Letter card to friend Photo of HMS Formidable Newspaper cutting 2 photos (from centre, from right) Letter to Katie Photo to daughter || Michael Doyle was a reserve senior attendent on the HMS Formidable which was torpedoed on the 1st of January 1915 in the English Channel. He was one of the casualties.

Philip Doyle was my maternal grandfather. He was born in 1891 in Ram Street Wexford. He sailed on schooners first and then he joined the Navy in WW 1 and served on “HMS Vivid” – the navy base at Devonport. He was also deployed to the front in the defence of Antwerp. He was later interviewed about his experiences during that time - “Interviewer: Philip Doyle, a marine recalls the unique experience from that time, when they tried a rear-guard action at Antwerp. Philip Doyle: The Germans was coming in, taking Antwerp, and they had a gun they called it Jack Johnson that time, ya know they only had the one big gun and you’d hear him roaring all over the sky coming in over your head. Well I suppose I knew a thing or two a kind of a bluff thing, bluffing the Germans because Mr. Churchill got up on a box in a big shed in Antwerp and he told us we’re going to meet the enemy but they were all old men. Well we found out our mistake they weren’t all old men. Old men. And we had nothing at all only Japanese rifles and Japanese bullets and we didn’t understand what we had and they were all loose in a big schoolbag, all our gear, we were only on a bluff and now we were in the trenches for about a fortnight and then they were through it out the trenches. The word come down through don’t retreat til dark if we’d retreated in the daylight, the Germans woulda seen us and they’da blew us all to pieces so we got out in the dark back into Antwerp and we docked again in Dover.” Philip survived the war and joined up again when WW2 broke out. Philip’s great grandchildren are still living in Wexford. When he retired in the 1950s he was in Bombay and he waited for weeks to get a ship home as he didn’t want to get on a plane. || || Photograph || Philip Doyle

This memorial to Fr Doyle, a piece of his uniform, commemorates a much loved padre who died at Ypres. Because they worked so close to the fighting, many chaplains died in the line of duty: in total, 172 British Army chaplains were killed or later died from their wounds in the war. Father William Doyle SJ, from Dublin, was ordained in 1907 and was appointed chaplain to the 16th (Irish) Division in November 1915. Fr Doyle spent much of his time at the front lines, frequently going ‘over the top’ to help injured and dying men. His bravery was a source of inspiration to many and his good humour and generosity made him an extremely popular figure. Fr Doyle was killed in shell-fire while tending to wounded men during the Third Battle of Ypres on 16 August 1917. After his death, many of William Doyle’s wartime letters were published in a biography by Alfred O’Rahilly. Fr Doyle’s letters paint a bleak picture of life in the trenches and give us an insight into the many roles – and challenges – of the army chaplain. Despite his reputation for seeming fearless, Fr Doyle in his letters admits to feelings of terror behind the brave front he presented to the men.