle of Man. As they came closer to the coastline the men could hear the sound of gunfire, and they all knew that their disembarkation was imminent.

      Nothing could have prepared the Duggan brothers for what they were about to experience, which one Gallipoli veteran would later describe as a nightmare. After the war, Captain G.W. Geddes, who served with the Royal Munster Fusiliers, reflected on his days fighting the Turkish forces:

      Hell it has been, with a vengeance, and the men who were at Mons and La Bassée say it was child’s play to what we’ve gone through here.

      The Duggan boys survived the landing, but in the next few days of fighting they witnessed carnage on a grand scale as many of their comrades were struck down by Turkish bullets. Bodies lay where they fell, some on the shore, some on the hillside. The beaches and the mountain paths were stained with blood.

      The combat was severe, and as the men of the 10th Irish Division tried to advance inland, the casualty list mounted. During a lull in the fighting George Grant made time to go and find his brother, and the two men shared some precious time together. As the Turkish guns briefly remained silent the two Duggan brothers chatted and discussed how they had survived the past few days. They had witnessed death on a scale they could not have imagined.

      John wrote home, detailing their conversation.He said that after the early fighting George was ‘the only Captain left in his regiment’, and that despite the awful conditions George was remaining upbeat, ‘certainly looking splendid and cheery’.

      George Grant Duggan survived for ten days, and on 16 August he was severely wounded in an area known as the ridge, which overlooked the bay. The ridge was Kiretch Tepe Ridge, which was held by the Turkish forces and was a stretch of mountain that towered over the sea. The Turkish soldiers had the advantage of being on higher ground and had greater firepower, so as the hours rolled on the British casualties mounted.

      Now fighting for his life, George Grant was placed on board the hospital ship the Gloucester Castle, but his injuries were so severe that he died later that day.

      By a twist of fate, John Duggan died on the same day as his brother. The younger Duggan brother was initially injured in his left wrist and had a shrapnel injury to his face and side. He was advised to go to the hospital ship, but said that since his men were without an officer he wanted to rejoin them. He had his wounds dressed, and then returned to his comrades, who were in the firing line. Shortly afterwards, John Duggan was hit in the face by a bullet and died.

      One of his colleagues, Sergeant P.J. Nolan, would later write to his father and say that, ‘Your son could have saved his own life, but he was always good to his men and he died encouraging them to fight till the last.’ On 16 August, George Duggan was taken from the hospital ship the Gloucester Castle and buried at sea. It would take some time before George Grant Duggan’s death would be officially reported, and in the confusion and mayhem of the ongoing operation at Gallipoli it seems that lines of communication got crossed.

      On 4 September 1915, a telegraph arrived at the Dublin home of George Grant Duggan’s wife, Dorothy. The message informed her that her husband ‘was wounded on 16 August’. It also stated that ‘further details will be wired when received’. Unsure as to whether her husband was alive or dead, she replied to the War Office asking for more information. She was told by officials in London that ‘enquiries are being made’.

      For Dorothy Duggan, the delay must have been agonising. Like so many military wives in her position, all she could do was wait for the next telegraph and pray that it was good news. In Dublin, as she tried to carry on with her life as best she could, the War Office sent a message to British staff based in Cairo to try and ascertain whether George Duggan was dead or alive. The news came back that he had been placed on a hospital ship and died on the same day. Intriguingly, it seems that one of George’s brothers was informed that George had died just hours before he was in fact killed. The military file in the archives in London does not make it clear which brother was informed of George’s death. It seems most likely to have been George Chester as John was injured that day.

      Finally, on 6 September, another telegraph arrived at the Duggan home informing Mrs Duggan that George’s brother had ‘secured a cable’ stating that George was put on board the hospital ship the Gloucester Castle at Suvla Bay, and he had been ‘shot in the neck and died the same day’.

      The Duggan family were heartbroken, but more bad news was to follow.

      Eventually,it was confirmed that the two Duggan boys had died in Gallipoli on the same day. It was a double heartache for the family to take. The boys’ father, George, received a letter from the Earl of Granard, the colonel of John’s regiment. He wrote:

      I am sorry to tell you that your son has been missing since 16 August. He went with his company into action on that date, and we have not seen him since. I have enquired from several of the men of his company and they all tell me he was wounded whilst gallantly leading his men. I sincerely hope that he is a prisoner. It is a consolation to know that the Turks treat their prisoners with the greatest consideration.

      […] I have now soldiered for a great many years and can honestly say that I never came across a better subaltern; and as regards his social qualifications he was beloved by all ranks of the regiment.

      A fellow soldier was given the difficult task of writing to John Duggan’s girlfriend back in Ireland. He told her, ‘I am afraid I only have the worst possible news. Jack (John) Duggan is reported killed.’ Dorothy Duggan, George Grant’s wife, had to bring up her two children alone, and in the weeks after her husband’s death she had much correspondence and administration to deal with. There was a series of army payments to apply for, including a gratuity payment and her husband’s pension, and she also had to organise the return of his possessions. His belongings were sent back home, and they included a copy of the New Testament that he had carried into battle.

      George Chester Duggan survived the war and returned to Ireland scarred by the memory of his Turkish experiences. The sounds and scenes from the Aegean cliffs were so firmly lodged in his memory that he could not forget them.

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