Robert Scanlon, Royal Irish Rifles, d1919 in Germany

[corisande]

I am researching something called the Irish Brigade. It was an attempt by Casement to raise a fighting force from prisoners of war in Germany in WW1.

They were virtually all Catholic, and very few came from Ulster. However this chap, Robert Scanlon (it is sometimes spelt Scanlan) was in 2nd Royal Irish Rifles. He was a boilermaker before joining, and almost certainly Catholic.

The combination of R Irish Rifles and boilermaker leads me to suspect he came from Belfast and worked in the shipyards

He met a violent end in the post war revolution in Germany, being shot around Munich in mid 1919

You can read my page on him here.

I cannot find him in 1911 census, I assume he was in army by then. Apart from his MIC, there is no service record or pension record I can find.

Although his death was reported to the army by another soldier, there is no CWGC grave for him. I cannot find any record of his being buried in Germany

So anybody think they can help me here with any info, no matter how small?

[maura08]

Have you tried the English 1911 census, my own grandfather was in the 1st R.I.R. I found him in them, in the military oversea's

[corisande]

Thanks Maura, I had not tried that.

 I haven't a subscription to 1911 English census, but I think they let one into the abstract free, so i will have a go.

[shanew147]

I found these photos in a 1916 commemoration pamphlet dated 1921, that might be of interest ..

it's not the most professionally produced booklet, and some of the edges are badly cropped..



Shane

[corisande]

Thanks Shane

It is all useful stuff. I am deep into the strange story of Casement's remains and their return to Ireland in strange ways from the prison yard in London!

[bodzy]

Corisande
I have had a quick look on the english 1911 census for Robert Scanlon and this was the only one that came up , not know birth date just guessed

Robert Scanlon  b 1889 preston lancs

age 22 solider overseas military

stationed Havelock Brks Dilkushia Lucknow India

ref no  RG14 PN34988 RD641 SD13
ED7 SN9999
only a guess
bodzy

[corisande]

Thanks for that

But I do not think it is him, my man was in the Royal Irish Rifles. and this chap was in 1st Bn The Kings Own Regiment

My man certainly was in the army in 1911, but some of the army census returns just give initials, rather than full names, and are difficult to fathom unless your man has very odd initials or was born somewhere unique

[J.A.M.]

Hi,

Have you tried contacting the city government in Munich? There may be some record of the events there.

Good hunting.

J.A.M.

[corisande]

Virtually no records exist from this time. The events of Munich in 1919 would have made Belfast in the troubles look like toy town

Over 30,000 Freikorps men stormed the city. The communists outer ranks were quickly overrun. Parts of the city came under artillery fire and there was vicious fighting. Flame throwers were used in house to house fighting. The Free Corps soldiers were in a state of fury because Russians, who had been defeated on the battlefields of Russia, were now operating in Bavaria. The unit of Russian war prisoners were rounded up and slaughtered in a stone quarry.

On top of that anything that survived tended to have been destroyed in WW2

Unfortunately there is not enough information on where he died to go about trying to track a grave, unless I found a fairly complete database of Munich and surrounding area graves.