This book is to be neither an accusation nor a confession, and least of all an adventure, for death is not an adventure to those who stand face to face with it. It will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped its shells, were destroyed by the war.

~ Erich Maria Remarque

On a Sunday evening on February 4^th, 1917, as the last light waned over Dublin Bay, the tracks near Dalkey began to tremble. No one yet knew that the rumble of a passing train would spell the end for a once-promising international rugby player and soldier.

Jasper Brett was born on 8 August 1894 in Kingstown (now Dún Laoghaire), Dublin.¹ His father, William, was a solicitor from County Down with a practice in Dublin City.² The Bretts were a well-regarded family within the Kingstown community, with their home being 18 Crosthwaite Park South.

Jasper attended the local Monkstown Park School before going to the Royal School in Armagh in 1909.³ There, he excelled in sports, partaking in athletics, cricket and, most importantly, rugby. He captained the Royal School XV, with his usual position being on the wing. Once he finished school, he returned to Kingstown and played with Monkstown Football Club (FC), establishing himself on the first team at just 17 years old.⁴ Jasper’s performances saw him chosen to line out for Leinster at the beginning of 1914.⁵ His ascent in the sporting rule continued, and one month later he was picked for the “Possibles” in a “Probables vs Possibles” match, giving him a chance to show off to the national rugby setup.⁶

Called Up

This moment came when he was called up to play against Wales in the Five Nations Championship, being brought in as a replacement for Joseph Quinn, who had a cold.⁷ The teams clashed on 14 March 1914 at Belfast’s Balmoral Showgrounds. Wales won 11-3 on an occasion marked by heavy rainfall, though the game was perhaps best remembered for the violence that took place during it, being called “the most violent in the competition’s history” and later referred to as the “Battle of Balmoral”.⁸

Nobody knew once the full-time whistle blew that this would be Ireland’s last rugby game for six years – and ultimately Jasper Brett’s final appearance.

War is Declared

Jasper became an apprentice solicitor in the summer of 1914, passing his exams and working in his father’s firm.⁹ In August 1914, the First World War officially took place as the British Empire entered. The UK’s Secretary of State for War, Lord Kitchener, believed that the key to winning the war lay in overwhelming manpower.¹⁰ This opinion led to a recruitment drive for men spanning all classes, in contrast to the previous composition of the forces, where the officers consisted of gentry and enlisted men from the lower classes.

General Sir Henry Rawlinson proposed that men would be more likely to serve if they were joining their friends and colleagues.¹¹ An appeal was sent out and battalions began to form, starting with the “Stockbrokers’ Battalion” in London.¹² Soon, battalions were being raised across cities, towns and professions. These were dubbed ‘Pals’ due to the nature of how they were founded.

Despite not being an official Pals battalion, the D Company of the 7th Battalion of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers was formed similarly. The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) organised the group, dubbed the “toffs in the toughs”, and commanded by IRFU president Francis Browning.³

Turf to Trenches

Jasper Brett’s military journey began when he enlisted in the Royal Dublin Fusiliers on 14 September 1914, receiving Service No. 14160. Shortly after enlistment, he transferred to the Machine Gun Section of the B Company in December 1914 and commenced training at the Curragh Camp, followed by further training at Dublin’s Royal Barracks and in Basingstoke, England.¹³ In May 1915, while stationed at Basingstoke, Brett’s battalion was visited by King George V, and later by Lord Kitchener at Hackwood Park in June 1915.¹⁴

In July 1915, they embarked on the SS Alaunia from Devonport, heading to Lemnos via Gibraltar, Malta and Alexandria, arriving in Mudros Bay two weeks later.¹⁴ One member of the group said “We’re as keen as mustard to get to the front, to see as much of the gun as possible”.¹⁵ After preparation, they landed at the now-infamous Suvla Bay in Gallipoli on 7 August 1915 and were greeted by heavy fire. Jasper described in a letter home how “we landed under shell-fire and one man was killed and several wounded before we landed at all.” He recounted the harrowing task of crossing a “death trap” of sand with heavy machine gun equipment, under relentless bombardments.⁴

In the following days, Brett was involved in significant engagements, including the battles of Chocolate Hill and Kizlar Dagh. However, the brutal environment soon took its toll; he was hospitalised twice for enteritis and colitis. In October 1915, his sister Mabel, concerned about his health, reached out to the Infantry Record Office in Exeter for updates.⁴

After Gallipoli, the 10th Division, including Brett’s unit, departed for the Salonika Front.³ The Division suffered heavy casualties, and an observer noted that Brett’s battalion had a “rougher time than people at home can even realise”.¹⁶

In Salonika, Brett’s mental health began to deteriorate. He was diagnosed with “neurasthenia” (shell shock) in April 1916 and briefly hospitalised before returning to his unit. However, by June, his condition had worsened; he suffered from gastritis, monomania, melancholia and confusional insanity, leading to his eventual transfer to a psychiatric hospital at Latchmere House in Richmond, Surrey, in August 1916.⁸ While on the way to Malta to get another ship to England, he threw himself overboard but was rescued.¹⁷

Shell Shock

Latchmere Hospital had been converted into a centre for mentally affected British soldiers at the end of 1915.¹⁸ Wartime hospitals began to notice admitted soldiers showcasing headaches, tinnitus, tremors and dizziness – all symptoms of a head injury. Yet upon examination, there was no sign of any wounds to the head.

Doctors attributed various reasons to these symptoms. Some said that a soldier losing his nerve was caused by the “wind of a shell”, others attributed it to microlesions caused by the shockwaves from a shell.¹⁹ All pointed towards shell shock being a physical rather than emotional injury.

Shell shock was the antithesis of what the Victorian and Edwardian models of ideal masculinity sought to portray. The image of psychologically damaged and suicidal soldiers also destroyed the contemporary perception of war being honourable and just.²⁰

The Soldier’s Return

In January 1917, the now 22-year-old Jasper was discharged from the army, being deemed “unfit”. The hospital contacted his father, William, to bring him back from Ireland, as he had been there too long and, since he was no longer a member of the Army, he could not be treated there.¹⁷ He was told by the medical officer at Latchmere that Jasper was cured and that home influences could benefit him.²¹

William Brett travelled to London. He spent a few days there before returning to Kingstown with his son on 20 January. According to William, while in a London restaurant, Jasper was insulted and called a “slacker” by a member of the public because he had left the army without anything to show that he had served.⁸ Four days later, the British Army sent him a Silver War Badge, given to soldiers who were honourably discharged due to wounds or illness.

While his temperament in Kingstown initially appeared to be fine, Jasper was again suffering from the effects of shell shock. The Bretts called for a doctor who deemed Jasper to be insane and advised that he be placed under restraint. The doctor rang an ambulance, but when it arrived, Jasper refused to go to hospital, bracing himself to resist. However, after a night’s sleep, he appeared to be “normal” the next day, playing bridge and chess.²²

Bête Noire

It was a dark Sunday evening on 4 February 1917, with night having already closed in. Jasper left his Kingstown home at 7pm, returning 30 minutes to go to his bedroom before departing again in the direction of Dalkey, south of the town.¹⁷

Later, the 9:45pm train from Westland Row to Bray was trundling along the tracks. It stopped at Dalkey station before proceeding again, about to head under a railway tunnel dubbed by the locals as “Khyber Pass”. While going through the tunnel, the driver felt a jolt. He reached the next station, Killiney, and reported the incident.²³

A search party was soon dispatched to head out into the tunnel to investigate. After entering the tunnel, one of the porters found a body between the rails, with its feet pointing towards Dalkey. The head had been separated from the body, lying outside the track.²² The person was wearing a Silver War Badge.¹³

In the meantime, Jasper Brett’s parents were worried that their son hadn’t returned and reported it to the police. Later in his bedroom, they found a letter written to a friend, dated 4 February. In it, he stated that “The water was ever my bete noir” and wished that all should think of him as he once was. It was dated, signed with “J.T.” and concluded with the message, “Thy Will be done”.¹⁷

Remembering Jasper Brett

An inquest was held on 6 February at Dalkey railway station to examine the cause of death. This included appearances from Jasper’s father, the railway driver, the porter who came across his body, along with Royal Irish Constabulary personnel. One member described finding “blood and brains” on the left lifeguard of the train.²²

A day later, Jasper was buried in the family plot in Deansgrange Cemetery. His epitaph concludes with the phrase “Thy will be done”.

In a letter to the War Office dated 17 February 1917, speaking of his son’s death, Jasper’s father wrote, “He was a soldier to the tips of his fingers & as brave as a lion & it simply broke his heart to be turned out in mufti, without any medal to show he had served. He went through great danger and hardship also, and I have his letters to show that.” His father made a claim for £2,000 in compensation for loss of earnings, but his claim was met with a gratuity of £69 and 15 shillings, plus remission of death duties.⁸

Despite not having died in action, Jasper Brett is often commemorated as one of the many young victims of the War. His name is listed on a memorial plaque in Christ Church in Dún Laoghaire, and Monkstown FC name him as one of their clubmen who died in the Great War, joining 79 other members of the club on a panel in the club bar – 20 of which belonged to the Royal Dublin Fusiliers.

Upon learning of his death, Jasper Brett’s former headmaster, Cecil Vesey Stoney, said:

“His was another very young life cut short all too early, terminated by this futile war, a tragedy regretted by all who knew him, especially by the Irish Rugby world which knew him well.”³

Jasper Brett’s story is one of many that embody the quiet devastation left in the wake of the War, whether through being killed in action or by the effects of shell shock. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission lists 4,982 members of the Royal Dublin Fusiliers as having died in or by the War, including Jasper. The glut of these were unmarried men aged 21 to 25, many of whom had fallen at Gallipoli, with many more enduring the mental toll afterwards.

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References

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   https://civilrecords.irishgenealogy.ie/churchrecords/images/birth_returns/births_1894/02252/1847284.pdf
2. 1901 Census for House 18, Crosthwaite Park South, Kingstown, Dublin. March 31, 1901.  https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/reels/nai003744748/
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