Sweeney, Connaught Ranger, stabbed in Bavaria 1919

[corisande]

Patrick Sweeney, Private 6937 in 2nd Connaught Rangers, was another of Casements Irish Brigade

My biopic of Sweeney is here

He seems to have met a violent death near Munich in Feb 1919. The following is from his service record

I can find no other reference to his death. He is buried in a CWGC grave (details)

I have no idea why Private Carr of S Lancs and he got into a fight. I suspect that Sweeney was in the German Freikorps at the time (2 others of the Irish Brigade were in a Bavarian Regiment). I cannot link Carr or Daniel Murphy, who reported the incident, to the Irish Brigade.

Anybody have any other ideas on how to get more about his death.

edit to correct link

[Doug Johnson]

Corisande,

An interesting document!

Sweeney is not actually buried in a CWGC grave. He is recorded on a memorial as his burial place was not recorded. He is assumed to have died as a PoW though clearly his date of death indicates that he was not in captivity at the time as all PoWs were home by then apart from those too ill to move.

Since Murphy does not give a date of death then his report was presumably some time after the event. He seems to get about a bit since he was near Munich and then in Berlin!

There are more questions than answers;

Tutzing is a tiny place and I would have thought that locating his grave there (assuming he was buried there) would have been quite easy. (according to Wikipedia, Ludendorff died there)

What were Carr and Murphy doing there? They seem a long way from where I would have expected the army of ocupation to be. Perhaps someone on this site could tell us if the British army were anywhere near Munich.

Could Carr and Murphy be the real names of two of the Irish Brigade? The fact that all three were in the same out of the way location at the same time seems suspicious. It is a pity that neither Murphy nor Carr are readily identifiable as Carr's service record should surely have some mention of this in it.

Doug

[corisande]

Baffles me this one, as it is so unlikely. But there again the story of most of those who joined the Irish Brigade is very unlikely

Keogh (the Irish Brigade Sgt Major) who is not the most reliable of writers says that this chap was "killed in the German Revolution" near Munich, whereas the report filed with the British government implies homicide.

One would assume that there would have been a court martial to determine the facts , but my skills with NA have not been able to extract any evidence of one. Sweeney was still technically a British Soldier, hence CWGC, and I assume the other two were as well. So an inquiry of some sort would, one would think, have been carried out.

My feeling at the moment is that neither Carr nor Murphy had been in Irish Brigade, but it will take another couple of days to establish that premise.

[corisande]

I made further progress on this one and he is apparently buried at Ost Freidhof in Munich. I doubt that CWGC want to get involved in this!

Write up on Sweeney

And this is from the debriefing of another Irish Brigade man after the war

[mhifle]

Hi,

Here is some information on his time in India.

Regards Mark

The 2nd Battalion The Connaught Rangers arrived at Ahmednager 25 Apr 1902

They were based in the Barracks. 1 company based in the Fort, 3 Company’s lived in hutments and rest in the barracks. The British Army occupied a large ancient fort in the city, which is still a large army base today. The cantonment of Ahmednagar had a Fort as its centre. All units formed a circle around the Fort at a distance of half a mile from it. South east of the Fort stood two churches, Roman Catholic & Episcopalian, both adjoining each other.

Ahmednagar is a drought-prone city in Ahmednagar District in the state of Maharashtra, India, on the left bank of the Sina River, about 120 km southeast of Pune. The climate at Ahmednagar is one of the healthiest in India. The camp lies high. Coming from Bombay, the train passes through tunnels and over viaducts to reach the top of the Ghats which command the western coast of India.

When the 2nd Battalion left India 8 March 1908 600 men were left behind at Poona for transfer to the 1st Battalion.

Under the command of Major S J Murray, they proceeded from Poona on 9 March 1908 for Bombay whence they took passage in the R.I.M.S. 'Dufferin' to Karachi and joined the 1st Battalion on 14 March 1908 at Kalka.

Between 26 Oct 1909 to 10 March 1910 eight small drafts comprising 134 men, were sent to England from the 1st Battalion.

On 22 Feb 1910 11 men joined the 2nd Battalion at Tipperary from the 1st Battalion in India.

[corisande]

Thanks Mark

"On 22 Feb 1910 11 men joined the 2nd Battalion at Tipperary from the 1st Battalion in India. "

He appears, from the dates on his service record to have been one of these 11. The group probably all came back to be released at the end of their service

So lets me know exactly where he was during those years

[mhifle]

Hi,

These dates seem to correlate with his service records.

Regards Mark

28 Jan 1903 1st Battalion embarked in the transport 'Staffordshire' for England at Burghersdorp South Africa.

Arrived at Southampton 16 Feb 1903 and proceeded to Mullingar on 17 Feb 1903

Three detail companies numbering 400 were already quartered at Mullingar. These had been attached to a Provisional Battalion and had been moved to Mullingar in anticipation of the arrival of the 1st Battalion.

15 May 1903 the 1st Battalion went by train to Finner Camp, Ballyshannon, Co. Donegal, for musketry and field training.

23 July 1903 The Battalion proceeded to Belfast.

27 July 1903 The 1st Battalion lined the streets of Belfast on occasion of the King’s visit.

29 July 1903 1st Battalion returned to Finner Camp.

31 Aug 1903 Four companies made up to war strength proceeded to Castlepollard Co. Westmeath for manoeuvres, leaving a detachment at Finner Camp.

15 Sept 1903 The 1st Battalion and Finner Camp detachment returned to Mullingar

A draft of 2 sergeants, 1 corporal, 1 drummer and 75 privates was dispatched to reinforce the 2nd Battalion in India 16 Oct 1903. An order had arrived for 276 privates to be sent, but with the large number of men enlisted for 3 years colour service it was impossible to comply.

[corisande]

As you say they match with his service record, which he is posted to 1st battalion during that period