1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers,
7 August 1915
Synopsis of Life and Military Service
From Letterkenny to the Dardanelles
Joseph Harkin was born on 21 August 1886 at Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland, the son of John Harkin, a carpenter, and Mary Jane Mills or Harkin.
On 29 January 1900, his father died aged 63 years of a heart condition. By the time of the 1901 Census, Joseph’s mother, Mary Jane, was recorded as a widow and was living on Port Road, Letterkenny, with Joseph and his sisters Cassie and Susan, John the older son having left home. Joseph, then aged 14, was still attending school, while his mother was employed as a nurse and his two sisters worked as machinists in a shirt factory.
Joseph was educated at the Presentation Monastery School in Letterkenny.
As a young man Joseph moved to Scotland, likely with or near his brother John and, prior to the outbreak of the First World War, was employed at the Coventry Ordnance Works at Scotstoun, Glasgow. The works specialised in the manufacture of heavy guns, particularly naval artillery.
Joseph enlisted in Glasgow on 6 April 1915, joining the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Contemporary newspaper reports described this as Easter Tuesday. His elder brother, John Harkin, was also serving with the regiment and is recorded in the pension records as Private 21431, 4th Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
Following his training, Joseph was posted to the 1st Battalion, Royal Dublin Fusiliers and sent overseas with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. Newspaper reports stated that he left for the Dardanelles towards the end of June, while his Medal Index Card records that he landed in the Balkans theatre of war on 3 July 1915.
Little more than a month later, on 7 August 1915, Joseph was serving with his battalion during the fighting on the Gallipoli peninsula.
The War Diary of the 1st Royal Dublin Fusiliers records that, during the early hours of 7 August, following the cancelation of thier own attack, the battalion was ordered to take over the whole of the firing line previously held by the 2nd Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Before daybreak, Lieutenant Hannen and two platoons were sent forward through the southern barricade to relieve a party of the Essex Regiment who were still occupying an enemy communication trench.
About 8 a.m. the position came under heavy shrapnel fire and bombing. Lieutenant Hannen’s party was forced back, pursued by Turkish troops, leaving around thirty dead and badly wounded in the trench. Some twenty Turkish soldiers entered the Dublin Fusiliers’ trench before being driven out by bombing (the use of hand grenades or improvised hand grenades).
The fighting was costly. The battalion recorded 25 Other Ranks killed, 30 missing and 150 wounded that day. Among those killed was Private Joseph Harkin.
Unknown to Joseph, on the very day that he was killed, a letter he had written to his mother three days earlier arrived at the family home in Port Road, Letterkenny. Written on 4 August, it was described as being of a particularly cheerful nature. Joseph told his mother that he was in good health, mentioned meeting some men from Letterkenny and thanked her for comforts she had sent to him. He also asked after his many friends at home and asked his mother and sisters to pray for him.
His mother, Mary Jane, therefore received one of her son’s letters on 7 August without knowing that, thousands of miles away, he had been killed that same day.
The news did not reach Letterkenny immediately. On Wednesday, 25 August 1915, Mary Jane Harkin was officially notified that Joseph had been killed in action at the Dardanelles on 7 August.
The news appears to have been deeply felt in his home town. The Fermanagh News and Enniskillen Press described Joseph as being:
“of a quiet, kindly, courteous character and very popular with his comrades and neighbours.”
Similarly, the Derry Standard reported that Joseph had been very popular in Letterkenny and noted that former schoolmates and past pupils of the Presentation Monastery School, by then scattered across different countries, would learn of his death with regret.
Joseph had reached his 29th birthday only thirteen days before his mother received official confirmation of his death.
His pension records give his mother’s address as 6 Port Road, Letterkenny, and also name his sister Cassie Harkin as a dependant. The Register of Soldiers’ Effects records his mother, Mary Jane Harkin, in connection with the money due from his military service.
Private Joseph Harkin is buried and honoured at Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery, Turkey. His story is particularly poignant because the last communication his family received from him was not one of fear or foreboding, but a cheerful letter written only three days before his death, asking after his friends, thanking his mother for the comforts she had sent him and asking his family to pray for him.
Family
Joseph Harkin was born on 21 August 1886 at Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland. The following family information is taken from the 1901 Census and Pension Cards. His family is shown as follows :-
- Father: John Harkins, born c.1837. (d.29/01/1900)
- Mother: Mary Jane Mills or Harkin, born c.1851 at County Derry, Ireland.
- Brother: John.
- Sister: Cassie, born c.1879 at County Donegal, Ireland.
- Sister: Susan, born c.1883 County Donegal, Ireland.
Addresses
The following address have been ascertained for Joseph Harkin :-
- 1901: 6 Port Road, Letterkenny, County Donegal, Ireland.
I could not confirm Joseph’s address in Glasgow, though he may have lived with his brother, John. After Joseph’s death, his family remained at 6 Port Road, Letterkenny.
Medals
Joseph Harkin was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the Victory and the British War Medals for his service in the Great War.
Memorials
He is honoured collectively on the following memorial, though his name is not individually listed :-
- Letterkenny War Memorial, County Donegal, Ireland.
Remarks
While the Commonwealth War Graves Commission engraved his surname as Harkins, historical research reveals that the correct family name is Harkin.
Links to Additional Information
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Joseph Harkins.
- Find a Grave: Joseph Harkins.
- A Street Near You website: Joseph Harkins.
- Lives of the First World War: Joseph Harkins.
References
- Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
- 1901 Census. (Ancestry)
- Ireland Register of Births. (National Irchive of Ireland)
- Soldiers Died in the Great War. (Ancestry)
- Medal Index Card. (Ancestry)
- Pension Cards. (Western Front Association)
- Medal Roll: Victory and British War Medals: Dublin Fusiliers. (Ancestry)
- Medal Roll: 1914-15 Star: Royal Dublin Fusiliers. (Ancestry)
- Register of Soldiers Effects. (Ancestry)
- Irelands Memorial Records. (Ancestry)
- The Derry Standard dated 27 August 1915, page 4. (British Newspaper Archive)
- The Fermanagh News and Enniskillen Press, page 3.(B.N.A.)
- The Scotsman dated 17 September 1915, page 6. (B.N.A.)
- The Glasgow Story website.
- Irish Death Register: John Harkin. (National Archive of Ireland)
Groups
Contributors:- Vincent Stuart (Main Story)
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