Cullen, P (Patrick)

Cullen, P (Patrick)

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Private Patrick Cullen had been a dock worker prior to the war and he served in the 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers.

Patrick left for France with his battalion on the 13th of August 1914, arriving on the 14th at Le Harve. The battalion then continued to various places, taking part in quite a few forced marches and battles, finally arriving at the village of Etreux[1] on the 27th where they were ordered to hold the lines.

The battalion came under very heavy and sustained attacks but managed to hold off the Germans (who were five times their strength) for an entire day.

This was the first Battle of Mons in 1914 where his regiment was decimated and reduced to a quarter of its size of only 196 men and 5 officers by the 29th of August 1914.

Patrick Cullen was wounded on the 27th of August in the left shoulder by a bullet and subsequently captured in the village. He was then sent to various field hospitals before being shipped east to Hospital VII near Cologne[2] in Germany and remained there until the 2nd of December 1914 when he was transferred to Wahn Camp.[3]

In the camp, there were almost 700 soldiers, who slept ten men to a stable, on straw and without heating. They washed and drank from troughs. Food was good, but the Germans constantly tried to recruit soldiers into the “Irish Brigade.”

On one occasion when a Private Bailey[4] and Corporal Quinless[5] were passing the men, they shouted “Traitors!” and because of this a German guard rushed over and assaulted Patrick by bashing him in the head with a gun, beating him on the floor and putting him in a cell for two days. This type of treatment was quite common and due to their refusal to join the “Irish Brigade” they also received reduced rations.

At this camp Patrick reported ill treatment, starvation rationing, high prisoner deaths, soldiers going insane and theft out of prisoner parcels. It seems mistreatment was common in the German camps and Patrick states that he contracted “consumption.”[6] He also says that many died from the illness.

During March 1918, Patrick was sent to Switzerland by the Germans, possibly due to illness and then returned home for reasons unknown. Three weeks prior to his death he had been in St George’s hospital in Dublin and here he was granted two months home leave.

On the day he died, Patrick and a friend[7] had gone for a drink at eight in the morning. By the time they had breakfast they had drunk two more. After they ate, they had another drink and went to a local football match. Then they drank again, but by 9 in the evening Private Cullen become very weak and complained of pains in his temple and head.

The doctor was called, but by the time he arrived Patrick had passed away. He had suffered a massive heart attack; his friends had thought he was sleeping.

Patrick was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War and Victory Medals.

Date of Death: 04/05/1918 (Aged 36)

Service: Private, Royal Munster Fusiliers, Depot, and 2nd Battalion.

Servicer number: 7817

Burial Location: Londonderry (or Derry), City Cemetery, L. Mil. I.


[1] Etreux is a small village in northern France.

[2] Cologne is a city located in western Germany.

[3] Wahn camp is located 20 miles southeast of Cologne.

[4] Private Bailey of the Royal Irish Rifles took on the name, Sergeant Daniel Beverley. He was captured in Ireland during 1916, trialed for high treason, but gave evidence against his co-defendant and was released back to the army, who sent him to the front. He survived the war and died in Canada in 1968.

[5] Corporal Quinless (20358) served with the Royal Irish Rifles.

[6] Consumption is an old term used for pulmonary tuberculosis (TB)

[7] Philip McManus of 96, Lecky Road, Londonderry.

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