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1/12 Modern memorials on the Western Front, what do Twitter historians think? This is my take on Kay’s tweet. I agree the stone memorial is nice, but disagree on the need for its existence. Also, the blue plaque is wrong on so many levels & I disagree about a separate stone.
2/12 In my opinion, the place for a memorial to Fr Doyle would be Dalkey. Having read (and transcribed) his letters from the Western Front I don’t believe the padre would have wanted such a memorial. He would not want his status to be elevated above that of “his boys”.
3/12 This is an appropriate memorial, which I hope to visit some day and it would be fitting to see something similar installed in the Roman Catholic Church in Dalkey.
4/12 Memorialisation in Flanders (other than by CWGC) should have been done by his peers, by the people who knew him, not by 21st Century .... whatever. Nevertheless, I don’t doubt the genuine desire to remember a brave man.
5/12 This is what Fr D thought about his award of the MC i.e. his only satisfaction being the pleasure it would give to his father. I believe that is what his attitude would be about the blue plaque with regard to his descendants who attended the unveiling.
6/12 Fr Doyle is memorialised in the same way as all service people who died in Flanders and elsewhere. He has no known grave and his name appears on the memorial to the missing at Tyne Cot. His name appears correctly on the panel for the Royal Army Chaplains Department.
7/12 Fr Doyle was a Jesuit. The initials SJ should appear after his name. His life was defined by his faith and the Society of Jesus. The award of the Military Cross was a “bonus” and MC should be written after SJ.
8/12 At the time of his death Fr Doyle was one of two chaplains to 48th Infantry Brigade i.e. 4 battalions. He did not minister uniquely to 8th Royal Dublin Fusiliers; neither did he, for that matter, minister uniquely to 48th Infantry Brigade when the opportunity arose.
9/12 Note also the actions for which he was awarded the Military Cross occurred when he was attached to 49th Inf Brigade, which did not contain any battalion of Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Certainly he went on to perform more heroic actions with the Dubs and was recommended for a VC
10/12 It is wrong to state that Fr Doyle simply went missing. The location of his body was originally known and Officer Commanding 16th (Irish) Division, Major General W.B. Hickie, had hoped to retrieve the padre’s remains.
11/12 Other than all that, the incongruous blue plaque is fine, if you like that sort of thing. In my opinion it does the Rev. Fr, Chaplain to the Forces, William Joseph Gabriel Doyle, SJ, MC a disservice.
12/12 Oh, and before anyone says anything, call it sour grapes if you will, that as Fr Doyle’s biographer, I was an afterthought for the guest list for the “opening” ceremony. Looks like it was a lucky escape not to have been officially involved!
