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  • #16
    Originally posted by jembo
    The 'bionic' Irish soldier who fought and spied for Russia
    A decade on from the launch of Russia Today, we’ve opened our digital hub in Dublin, Ireland. In part one of our series about Russian-Irish connections, journalists Luke Holohan and Jonny Walls look at warriors from the Emerald Isle who fought for the Russian people.
    Russia is known for its hardened fighters, but buried deep in the annals of history is the story of an Irishman who became the Tsarina’s first bionic soldier.

    Dating back to the 1700s, Russia’s military success has been inspired by the “Fightin’ Irish”.

    Limerick man Peter Edmund Lacy, aka Pyotr Petrovich, perfected marksmanship in the Russian army and Joseph Cornelius O’Rourke helped to end Napoleon’s hold over Eastern Europe.

    Yet it is George Browne’s epic journey through slavery, espionage, and blood-drenched battlefields during the 18th century which stands out.

    George Browne 1698-1792

    “He had a fascinating life - we’re talking Hollywood movie,” explains Dr Eamonn O’Ciardha, a visiting professor at the University of Vienna.

    Browne, described as a soldier of fortune, left his native Ireland for mainland Europe in the 1720s as part of the Flight of the Wild Geese and there he distinguished himself as a major-general in the Russian army.
    Captured during fierce fighting to oust the Turks from Crotska, a region near modern day Serbia, he pretended to be a low ranking officer to avoid being held for a heavy ransom or executed.

    In captivity, it is said he managed to gain access to Ottoman Empire secrets, which he eventually relayed back to Russia on his release.

    “He was captured and held as a slave in Istanbul by the Ottomans, Russia’s great enemies. He was basically bought by a French ambassador and then released,” says O’Ciardha, who specializes in 17th and 18th century Irish history. “He supposedly walked from Constantinople to St Petersburg… [and] he’s alleged to have been privy to military secrets which he gave to the empress on his arrival back in Russia.”

    O’Ciardha believes George Browne could be the original bionic soldier after part of his skull was blown off in battle. Rather than debilitating him, the vicious wound struck fear into his enemies.

    “He was hit with either a bullet or a shell and they inserted a brass piece, I suppose as a sort of protection to part of his brain - his external membrane might have been exposed. He was probably the first bionic soldier in the 18th century, but it didn’t seem to affect his military career,” says O’Ciardha.

    “There is well documented evidence of soldiers tearing off their shirts on the battlefield to show off war wounds - Browne didn’t have to do that,” he adds.
    https://www.rt.com/news/325260-bioni...ne-napoleonic/
    He was well ''A head'' of his time.....
    Here Rex!!!...Here Rex!!!.....Wuff!!!....... Wuff!!!

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    • #17
      Originally posted by jembo
      My gran dad had a silver plate in his head after being wounded at the Battle of the Somme. He always said he had the most expensive head in Dublin.
      Amazing really how they work......

      Reading extensively about the ''English Civil War'' it surprising how many who fought in that had already fought on the Continent as mercenaries......

      Even the great Churchill (Blenheim)......Fought and won many battles fighting for the French......
      Here Rex!!!...Here Rex!!!.....Wuff!!!....... Wuff!!!

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      • #18
        Originally posted by jembo
        Maximilian Karl Lamoral Graf O’Donnell von Tyrconnell (October 29, 1812 — July 14, 1895) was an Austrian officer and civil servant who became famous when he helped save the life of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria. O'Donnell was a descendant of the Irish noble dynasty of O'Donnell of Tyrconnell.

        Family background
        He was born in Vienna, son of Count Maurice O’Donnell (Moritz Graf O’Donnell) (1780–1843), and Christine (4 January 1788 – 19 May 1867), the legitimate daughter of Charles Joseph, Prince de Ligne. He married Franziska Wagner, who was not of noble birth, and the marriage was frowned upon. He died in his home in Salzburg, and is buried in the Salzburg Cemetery.
        Military career.

        He was educated in Dresden, then joined the military and served in several engagements in Europe, including in Italy in 1848, and Hungary in 1849, resulting in many awards and promotion. He became aide-de-camp to the Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria. He later served as Governor of Lombardy briefly from 18–22 March 1848.

        Fame as life-saver
        On February 18, 1853, Maximilian helped save the life of the young Emperor, foiling an assassination attempt by a tailor and former Hussar, János Libényi, a Hungarian nationalist.The Emperor was taking a stroll with Count Maximilian O’Donnell on a city-bastion, inside Vienna, and at about 1pm. At the moment he looked over the parapet to review an exercise of troops, Libényi approached and struck the Emperor in the neck from behind with a knife. Even though the Emperor was wounded and bleeding, his collar may have helped save his life. Maximilian Graf O'Donnell struck Libényi down with his sabre. Another witness who happened to be nearby, the butcher Joseph Ettenreich, quickly overwhelmed Libényi. For this deed he was later elevated to nobility by the Emperor and became Joseph von Ettenreich. Libényi was subsequently put on trial and condemned to death for attempted regicide. He was executed near the Spinnerin am Kreuz in the Favoriten-district.
        After the unsuccessful attack the Emperor's brother Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, the later Emperor of Mexico, called upon the Europe's Royal families for donations to construct a new church on the site of the attack. The church was to be a votive offering for the rescue of the Emperor. It is located on Ringstraße in the district of Alsergrund close to the University of Vienna, and is known as the Votivkirche
        .
        Honours and awards
        Maximilian O’Donnell already held a German Habsburg title of Count, granted to his great-grandfather. However, after successfully rescuing the Emperor, he was additionally honoured and made a Count of the Habsburg Austrian Empire (Reichsgraf), but an error occurred in the Letters Patent, omitting one “n” from the family name, and the Austrian O’Donnells have since then usually used “O’Donell” as the standard version.
        Maximilian was also honoured with orders of chivalry by several European monarchs, and made a Freeman of the cities of Vienna, Prague, Pest, Laibach (Ljubljana), and others. He was also conferred with the Commander's Cross of the Imperial Order of Leopold, and his customary O'Donnell arms were augmented by the initials and shield of the ducal House of Austria, with additionally the double-headed eagle of the Empire. These arms can still be seen emblazoned on the portico of no. 2 Mirabellplatz in Salzburg, where O'Donnell built his residence thereafter in the former gardens of Schloss Mirabell.


        Attempt on Franz Joseph-Painting by J.Reiner. O'Donnell is on left

        Maximilian Karl Lamoral O'Donnell in 1860

        LOL...That Franz-Joseph was the man who set up the First EU..........It failed because he couldn't find enough scroungers to run-it....
        Here Rex!!!...Here Rex!!!.....Wuff!!!....... Wuff!!!

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        • #19
          Great stuff Jembo........

          Horatio Clambrassil-Street must be busy in Pompey trying out his Airfix Planes on the new Boat they have on trials there.....
          Here Rex!!!...Here Rex!!!.....Wuff!!!....... Wuff!!!

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          • #20
            Originally posted by quinner View Post
            Great stuff Jembo........

            Horatio Clambrassil-Street must be busy in Pompey trying out his Airfix Planes on the new Boat they have on trials there.....
            Maybe he's looking for a job,sort of old times sake.
            I google because I'm not young enough to know everything.
            Nemo Mortalium Omnibus Horis Sapit

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            • #21
              Originally posted by jembo View Post
              Maybe he's looking for a job,sort of old times sake.
              He'll be showing off his skateboarding skills on the ramp at the front of the big flat boat.....

              And.....causing the Solent water-levels to rise, crying over his beloved Saab....
              Here Rex!!!...Here Rex!!!.....Wuff!!!....... Wuff!!!

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              • #22
                Originally posted by jembo
                One of the most striking accounts is the story of the Irish war hero who won the Victoria Cross for outstanding acts of bravery but who later joined the IRA to fight for Irish Independence.

                In recent times, New Ross in the south-east of Ireland is probably more associated with the family of former US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy than anything else.

                It was from the County Wexford port that his ancestors sailed for a new life.

                Martin Doyle fought in the British Army, the IRA and the Irish Free-State Army
                But it was just outside New Ross that Martin Doyle was born in 1894 and where he grew up.

                'Gassed'
                He enlisted with the British army when he was 15 and saw service in India before joining the Royal Munster Fusiliers in 1914 and fighting on the Western Front.

                He won the Military Medal and the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces, for two notable acts of bravery.
                Irish military historian Ronnie Daly

                Irish military historian Ronnie Daly said Martin Doyle got a job in a military barracks and passed intelligence about British troops, transport and patrols to the IRA.

                He killed several German soldiers while rescuing the crew of a British tank that had come under heavy military fire.
                Ronnie Daly, an Irish military historian, said: "He also attacked a barn that had a machine gun post in it with 15 Germans, killing some and capturing the rest."

                The County Wexford man received his medals from the Royal Family.
                'IRA intelligence'

                But when the war was over and after demobilisation he returned to Ireland in 1919 and joined the Irish Republican Army in west Clare in the Irish War of Independence fighting his former comrades.

                "He got a job in the local military barracks down there," says Ronnie Daly, "so, he was able to give intelligence of British troop movements, transport and patrols to the IRA".

                When the truce between the two sides came in 1922 Martin Doyle sided with Michael Collins and fought against republicans in the Irish Civil War serving in the new Irish Free-State Army.

                Martin Doyle, is buried in the British military cemetery in Grangegorman, near Dublin's Phoenix Park.

                It is a relatively small, quiet, well-kept cemetery that is a reminder of the Irish contribution to the United Kingdom's past military campaign both at home and abroad.

                His simple headstone was erected by former soldiers in the Munster Fusiliers.
                Normally for Victoria Cross holders, their regimental emblem is removed from the stone and replaced with the Victoria Cross's.

                But his is an exception, perhaps, reflecting his changing loyalties.
                http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-28897647
                jembo,

                I have visited his grave on a few occasions and I`v often wondered why is he buried outside the main graveyard [on his own] was it his IRA connection. its not as if there wasn`t any room inside .must look it up.
                in god i trust...everyone else cash only.

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                • #23
                  [QUOTE=jembo;451120]Hi Cosmo.
                  I was intrigued by your observation so I Googled the Cemetery.

                  1) Drawing of the Cemetery.

                  2) Photo of his grave in section 'J' along the wall next to the corner buttress.

                  I don't think his burial there had anything to do with his loyalties; more like a family choice of plot, if anything. I still can't explain the absents of the VC on the headstone. Maybe one day I will find out!
                  http://thebignote.com/2013/04/28/gra...tery-part-one/[/QUOT

                  jem,

                  this is my granfathers grave in grangegorman cemetry, to the right behind the new zelanders, he didn`t have a grave stone for fifty years until I researched his past. he is buried in the colonial section [ which confused me , I thought it was cs catolick section] my self and my brother in Dublin got a headstone made and had a ceremony on his 50th annerversary with some of his desandants .....ps only came across the new zelanders headstones while looking for any info on grangegorman and saw my g/f stone to the side....2008 was the 50th ann ,he died in 1958.
                  Attached Files
                  Last edited by cosmo; 26-08-2017, 04:47 AM.
                  in god i trust...everyone else cash only.

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                  • #24
                    thanks jembo,

                    yes that's me holding the medals, how I got the medals is a bit of a story in itself, we`d have to sit over a drink to tell all, basically it was about ten years ago my grandson came home from school and asked 'was your grand dad in ww1 or ww2 , up till then I didn`t know much about my grandad as the last I saw him I was 9 yrs old and my dad didn`t talk much about him as there was a family rift of some sort, the reason my grandson asked me was it was coming up to Anzac day and they were doing a project on the various family historys in the class, so we were due to go to Dublin for a family wedding in the july of that year and he was coming with us, I said when we get there we`ll have scout around . before we left I rang the british legion in Dublin, as they don`t have a club as such anymore the lady on the phone gave me a number to ring. I rang this number and made an appointment to meet this man, you wouldn`t believe it he lived in the same estate we were staying in [my wifes sister in artane]. I met him in a pub in the estate , talked and I showed him the paperwork I had sourced, he looked and took a few notes and numbers, we had a few drinks and dropped into his house as it was on the way , he said he had a Dublin fusiliers cap badge somewhere he`d look for. I left to walk down the street to the sister in laws house .that was sunday night, we were due to fly back to oz on Tuesday, on Monday night he knocked on the door and said would I like to walk up to his house ,I`v something for you, in the house he said sit down, I sat down, out of a drawer he handed me my grand fathers medals plus a penknife I used to cut his pipe tobacco when I was a kid. theres a few other bits to this . ps you probably know the monetary value but most of all the family value on campaign medals] he didn`t ask for a penny, all he asked was to honor him and his medals on Anzac day and rememberance day. ps my grandson was delighted to tell his story later on about his gg grandad who served on Gallipoli and elsewhere.

                    he was William mangan cqms 6th batt royal Dublin fusiliers.
                    Attached Files
                    Last edited by cosmo; 27-08-2017, 06:29 AM.
                    in god i trust...everyone else cash only.

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                    • #25
                      Originally posted by jembo
                      What a lovely story and all because your grandson asked a question. This is especially interesting due to the fact that the very man you went to for information was able to return your G/F's medals. My brother has the queens South African medal and a couple of the other WW1 medals belonging to our G/F who also served with the Dublin Fusiliers in the Boer war, Gallipoli,Solonaka and the Somme. Unfortunately the Queens South African Medal is missing. The Kings and Queens S/a medals were issued as a pair. Thank you for the lovely contribution to the thread.
                      PS, My G/F's name was Patrick Kavanagh. He had a piece of silver inserted in to his skull as a result of a Shellfire wound received on the first day of the Somme. He always said that he had the most expensive head in Dublin.He died in 1964, a gentleman to the end!
                      I`ll just go on a little bit more , before I left for Dublin I was given the grid number of my grandads grave over the phone from Dublin, when we [my wife] got to grangegorman we scoured the cemetery looking for the cs or catholic section, looked every where. I asked a chap who was tending the graves [they are well kept I must say] he informed me that the cemetery is kept by the maintainance dept in the phoenix park, its a little walk away from the cemetery just inside the park wall. at the office I explained the situation, the young lady informed me that the manager was away on holidays . we had a little chat explained I was over from oz and would be gone back before the manager came back. she must have took pity on us and and took us to the managers office , I had already told her the grave number cs... and date of funeral, she looked up to a top shelf and took down a big ledger with a flat side/binding , as she put it on the table she said you can have a look through this and dropped it on the table on its side/binding , she started to walk to the door , before she reached the door the pages opened out and there was my grandads interment under a different number to what I was given, only my wife was standing beside me and could vouch for this I wouldn`t be able to repeat it. as it turned out the cemetery had been resurveyed ,the cs was correct but it stood for the colonial section not catholic. as it turned out the grave beside my g/d , his head stone was not on the grave correctly, we had to get permission from the family in Canada to move his stone over two foot or so....it was a great journey for us to find the grave and remember him.
                      in god i trust...everyone else cash only.

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                      • #26
                        jembo,

                        your grandfather was a very lucky man t get out of that in one piece. my grandfather was in the next landing at suvla bay.....this is for a friend of mines relation who earned a dcm on that day. he has his medals here in oz, the mans son had no children and he considered this family to be his own, he posted the medals in a brown paper bag , a dcm, trio, and Croix de guerre.

                        hope you can read it its hard to photo and keep in focus, its 16.5 ins by 11.5ins , your grandad would be included.
                        Attached Files
                        Last edited by cosmo; 29-08-2017, 01:06 PM.
                        in god i trust...everyone else cash only.

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                        • #27
                          Michael francis O'Donnell,

                          the only RDF officer to receive the military cross and two bars in ww1, promoted from the ranks, this brave man lay in an unmarked grave in Glasnevin cemetery for fifty yrs ?, two brothers got a headstone erected and a ceremony , he lived a lonely and pauperish life in harolds cross hospital ?? under the care of the nuns, I was very proud to be there on the day his stone was 'unveiled' and lay a wreath in his memory , by the way none on the official RDF assoc were in attendance only the two brothers mentioned conor dodd and ...dodd and myself big disappointment, I have some pics somewhere .
                          Attached Files
                          Last edited by cosmo; 30-08-2017, 12:12 AM.
                          in god i trust...everyone else cash only.

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                          • #28
                            Originally posted by jembo
                            Does anyone know when this was, and what was the verdicts and sentences if any? Source- Facebook.
                            Going by the vehicles in the photo at a guess I'd say it happened in the context of the IRA's border campaign which ran from 1956 to 1962.

                            Dail records might be a good place to try and dig out further info on the background to the incident...
                            Everything is self-evident.

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                            • #29
                              Originally posted by cogito View Post
                              Going by the vehicles in the photo at a guess I'd say it happened in the context of the IRA's border campaign which ran from 1956 to 1962.

                              Dail records might be a good place to try and dig out further info on the background to the incident...
                              Thanks for that cogs, I will have a poke round and see what I can come up with.
                              I google because I'm not young enough to know everything.
                              Nemo Mortalium Omnibus Horis Sapit

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                              • #30
                                pte George nagle killed in action in Vietnam 6th jan 1969. buried in st patricks cemetery, clonmel.
                                Attached Files
                                in god i trust...everyone else cash only.

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