‘I met the boys in Gollypoly’ : World War I Collection

A new collection from the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive is now available to view in the Dublin City Library and Archive Reading Room and available online through Digital Repository Ireland. The collection, ‘The Gunning Brothers: Gallipoli and the Somme’, contains the records of two Enniskillen brothers, George Cecil and Frank Douglas Gunning, who fought at the battle of Gallipoli during the First World War.  Their diary, entitled ‘Gallipoli Memories’ provides a blow-by-blow account of their experiences during the Gallipoli campaign and reflects a shift from their sense of adventure and excitement to sorrow, hopelessness and despair.

Prior to the War, the brothers worked as bank clerks. George Cecil enlisted into the ‘D’ Company, 7th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers following the outbreak of war in 1914, and his younger brother Frank, followed him shortly after, for fear of missing out on the adventure.  The two men trained at the Curragh and in 1915 they fought in the Gallipoli campaign. The conditions they faced were very harsh, with a severe water shortage exasperated by the intense heat of the sun.

Frank wrote that ‘we would take a mouthful of water every hour or so….and you could brush a fine powder of dried saliva from our tongues’.  The men were forced to drink muddy water, from which Frank contracted dysentery and was hospitalised for a number of weeks. Having recovered, Frank was transferred into the 6th Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers where he became second lieutenant.  In June 1916, Frank went to France where he fought at the battle of the Somme and was killed. His body was never recovered. George Cecil wrote, having heard the tragic news of his brother ‘Being the eldest of the two brothers, I always felt a certain responsibility about him. Now that responsibility ceases to exist.’

George Cecil, like his brother Frank, also contracted dysentery in 1915. George Cecil was brought to hospital in Alexandria in Egypt where he remained until 1917. It is during his time here that George Cecil compiled a very rich photo album which contains over 100 photographs. These photographs include images of the local people, the pyramids and Cairo.  In 1918, he was transferred to the Royal Air Force; however, by the time he training was completed, the Armistice was signed. In 1919, George Cecil returned home and continued his work at the Belfast Saving Bank. In 1930, he married Muriel McKinney and had two children. George Cecil died on 17 March 1974. His daughter Wendy was given the belongings of her father and uncle after his death, which she donated to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association.

This collection is a fantastic addition to Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association Archive held at Dublin City Library and Archive, particularly this year being the centenary of outbreak of the First World War. The collection contains a variety of artefacts, photographs and letters and would without doubt be of immense value to anyone with an interest in the First World War. 

Rachel Richardson, Dublin City Archives Intern (March 2014)