The Carney Brothers in World War I

During the War of Independence in the early 1920s, Frank Carney's colleagues in the Irish Volunteers were fully aware that he had served in the British Army. Some found this to be a problem and they were slow to trust an ex-British soldier. Others respected him for his time in the British Army, believing that this experience had helped to make him such an effective leader. The story of his army career had become embellished, and there was a widely held misconception that he had served in France, and also that he had been gassed in the trenches. Frank had never actually made it to the trenches, rather it was his older brother, James, who suffered the full horror of that awful war.

Frank's brief army career began on the 19th of August 1914. His Army records show that the nineteen-year-old Frank was 5 foot 5 inches tall and weighed in at just 110 lbs or 7.5 stones - a perfect size for a jockey, were he so inclined. The army surgeon signed him off as fit for service, a fact that was later to cause some controversy in no less a place than the British House of Commons!¹ 

Army Record 11122 Francis Carney

He was assigned to the 5th Battalion of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, a new battalion created especially for war service. At the same time, his brother James Carney was in the 2nd Inniskillings, a battalion of  battle-ready regulars who were based at that time in Dover. On August 23rd 1914, two days after the first shot was fired in France, Sergeant James Carney was shipped off to war.² 

The 2nd Inniskillings  arrived at Bertry Station in Northern France at 4.30am on August 25th, and as soon as they met up with the rest of the 4th Division nearby,  they went straight in to battle.³  This was the battle of Le Cateau, where both sides were using modern quick-firing artillery, with airbursting shrapnel shells that caused total devastation. The Germans had a much greater force, but despite this the British held their position. The onslaught had caused very heavy British casualties and the Inniskillings lost 163 of their compliment of 675 men. James Carney again managed to survive, as he had done in the Boer War. However, for the next 10 days the Inniskillings were involved in a savage 200 mile fighting retreat.⁴

Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in France

At the barracks in Omagh, Frank had taken to army life and was doing well. On September 29th, after just one month of service, he got his first promotion and was made lance corporal. Three weeks later he was corporal and on the 14th of December,  just 4 months after sign-up, he was  promoted to Sergeant. According to World War One experts the speed of this promotion is extremely unusual, especially for someone who is not in battle. It is obvious from this that Frank Carney was thriving in army life.

Army History 11122 Francis Carney

By October 1914, his brother James Carney and the 2nd Inniskillings had made it to Flanders and they were dug in on the front line. On the 20th October, the Inniskillings were in a trench that was in the first line of defense and they were under constant heavy bombardment.They, like all regiments in the war, recorded their daily activities in their 'War Diary' and it makes harrowing reading. The War Diary for the 2nd Inniskilling Fusiliers for that day reads simply:

20th  Oct LE GHEER 

Enemy attacked our position at 7am and continued to press home the attack till 6 pm. Our  advanced posts were driven in. Casualties 6 killed & 16 wounded.³

One of those wounded on that day was Sergeant James Carney.  James had gone out under heavy machine gun fire to bring back a wounded comrade, and in doing so, he had sustained severe wounds. James was eventually shipped to hospital in England and then back to the barracks in Omagh to recover from his wounds.⁴ 

James Carney was awarded a medal for gallantry in rescuing his comrade, and in September of the following year, the local papers carried the news that Sergeant James Carney had been awarded the Cross of the Order of St George.

Fermanagh Herald, Friday, September 10th 1915 &
the Cross of the Order of St. George

Meanwhile Frank’s 5^th battalion of the Royal Inniskillings had moved to Dublin. In early 1915 they were at the Curragh in Kildare, and in April they were shipped to Basingstoke in England in preparation for war service.⁵  However, Sergeant Frank Carney was not with them. His lung problems had become apparent and a decision must have been made at some point that Frank was not fit to go into war service. He was transferred in June 1915 to the 4^th Battalion of the Inniskillings stationed in Clonmany, Co Donegal. The role of this  battalion was to provide reserves to be sent wherever needed and it is likely that Sergeant Frank Carney was training in the new recruits, a role that he was later to use to great effect in the War of Independence.

James Carney

His brother James had recovered from his wounds by October 1915. His battalion, the  2^nd Inniskilling Fusiliers had suffered such great loss in France and Belgium that they had been withdrawn into the reserve army. For some reason James was not sent back to his own battalion, instead he was transferred to the 1^st Inniskillings who were suffering greatly in that hellhole that was Gallipoli. The 1^st Inniskillings had been in Cape Helles, Gallopoli since April.  On November 1^st 1915, a batch of reserves were sent to Cape Helles, and with them was Sergeant James Carney.⁶  This time, he didn’t make it home.

At Cape Helles the battalions rotated their shifts in the deep trenches at the front line.  On the 27th December 1915, the 1st Inniskilling Fusiliers relieved the 1st Border Regiment in the firing line. The trenches were flooded due to heavy rain, but still all four companies were engaged in enemy fire for the entire day. The War Diary records:

Cape HELLES 27^th December.

Battalion relieved the 1st Border Rgt in the Firing Line. Weather very infirm –  trenches in bad condition due to heavy rain, marked increase in enemy shelling. The Batt took about 200 yards additional firing line in the direction of Gully Ravine. All four companies in the firing line. Improvements to Saps and Fire Trench. Casualites 1 Killed 2 Died of Wounds, 1 Wounded ⁶

James Carney was one of those who died that day. He is remembered in a marker in Twelve Tree Copse Cemetry in Gallopoli, and his name is on the Monument in centre of Enniskillen.

His young brother Frank Carney was never to make it to the trenches, as his army life came to an abrupt end on  December 2^nd 1915. He was discharged directly from the hospital, the record reads, ‘No longer physically fit for War service’.

Army Record 11122 Francis Carney

Frank Carney had served in the British Army for one year and 107 days. During that time he had learnt quickly and he had learnt a great deal. He took all of this back to Enniskillen, later to join in a very different war.

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Episode 1 - Worthy of Honour
Episode 2 - Born to be a soldier

References:

¹ This will be revealed in the next post,  'The Army Pension'

² From the website "The Long Long Trail, the British Army 1914-1918", The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers Records

³ War Diary of the 2nd Inniskilling Fusiliers, UK National Archives, Catalogue Reference:WO/95/1505

⁴ Details of this incident and of James' service appears in an obituary printed in the Impartial Reporter of 27th January 1916. This was discovered by the team at the Royal Inniskilling Museum, Enniskillen and I am forever grateful that they kindly forwarded this treasure to me.

^{5 "}The Skins go to War", Royal Inniskilling Museum Newsletter, http://www.inniskillingsmuseum.com/newsletter-feed

⁶ War Diary of the 1^st Inniskilling Fusiliers, UK National Archives, Catalogue Reference:WO/95/4311, Image Reference:407