John P. Quinlan - A Sligo Doughboy! Ever since I was a young boy, two old pictures that hung in our sitting room always fascinated me. I would in time learn that they were commemorative scrolls that were received following the death of my fathers uncle during the First World War. Again at a later date, I found or was shown, two other items, a copy of his death certificate and two browning and damaged photos of a grave marker cross. I also learned that he lay in a grave in the cemetery close to his home village in Cloonacool, Tubbercurry, County Sligo, Ireland. And so years passed and finally one day coming close to the winter of 2002 as I waited for a bus I received a call from my sister. I was bemused when she asked me to, the next time I was home, search the attic for the 'flag' that came with John Quinlan's casket! What flag? I had to ask. The question was answered during my next visit home. Searching the attic I had been in many times, there staring at me was a bundle of material with broad light and dark stripes. Upon taking it down the steps, I had found the 'flag'. The large stars and stripes which accompanied his casket home again saw the light. For those readers who may not have seen such a flag, it would easily cover a double bed.

That Christmas my sister was able to present the flag to my father, folded and stored in a picture frame, a sizable picture frame at that. It was then I began my search for records.

The flag folded and framed, December 2002	The flag rescued from the attic
Click on images above for larger views

I started with only my great uncles name, the fact that he served in Company K, 165th Infantry Regiment, died in October 1918 and that he lived in Boston in the time before he joined the army. The first port of call was the internet! I quickly learned that the 165th Infantry was a renaming of the New York 69th Infantry Regiment. It was then I found the Rainbow Division Veterans Association (RDVA). They were kind enough to send my some information including a map of the battle area during October 1918. A big thanks must go to Barbara C. Eberhart who was so kind to assist me at that early stage. The interest she and other members have shown was a great help.

An internet search quickly told me that I should first contact the US National Personnel Records Center in St. Louis. That centers web site also drove me to contact the New York National Guard archives, as the 165th Infantry was a US National Guard Unit coming from New York State. I was to be disappointed however, neither office held my great uncles details.

Around this time I took the time to read a copy of 'Retreat, Hell We Just Got Here!' by Martin M Evans. This interesting read was able to give me an excellent basic knowledge of the campaigns in which the American forces served during 1917-1918. From it I was able to trace the part played by the 42nd 'Rainbow' Division.

Returning to the Internet, I was able to find more sites with information, including Joe Jones III' site about his grandfather who served at one time in Company K of the 165th Infantry. This was able to give me some idea of the conditions during the last days of John Quinlan's life.

Clicking onto the www.ancestry.com website in May of 2007 during a free trial period of their military records allowed me to find John's Draft Registration Card, which listed such additional information as his date of birth and the company where he worked. The images on the ancestry database however are poor so I ordered and received much clearer copies from the US National Archives website www.nara.gov it can be seen that he worked for the Walworth Manufacturing Company which as it turns out was based only a few doors away from his address on First Street. The Walworth factory is no longer at this site and has moved to other sites in North America. The card seems to call him a 'Molders Helper" but I can't make that out correctly. Walworth Mfg. Co. at that time were big suppliers of valves and electrical insulators.

Eventually, I realized I should contact the Massachusetts National Guard since John had been living there prior to induction. At last, success, I was delighted to receive a copy of John's Military Record. I had finally found the information I wanted. The information on the Form No. 724-6 goes as follows:(I have added information in italics)

Quinlan, John P., Army Serial Number 1691675. Place of birth being 'Cloonacorl' (Cloonacool), Ireland. John was inducted in Boston on April 26th, 1918 being 27 years 10 months old at that time. He served consecutively with the following units during the times indicated :

26th Company, 7th Training Battalion, 151st Depot Brigade - Until May 23rd, 1918. L Company, 301st Infantry Regiment (151st Infantry Brigade, 76th Division) - until 31st July 1918 A Company, 163rd Infantry Regiment (41st Infantry Division) - Until August 6th 1918 And finally, K Company, (III Battalion), 165th Infantry Regiment, (83th Brigade, 42nd Division) - until October 15th 1918

A number of years after finding this information, I was able to find John's Certificate of Naturalisation containing his Oath of Allegiance which he took on June 24th, 1918 while training at Fort Devens, MA. John became a Citizen of the United States of America on June 24th 1918. The certificate contained more valuable information and from it we could learn that John sailed from Queenstown, Ireland on April 20th, 1910 on a vessel named "Veeland". This was the vessel Zeeland of the White Star line which docked in Boston on April 28th.

The shipping records introduce one of the strange thing about his family name. He arrives in Boston as John Cunleen, the name he was baptised with and recorded with on the 1901 Census of Ireland! He was going to meet my grandmother, his sister, Mary E Cunleen who was working in Boston at that time having herself arrived in Boston in 1908. It seems that when the Cunleens arrived in Boston they took to using the surname Quinlan. Even at home in Ireland, the surname Cunleen is interchanged by some families with Quinlan. It is understood that Cunleen is the Irish or gaelic spelling while Quinlan was an English spelling of the name. John Quinlan would reside in Boston for eight years until the war took him back to Europe. His occupation by this time had changed to Soldier!

Click on the thumbnails below to view the full forms.

Some further searching on the internet was to tell me that the 151st Depot Brigade, a training formation was based at Fort Devens, Ayer, Massachusetts. This being a Military camp built especially to take the massive numbers of new recruits for the Expeditionary Forces in Europe. The 301st Infantry Regiment was a part of the 151st Infantry Brigade of the 76th Infantry Division, the first division formed from wartime recruits. This formation also formed up and trained at Fort Devens. I was informed of a book named 'Forging the Sword - The Story of Camp Devens", a 1920 publication by William J Robinson a Boston reporter. It tells in a wonderfully quaint manner the story of the setting up of and the training of the 76th Division. It goes on to describe how the division left Camp Devens from July 4th onwards. It says this of the 301st Infantry: "At 3 o'clock on the afternoon of July 4th, the 301st Infantry, Boston's Own Regiment, cheered itself away. In long sections of coaches the trains rolled at short intervals down through the town of Ayer in broad daylight. This regiment placarded the doors of their Devens homes with the names of familiar Boston Hotels." Boston newspapers would announce the arrival of the 76th Division in France on July 24th. It would not however get to put its training into practice! John's next posting was, the 163rd Infantry was part of the 41st Infantry Division. Both the 41st and 76th Division's were sent to France, but both ended up serving as depot division meaning that their man power was used as a source of replacements for other formations in the front lines. John would have made the transfer to France with the 301st Infantry and have been stationed perhaps only briefly south of Bourges. John arrived in France sometime after 6th July 1918, was promoted to Private 1st Class on October 1st and has only a single engagement listed as having participated in and was then killed in action during that engagement, The Argonne Offensive, on October 15th 1918. His date of arrival with the 165th Infantry would have placed him with the regiment in time for the St. Miheil offensive but the due to the expected losses, the commanders had called for large parts of the fighting divisions to be kept in reserve to prevent the loss of combat effectiveness for future fighting. Lastly from his service record, my grandmother, Mary Ellen Quinlan, is given as his next of kin, she too was living in Boston at that time. Included with this letter was a copy of a letter sent to my grandmother on November 22nd 1918 from the Massachusetts National Guard with the sad news of John's death in France. The letter is shown to right: I was struck by the short time in which the chain of events took place. Inducted in April, arrival in France in July, assignment to 165th Infantry in August and killed in October, 173 days. I was lucky enough to be able to buy a copy of the 1919 book, 'Father Duffy's Story A Tale Of Humour and Heroism, of Life and Death with the Fighting Sixty-Ninth". Written by the regimental chaplain of the 165th Infantry Regiment (formally, New York 69th Infantry), the book tells the story of the regiments actions in France. Chapter IX deals with the Muese-Argonne offensive, the engagement in which John met his death. His name appears on page 280 amongst the list of dead from 15th and 16th of October. The book tells of the terrible conditions under which John must have met his end. To quote the book a little, the area in front of the 165th Infantry was 'the most nearly level section we had ever seen in this country, and was mostly open, though with irregular patches of woods'. The assault was to be made over 'open ground with the purpose of carrying by direct assault wired entrenchment's'. The advance by the 165th Infantry would also leave their right flank open to fire from German position on higher ground. Preparations were hampered by poor weather where, 'the sun never shone and a large part of the time is rained steadily'. The assault, which jumped off on the morning of October 15th 1918, resulted in heavy slaughter amongst the ranks of the 165th Infantry. After only six hours of fighting, the 3rd battalion, part of which was John's K Company had to be pulled back a distance due to the casualties it had suffered. Possibly John did not live long enough to see this short relief. The records that I have received report that he was killed sometime on that day. One record does state October 18th however. The following table lists the names of other men of the 165th who died on October 15th or in the days that followed. It is compiled from the Rainbow Division records and the book, Father Duffy's Story. Those men whose burials are unknown were most likely returned to the United States or to a country of birth. With out obtaining their burial case files it is difficult to determine where they might have come from.

From the archive of the RDVA, I was able to obtain a copy of the association's roster of members. John is listed as having died of 'MG Bullet'. A chance search on the internet again, told me to make an enquiry to the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in their RG92 files. I was surprised then to received a large pack containing approximately fifteen documents from the 1919 - 1920 period which dealt with the efforts by the Army to determine the final arrangements for the interment of his remains. From these documents it is possible to piece together the following small details.

Grave Location Markers show that he was buried initially in 1918 at map co-ordinates 01.6 x 84.4 (1/20000 map), 150 yards south of the Sommerance - Romagne Road by James Cannon of the 1st Engineer Regiment. There is some indication that this burial may have taken place as late as November 3rd. Perhaps there is a chance that he lay on the battlefield for almost a month, with the then pace of events one could understand if this happened.

John's Grave in the Argonne American Cemetery, Number 1232, Grave Number 101, Section 88, Plot 2 1919-1921. Click on Photo to view larger.

On June 19th 1919, he was exhumed from this isolated grave and interred in the Argonne American Cemetery, Number 1232, Grave Number 101, Section 88, Plot 2. The papers indicate that the original burial was poor and the remains were badly decomposed but in uniform. One document quotes a photo number of D-33416, this is the reference number on the photos which we had from that period.

Late in December 1920 the Army Quartermaster Corps began a search to determine the whereabouts of a soldier of the 165th Infantry of whom they had no burial details. Thus began the process whereby it was arranged with my grandmother and John's brother, James, that his remains be returned to his native Ireland for interment. It is fascinating to find copies of documents signed by my great uncle James during 1921 arranging for his brother's return. One can be surprised at what survives in archives and the level of detail.

Events moved relatively quickly thereafter. John was again exhumed on October 17th, 1921 and reburied in a new grave, Number 30, Block D, Row 9. The purpose of this appears to be to concentrate the remains of soldiers that remained in that cemetery. Many would have been returned to the United States by that time. At this late stage however, we are given some small details of his personnel appearance. Three years after his death he is said to have 'scant, straight, light brown hair'. This is all that is recognizable however. The burial party investigations at this stage suggest that he may have suffered a wound, which fractured his right tibia and fibula.

Having received the necessary proof of next of kin, John was again exhumed on January 7th 1922. The report for this operation reports that no identifying marks are recognizable. Neither do they note any wounds. The body was prepared and placed in a casket that day and received at the Romagne morgue on January 22nd. He was then sent to the Port of Antwerp on 26 January. He left Belgium on the S.S. Millwater on 2nd May and arrived in Ireland on May 7th. And finally, dated 25th May 1922 is a message from John's brother James, stating:

A search of the Irish Times online database for the name Millwater gave me the headline 'Funeral Ship Arrives". It turns out that the S.S. Millwater, a steamer from Ipswich, docked at City Quay in Dublin on Sunday, May 7th. It carried the remains of 60 men who had died fighting with the US Army in Franch. The Freeman's Journal newspaper of the same date has a similar article but goes on to name all the men, where they were to be buried and their next of kin. John's' name is listed along with his brother James as next of kin with his remains to be brought to Cloonacool in Sligo.

Click on this link to view the names of all the men returned home on the S.S. Millwater.

John's family received two large printed citations from the US Government to honour his sacrifices. These were placed in thin white frames many years ago and hang from the picture rail in his nephew, Joe Burke's House in Mullaun, Cloonacool, only yards from where John grew up. Images of these can be seen at the links below. They are large A3 size prints and have defeated efforts so far to photo them sucessfully. One is from the US government and the other is a print from the French Government, statements of appreciation for John's service and death. It is assumed that these were sent to all families of those killed.

The US Government Citation mentioned above

The Citation from the French Government

They also appear to have come with three other peices of paper, two are certificates of death or appreciation from the War department and one is an explanation of the text of the large French print.

The AEF memorial scroll.		The explanatory leaflet for the Citation from the French Government

And so, John was finally laid to rest in his native Cloonacool. He lies now in the old cemetery of Kilcummin, near to his place of birth. He is buried with his brother James, who passed away in 1955. Their sister Bridget is buried in an adjacent grave, she died the same year as James. Their sister, my grandmother, Mary Ellen rests nearby in the new cemetery in Cloonacool, having died in 1969 while the final member of that family, Dennis or Dinny died in 1965 and is buried in the old Irish Republican Army plot in Cloonacool graveyard. In the autumn of 2003, a grave stone was placed on the grave of John and James. It is sad to read the story above and note that, until 2007, we knew more of him after his death than of his 28 years of life.

While searching in the Boston Globe newspaper archives on that newspapers internet archive, I found a story from the newspaper published on 20 September 1920 which mentions the unveiling of a memorial on the lawn of a state building in Wintrop, Massachusetts. Among the names recorded on that memorial is one John P Quinlan. Nothing I have at the moment can confirm that John is the man recorded on the memorial or if another John P Quinlan was killed during the war. As his next of kin's address was listed as Winthrop this may have been the reason for his name appearing on a Winthrop memorial. The transcribed War Department Casualty Lists, at genealogybuff.com website certainly contain only one John P Quinlan, he being listed as coming from Winthrop, MA. The memorial was raised by the Special Aid Society for American Preparedness and was placed in front of the Edward B Newton School.

The memorial still stands in front of the School, and a kind member of the Parks and Recreation department took and sent me the following photos of the memorial plates.

And the names of those on the memorial are: Capt. Howard W IRWIN Lieut. Henry D GRIFFEN Lieut. Marcus E ROWE Serg-Maj. Arthur M FLETCHER Corp. William C KELLY Corp. Richard F METCALF Corp. William NELLIGAN Pvt. Simon J DONOVAN Pvt. Alvin W GORDON Pvt. Francis C HOARE Pvt. John F HOLLAND Pvt. William A MILLER Pvt. John P QUINLAN Pvt. Q. Lincoln RICHARDSON Pvt. Maurice L ABRAMS Pvt. Chandler H COLBY Pvt. Ralph T CROCKER Pvt. Standish V FURBER Pvt. John E GOSSOM Pvt. Thomas A MALONEY SEA'N. H. Bertram NICKERSON

Today, John lies amid the rolling farmlands of south Sligo at the foothills of the Ox Mountains, many miles from the bustle of Boston and those tragic fields of Northern France.

Dedicated to the Memory of John Patrick Quinlan (John P Cunleen) 1890 - 1918 and too that lost generation.

John's nephew Joseph, My father, at John's Grave in December 2003. Click on picture to view full size

Photos of Kilcummin graveyard.

The US Government Citation mentioned above

The Citation from the French Government

Dennis P Burke - December 2011

References

• Rainbow Division Veterans Assoc. (RDVA) - www.rainbowvets.org
• The Fighting 69th In World War I - www.hourigan.com/69thny/worldwar.htm
• World War I Burial Case Files and the WWI Document Archives by Lynna Kay Shuffield - www.ancestry.com/library/view/news/articles/1372.asp
• One Jones's Family, By Joe Jones III - www.aboutjonesfamily.com
• 42nd Div - Operations on the Ourcq River - http://perso.club-internet.fr/batmarn2/ourqc_42.htm
• RDVA Archives University of Nebraska - www.unl.edu/libs/spec/rainbowlist.html
• National Personnel Records Center - www.nara.gov/regional/Stlouis.html
• Born For War, The 76th Infantry Division Assoc. - www.76thdivision.org
• Google - Where it all begins! - www.google.com

• Duffy, Francis P., & Kilmer, Joyce. Father Duffy's Story: A Tale of Humor and Heroism, of Life and Death with the Fighting Sixth-Ninth. Garden City, NY: Garden City Pub, 1919
• Evans, Martin Marix, Retreat? Hell We Just Got Here! The American Expeditionary Force in France 1917 - 1918, Osprey, 1998
• Irish Times, Monday, May 8th 1922 - Irish Times Website
• Freeman's Journal, Monday May 8th 1922 - Irish Newspaper Archives
• Naturalisation records, MA - Footnote.com
• Draft Registration Card, 1917 - Available for purchase from Ancestry.com and the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Please note that the images on Ancestry can be very poor but may aid in find the man you want.
• Boston Globe, 20 September 1920, from online database.
• Photos from Sean Driscoll, Director, Winthrop Parks and Recreation, Winthrop, MA
• Casualty Lists, at genealogybuff.com website.

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The names of the 62 men brought back to their homeland on the S.S. Millwater on May 21st 1922.

The Freeman's Journal, Monday May 8, 1922