Leinster Regiment Soldiers

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Sgt Quirke
Sgt John Bergin
CQMS A Barton
Pte Edward Barry
J S McBride 
 CSM W A Brennan
Pte William Farrell
Pte George Glanfield
Sgt P Hackett
Pte James Haugh
William Mackey
James Maloney
Capt J D Moore
2nd Lt Rounsefell

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CQMS  Alonzo Joseph Barton

Birth Year: 13 October 1879 Birthplace: 14 Ford Road Folkestone

Date joined 7th Bn:   August 1915  -  3 September 1916  
Alonzo was killed in action at the battle of Guillemont at the Somme on 3 September 1916. His medal roll has a note that he went missing believed dead on 27 June 1916, his death cert. identifies the 3 Sept as does the CWGC. There are two other anomalies the list of soldiers killed WW1 issued by the War Dept shows him killed in action in Gallipoli on 3 Sept. 1916 serving with the 6th Bn.  But I suppose the biggest question is how come he was promoted  CQMS after less than 6 months with the 7th Bn unless he was a regular soldier who transferred from another Bn or Regiment? Unfortunately his records war amongst those destroyed in WW2 if anybody has records that may have his name elsewhere I would be grateful to know.

  Alonzo's father Joseph Jones Barton was a CQMS with the Army Service Corps attached to the RHA joining the Shropshire Militia in 1874 served in the Egyptian Campaign of 1882 was discharged from the Army Service Corps for desertion 1890. 

Any one who can help please contact Barrie Thompson   

Webmaster response
As you say Barrie ... a challenge! You are correct in that the database "Soldiers Died in the Great War" also identifies Alonzo Barton as killed in action with the 6th Battalion in Gallipoli on the 3rd September 1916. As a "double check" I verified that there was only one other Barton in the Leinster Regiment, this John Barton was with the 1st Bn and fell on the 19th April 1915 when, in response to the British attack on Hill 60 close to Hooge, two shells landed on the billets of the 1st Bn in Ypres immediately killing 11 soldiers. Any how back to Alonzo Barton - On the 26 June 1916 the 7th Bn were in the right sub-section of the Loos sector and took part in the raids on Harrison's and Hart's Craters losing in the process 14 soldiers, but Alonzo was not one of them.
The next check to make was the 3 September 1916 and what is interesting here is that there are 35 soldiers of the Leinsters listed as killed in action that day. 34 of them (2nd and 7th Bn) were at the Somme and one, your Alonzo, was listed as Gallipoli!
The 6th Bn were, in September 1916, actually in the Struma Valley in Greece. Throughout the preceding July & August, the 6th Bn had fallen prey to malaria and many were unfit for work. It is just possible that Alonzo could have been transferred to the 6th Bn to "make up" the numbers, though this activity was normally filled by the reserve battalions in Ireland. If indeed Alonzo had been on the Somme it would be unlikely that having been wounded (say) on 26 June in Flanders, that he would be in such an unhealthy environment by 3 September! However, perhaps most importantly, the 6th Bn did not engage the enemy until the 29th September in an operation known as the "engagement of Yenikoi". 
So one possibility is that the CWGC information and the Soldiers Died Database (they do rely intrinsically on each other) could be faulty. It is evident that the 7th Bn were engaged in hostilities on the 3 September, whilst the 6th Bn were not.  The 3 September 1916 was a Sunday and the day that the 7th Bn engaged the enemy at Guillemont at midday. The plan was to attack Guillemont on two sides with the 7th Bn leading the attack from the north. On the evening prior to the attack, the enemy shelled the "holding area" near Trônes Wood making movement forward difficult. It was however the duty of the Quartermaster and his men to deliver rations and supplies to the forward troops in the trenches prior to the attack and it is known that those rations never arrived. You may of course draw your own conclusions from this information.
Turning to the question of rank, it may not be that surprising if Alonzo had some "special skill" or "prior experience". As you correctly say Alonzo may have been transferred from another Regiment, this was very common and given that the 7th Bn was a "service" battalion raised for the duration of the war he could have been "drafted in" after recovering from a wound received in a prior engagement. The Leinsters were clearly an Irish Regiment, and the 7th Bn, (the most Irish of the Regiment) were raised in Fermoy in Southern Ireland from former or re-engaged Leinster soldiers. Indeed the Quartermaster, a Lt. P. J. Ahern was killed in action at Ginchy on the 9 September 1916, immediately after the Guillemont affair, leading his company in attack. The reason given for a Quartermaster taking part in a front line attack is that the 7th Bn was at the time critically short of experienced Officers and NCOs. This may also add weight to the possibility of Alonzo being involved in front line action the week before. (If indeed he was at Guillemont). One final piece of information I have managed to uncover is that in August 1915 the 7th Bn were in fact in Blackdown Camp, Aldershot and received an influx of officers and NCOs when many of the battalions own members were classed as "medically unfit" for overseas duties. It does look as if this was the occasion that Alonzo joined the 7th Bn as CQMS to one of the companies.

Sgt (acting CSM) William Patrick Brennan
Birth Year: 1886 Birthplace: Port Arlington
Date joined:   24th October 1906
Years in service:14 years with the Leinsters (24 years in total he transferred to Royal Tank Corps 1921), also served in the Royal West African Frontier Force.
Bill Brennan, (my father) must have had a somewhat chequered career. He was a Sergeant in the 1st Battalion at the beginning of WW1, he was still a Sergeant at the end of WW1 and had been a lance corporal some time in between. This I can deduce from his medals. He was also reluctant to ever speak about his military career. I have only recently met the remainder of my Irish family as I believe his continuing career in the British Army caused a major disagreement between him and his father and a subsequent rift in the family. He continued in the Army after the Leinsters were disbanded and finally retired in 1929 from the Royal Tank Corps.

Bill Brennan was awarded the DCM after an action at Gurabeh in the middle eastern campaign in August 1918.
John Brennan 

Webmaster response
Palestine July 1918 saw the 1st Bn in action at Ghurabeh Ridge alongside units of the Indian Army. The 1/101st Grenadiers, the 1.54th Sikhs and the 1/151st Infantry had replaced the 6th Royal Irish Rifles (disbanded), the 5th Connaught Rangers and the 6th Leinsters who had left for the Western front in France. The plan was to capture enemy trenches with the 1st Leinsters supporting the Indian troops on both flanks, A and B Companies on the right and C and D Companies on the left. There was much hand to hand fighting using rifle and bayonet, plus on the left, casualties inflicted from "friendly fire" of the allies artillery. One hundred and nineteen prisoners were taken at a loss of three other ranks, two officers and twenty-five wounded. A number of DCMs were awarded following this engagement. The Armistice with Turkey was declared on the 31st October 1918 and so ended the action of the 1st Bn in the Great War.

After the Great War and the return to Peace, the soldiers of the Leinsters, (indeed all such Irish soldiers) came under much local pressure from their families as feelings ran high in Ireland. Many officers and men who had been regular soldiers (as opposed to those in the service battalions) were able to take advantage of "Foreign Service Details" though these did eventually return to the 1st Bn who in October 1919 returned for duty to India and were comprised thirteen officers, eight warrant officers, thirty-two sergeants and 460 soldiers and Junior NCOs. The 1st Bn remained in India until 1922 whence it returned to England.

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