The lack of experience among many of the young soldiers, hot weather and a warm welcome from Dubliners are some of the memories recalled by Mr Simpkin who was among the British soldiers sent to Ireland during the Rising.
Mr Simpkin recalls the rawness of many of the soldiers who having landed at Kingstown were told to form ranks and load their weapons.
The order was to load. While loading we must have had so many that was rookies you know and hadn't been with us long besides loading they fired 'em off.
The weather was hot marching from Kingstown to Ballsbridge and the troops were tiring Mr Simpkin remembers a Corporal who had run out of water and the welcome that the soldiers received along the route. They were to spend the night in the post office at Ballsbridge but there was no rest for some among them Private Simpkin who was ordered to stand guard overnight.
Mr Simpkin was interviewed during the production of 'Ireland A Television History' on 27 June 1979.
| Title: | Ireland A Television History Private Simpkin |
| Clip Duration: | 00:03:17 |
| Material Type: | Video |
| Clip Title: | "People On The Roadside Were Very Good To Us" |
| Series Title: | Ireland A Television History Interviews |
| Information: | Ireland A Television History was a 13 part series written and presented by Robert Kee looking at the complexities of Irish history. The series chronicles Ireland's development from pre-Christian times to the 1980s, with a specific emphasis on the creation of the modern independent Republic and the roots of the Troubles. 'Ireland a Television History', a BBC production was broadcast on RTÉ and BBC at the same time. In an article for the RTÉ Guide, Kee was asked is the series aimed at a British audience? He replied, "No it's aimed at those (mainly in Britain) who are less familiar with the subject than they ought to be; and at those (in Ireland, North and South) who think they know but don't". |
| Local Keywords: | 1916, Easter Rising, Easter 1916, Rising, British Army, British Soldiers |
| Coverage: | Ireland |
| Genre: | Factual |
| Topic: | Wars and Conflict |
| Provider: | RTÉ |
| Contributor(s): | Robert Kee (Interviewer) |
| Publisher: | RTÉ |
| Production Year: | 1979 |
| Country of Production: | Ireland |
| Original Identifier: | DF220 |
| IPR Restrictions: | Rights Reserved - Free Access |
| Rights, Terms and Conditions: | Copyright RTÉ. This material may not be replicated in any form or manner without the prior express permission of RTÉ. Any form of reproduction in print, television, video, multimedia, web site or other electronic media or any form of dissemination for commercial or non-commercial use must be licensed by the RTÉ Archives.
If you wish to licence video or audio clips, still images or text, or would like further guidance please contact us. RTÉ Archives are committed to respecting the copyright of others and have attempted to source and credit the copyright owners of all material used here. RTÉ would like to hear from any copyright owners who are not properly identified here so that the necessary corrections can be made. If you feel your copyright has not been respected please contact us. |
| Item Type: | part/extract |
| Colour: | Colour |
| Sound: | Mono |
| Aspect Ratio: | 4:3 |
| Language: | English (eng) |
