The Irish in Coventry have joined forces with the Turkish and Sikh communities to honour soldiers who lost their lives in the Battle of Gallipoli.
A special event - Echoes of 1915: The Munster Fusiliers and Gallipoli Remembered – takes place this weekend as part of the Earlsdon Festival to remember the 1,000 soldiers who were killed in the horrific World War I battle.
This Friday, April 25, marks the 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli Campaign.
Among them were the many Irish-born members of the 1st Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers - one of the Irish regiments in the British Army.
Organisers are hoping the event will reinforce the long-standing link between Coventry and Ireland.
“It is important we remember these poor boys. What they went through at Gallipoli after having such a happy time in Coventry was truly heart-breaking,” said Simon Shaw.
“The local papers were filled for months afterwards with tales of the dead and wounded and letters and poems from the Munsters describing the carnage they faced,” he added.
“The Earlsdon Festival is proud to commemorate them and those from all sides who died at the Dardanelles. Coventry has very strong links with Ireland stretching back hundreds of years and this event will reinforce the bond between us.”
The Irish soldiers, who were later sent to take part in the landings at V Beach, Sedd el-Bahr on the Gallipoli peninsula of Turkey, lodged with families in the Midlands city in early 1915 while training with the 86th Fusilier Brigade.
Their warmth and wit endeared them to their British hosts with the city becoming a ‘home from home’.
That bond of friendship was seen during the wedding of Maud Bates, of The Albany Hotel, Earlsdon to 2nd Lieutenant Timothy Sullivan – a Cork man from Bantry - by special license at St Osburg’s church on March 4, 1915.
And when the ‘Munsters’ left for war on March 15, thousands lined the streets to see them off.
During their time in Coventry the battalion was also presented with numerous gifts including an English Bull Terrier dog called Buller – who became their mascot as well as an Erin Go Bragh flag from the Coventry Irish Club.
A football game saw the Munsters’ defeated 8-3 by Coventry City at Highfield Road while a Regimental Road Race was organised by the Godiva Harriers.
These and other events from 1915 will now set to be re-enacted in the city this week with help from students of Hearsall Community Primary School, who will re-create the wedding of Maud Bates to Timothy O’Sullivan.
A specially-scripted wedding service will be conducted by the Reverend Stella Bailey from St Mary Magdalen Church, Chapelfields.
A World War One themed cake competition will also take place with slices available to guests in return for a donation to the Coventry Irish Society.
Events – which mark both the happier times for the soldiers in Coventry and also remember those who fell at Gallipoli - will conclude with the playing of The Last Post by a bugler from the City of Coventry Corps of Drums, the band that leads the city’s annual Remembrance Day parade.
Echoes of 1915, which is invite only, will take place at The Albany Public House from 3pm to 5pm on Sunday, April 26.
Among the dignitaries taking part is the Lord Mayor of Coventry, Cllr Hazel Noonan and Ireland’s Ambassador to Britain, Daniel Mulhall.
