Martin Doyle

Martin Doyle
Born	25 October 1891 New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland
Died	20 November 1940 (aged 49) Dublin, Irish Free State
Buried at	Grangegorman Cemetery, Dublin
Allegiance	United Kingdom Ireland
Service/branch	British Army Irish Army
Unit	Royal Munster Fusiliers Irish Republican Army Irish Army
Battles/wars	World War I Irish War of Independence Irish Civil War
Awards	Victoria Cross Military Medal

Martin Doyle VC, MM (25 October 1891 — 20 November 1940) was a British Army soldier during the First World War, and an Irish recipient of 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.

After the war he joined the old IRA in the Irish War of Independence and served with the Irish Army during and after the Irish Civil War.

Background

Born in New Ross, County Wexford on 25 October 1891, he was a Company Sergeant-Major in the 1st Battalion, The Royal Munster Fusiliers, 16th (Irish) Division during the First World War when the following deed took place for which he was awarded the VC.

Victoria Cross

On 2 September 1918 at Reincourt, France, when command of the company fell on Company Sergeant-Major Doyle, all the officers having become casualties, he extricated a party of his men who were surrounded by the enemy, and carried back, under heavy fire, a wounded officer. Later he went forward under intense fire to the assistance of a tank and when an enemy machine-gun opened fire on the tank, making it impossible to get the wounded away, he captured it single-handed and took three prisoners. Subsequently when the enemy counter-attacked, he drove them back, taking many more prisoners.^{[citation needed]}

IRA service

Doyle later served with the IRA in the Irish War of Independence and with the Irish Army in the Irish Civil War In 1924 he served with the Irish Army in New Ross. He died in Dublin in 1940 from poliomyelitis, aged 49.^[1][2]

References

1. ^ Military Heritage Tours website
2. ^ Munster Fusiliers website

Sources

• The Register of the Victoria Cross (1981, 1988 and 1997)
• Clarke, Brian D. H. (1986). "A register of awards to Irish-born officers and men". The Irish Sword XVI (64): 185–287. 
• Ireland's VCs (Dept. of Economic Development 1995)
• Monuments to Courage (David Harvey, 1999)
• Irish Winners of the Victoria Cross (Richard Doherty & David Truesdale, 2000)

External links

• Location of grave and VC medal
• Martin Doyle at Find a Grave
• Department of the Taoiseach: Irish Soldiers in the First World War

Persondata
Name	Doyle, Martin
Alternative names
Short description	British soldier (WWI); IRA intelligence officer (Anglo-Irish War)
Date of birth	25 October 1891
Place of birth	New Ross, County Wexford, Ireland
Date of death	20 November 1940 (aged 49)
Place of death	Dublin, Irish Free State