The Irish rebellion :
the 2/6th Sherwood Foresters' part in the defeat of the rebels in 1916. Their early training /
[by Gerald James Edmunds.].
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Chesterfield :
printed by Wilfred Edmunds,
1960.
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| Notes: | Accounts of the 'Sinn Féin' Easter Rising. Tells of the urgent assembly of the Sherwood Foresters on the night of 24 April 1916, with men on leave being brought in from homes and even cinemas for rapid entrainment to Liverpool docks. Edmunds was very well placed to write this history of the 2/6, as he was serving with the Battalion during the Easter Rising himself, with the rank of Captain, Officer Commanding A company, 2/6 Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters. Captain Edmunds served with the Regiment throughout the rebellion. He describes seeing plenty of action, and was responsible for taking papers off O'Rahilly's body off Moore Street. He also writes a description of Elizabeth O'Farrell, who carried the flag of truce at the end of the Rising. For example, Edmunds writes of Dublin Castle : "...up in the Keep a strong body of troops was keeping sustained fire on the Four Courts and snipers on the roof tops. One good shot was credited with having accounted for 72 snipers but was himself killed on the last day. All the time the ping of bullets on the walls of the Castle continued. The enemy was certainly not short of ammunition." And elsewhere : "As we emerged from the Castle and crossed Grattan Bridge the bullets whizzed round, a heavy fire coming from the Four Courts. Bullets struck the parapet and the tram lines and ricocheted, throwing sparks in all directions. But the troops were very cool and unafraid." When A Company was ordered to clear Denmark Street, Edmunds writes : "Carefully searching all the houses as we pushed on, we found a rabbit warren of alleys on the east side. The women were incoherent with fear and what with hysterical women, screeching children and the unpleasant task of searching the filthiest houses one had every seen, the task was anything but pleasant." Aodagán O'Rahilly, in his biography of his father, "Winding the Clock," wrote : "The British officer in charge of the barricade was a Captain G. J. Edmunds" who said that he had "sent a sergeant to search O'Rahilly's body" and "we found some interesting papers on him." Among the papers was a farewell note to his wie, which included the line "I got more than one bullet I think." Of Nurse Elizabeth O'Farrell, Edmunds writes : "a little fair-haired Irish nurse came in to the Colonel's headquarters, with a flag of truce (with a large red cross on it), and asked for terms for the Sinn Feiners. She was most pleasant to talk to ... but told us little...." Physical description: 32 unnumbered pages : illustrations, map ; 26 cm. Cover title: 2/6th Battalion : the Sherwood Foresters 1914-1918. Its part in the defeat of the Irish Rebellion 1916 more |