Ireland’s Call. Stephen Walker

Ryan’s life. As a young soldier with the Liverpool Regiment, he was a member of the British Expeditionary Force that landed in France just weeks after the war broke out. Still in his early twenties, he was mature beyond his years, and his leadership skills were rewarded in January 1915 when he was awarded the Military Cross for ‘gallantry and great ability’. Ryan was promoted to the rank of captain, and by all accounts it was a popular move amongst the ranks as he had the earned the respect of his comrades.

      In battle he proved fearless, and like his cricketing comrade Joseph Lynch he saw action at the Battle of Loos in September 1915. Close to the infamous Hill 70, where Lynch died, James Ryan also lost his life. He was killed after he led his men in an advance aimed at capturing German territory. He died ten days after his twenty-third birthday. Within days, telegram number 3,644 arrived at the Ryan family home, ‘Tilecote’ in Northamptonshire. It simply stated that James had been killed in action and that ‘Lord Kitchener expresses his sympathy.’ Warm tributes from his fellow officers arrived at the Ryan residence from the men who had served with him. One soldier wrote, ‘I don’t believe anyone else could have led his men across that terrible piece of ground, but they would follow him anywhere.’

      For James’s parents, the dreadful news from France brought grief, unanswered questions, and as with all deaths there was inevitably much correspondence that had to be dealt with. The Ryan family was informed by the War Office that James was buried behind the Mayor’s House in Cambrin, and that he had written a will before he died. Things were not straightforward, however, as James had officially left all the monies that he was due to a fellow officer. He wanted Lieutenant C. J. Phipps of the 1st Battalion of the King’s Regiment to have all his money, or any that was ‘due to me’. He also wanted his friend to have his ‘cigarette case and anything else he cares to have from my kit’. James ended his will by stating that ‘the remainder of my belongings including my Military Cross I leave to my parents’.

      Lieutenant Phipps was contacted, and waived his right to any of his friend’s money. In early 1916, after more correspondence, Ryan’s possessions and back pay were finally forwarded to the family home in Northamptonshire.

      The Great War cut short thousands of promising sporting lives, and the history of Irish cricket contains the names of young men who under different circumstances could have had a successful future in the game. Even before the war broke out in 1914, many potential players were lost to the sport because of military commitments at home or abroad.

      Charles Trueman was another career soldier whose time in Irish cricketing colours was limited to just one appearance. He made his sole outing for Ireland in 1904 against Cambridge University at the Mardyke in Cork.Born in Devon in 1877, Trueman came from a military family, and his father, also called Charles Hamilton Trueman, had been a lieutenant colonel in the East Kent Regiment. Young Charles was sent to King’s School in Canterbury, and he attended the Royal Military College at Sandhurst from 1895 to 1897.

      The army was always going to be Trueman’s first choice for a career, and he became a 2^nd lieutenant in the Manchester Regiment, and was later promoted to captain after serving in the South African war and being honoured with the Queen’s Medal.

      Stationed in Ireland, Trueman began playing cricket for County Cork and recorded a number of good innings as an opening batsman, notably against Dublin University and Na Shuler. Fate had a hand in his only international call-up in July 1904 when Ireland entertained Cambridge University in a three-day match at Cork. A number of first-choice players were not available for Ireland, so at the last minute he was offered a place in the starting eleven, and the side contained a number of other debutants.

      Ireland won the toss and decided to bat and in his first innings. Trueman managed just 13 runs before he was bowled by Eric Mann who would later play for the MCC. In his second innings Trueman scored just 6 after being caught again off the impressive fast bowling of Mann. Sadly, Trueman’s debut performance was not deemed good enough, and it would be his first and last display for Ireland, who were well beaten by their visitors by five wickets.

      Military duties brought Trueman back to England to military bases in Portsmouth and Aldershot, and he continued to play golf and cricket and shoot, and he was also a member of the Army and Navy Club. A sociable, outgoing individual, and a keen singer and piano player, he was often the life and soul of social events.

      In 1912 he became an Assistant Inspector of Gymnasia at the barracks in Aldershot, and at the outbreak of war in 1914 found himself in France as part of the British Expeditionary Force. He saw action in the Battle of Mons, and then in late August Trueman and his men from the Manchester Regiment arrived at Le Cateau to support men from the Suffolk Regiment. Trueman’s men moved forward on the morning of August 26 to offer assistance, and came under sustained attack from the German lines. By mid afternoon they were given the instruction to withdraw, but not before the men from the Manchester Regiment had suffered enormous casualties. Charles Trueman was killed as he led his men from A Company towards the German lines. The 37-year-old was later buried in the military cemetery at Le Cateau, and today he is also commemorated in the chapel in the Royal Military College at Sandhurst and at Blean Church in Kent.

      He never married, and had no children. The Great War would bring further heartache to the Trueman family, and in November 1918 Charles’s soldier brother, Arthur, who had played much army cricket, would die from pneumonia.

      Men like Arthur and Charles Trueman were always going to be career soldiers, and the prospect of military service was expected from an early age. When the war broke out in 1914, other men needed a bit more cajoling to give up the comforts of civilian life and take the ‘King’s Shilling’. There was no conscription in Ireland, so all Frank Browning could rely on were his powers of persuasion and an appeal to people’s sense of duty. He not only took a personal interest in helping young men join the military services, but he often provided character references during the recruitment process.

      In September 1914, as thousands of young men volunteered for action, Browning was asked to sign the enlistment papers for one of his friends. He supported the application of Charles Fausset, and testified that he was of ‘good moral character’. Browning’s testimony for the schoolteacher worked, and two days later Fausset was examined by a doctor to see if he was medically able to fight. The GP declared that he was ‘fit for service at home and abroad’.