Easter Rising : Despatch Riders/Motor cycles/Armoured Cars

[doyle3]

Looking for info re the Rolls Royce Armoured Cars in Dublin in the aftermath of the Easter Rising and the possibility that they might have been from a Motor Machine Gun Corps unit (based on a Military Modelling article by Peter Leslie from 1980 and David Fletcher's War Cars book etc).

Stumbled on a number of threads on the forum re the Motor Machine Gun Corps and am  indebted to @deltafor a tangent on Despatch Riders with a scan of The Motor Cycle from 18th May 1916. Mention is made of a Cpl H A Wallen working during the Rising which I though might be of interest to others in the Ireland sub-forum.

 

It appears that Herbert Alexander Wallen, his father Francis Alexander Wallen and other civilians donned uniform during the Rising and worked as Despatch Riders for the Army. I was aware that Guinness drivers had been fitted for uniforms at the start of WW1 but the despatch riders on motor bikes is a new Easter Rising story for me.

Pack-Beresford mentioned in one of the articles below was involved in the Motor Cycle unit of the IAVTC/Gorgeous Wrecks.

The Dublin correspondent mentioned in the article is possibly T W Murphy, editor of Irish Motor News and also a member of the Motor Cycle unit of the IAVTC.

Herbert Wallen does not appear to have enlisted following his adventures during the week.

The F A Wallen headed paper appears in a Property Losses Committee document and it appears he sold the motor bike being used by Richard O'Carroll before his murder by Capt Bowen-Colthurst

http://centenaries.nationalarchives.ie/reels/plic/PLIC_1_2481.pdf

One of the articles attached gives a snippet re how Lt Purser died on 30th April 1916.

Still on the lookout for more info re the armoured cars - 1 and bits of 3 others appear in attached pic Tweeted by Dublin Fire Brigade in 2016; an inspection that took place at Royal (Collins) Barracks on 27th May 1916.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[doyle3]

A slightly different view of the May 1916 inspection and car no 5 (probably taken the same day). The 2 Sgts look like they have MGC badges; can't make out what the other two have.

Not much to be gleaned from the Eden Quay postcard or the car trundling towards Eden Quay in the film clip

https://ifiarchiveplayer.ie/dublin-rebellion/

A visit to the Tank Museum archives wasn't too fruitful with regards the armoured cars of 1916. A bit more available re 17th Bn and  no 5 Armoured Car co, the 4 cars at Pettigo/Belleek, transfer of armoured cars etc to the RUC ifrom Grangegorman and an RUC "census" of vehicles/drivers in 1926

 

[doyle3]

An article re the sale of the Irish Armoured Cars 

https://www.rroc.org/files/192_TFL_WEB_BOOK(1).pdf

Contacted Steve Hubbard mentioned in the article. He has written a set of books re post war Rolls Royce Silver Ghosts. Looks good but beyond my budget

https://vintagesilverghost.com/

He's mentioned two books to follow up with :

The Edwardian Rolls Royce by Fasal and Goodman (looks too expensive at approx £500 on Abe Books)

The Rolls-Royce Armoured Car; Its Substance and Place in History by Eliots Levins (more affordable and copied ordered)

The last book mentions the following chassis numbers 

18-LB

33-LB

25-GB

37-GB

32-TB (tallies with a number on a turret in a private collection photo)

and that the cars were sent to Ireland after the Rising by Sir William Robertson.  They had been earmarked for India/Lord Montagu. Returned to RR at Derby 5th June 1916 for refit; meant to go to India but ended up being sent to Mesopotamia.

There is reference to 9-GB being sent to Dublin in 1917 and then to Horse Guards in 1920