........... who played in the 1910 British Tour of South Africa and played in nine Tests for his native Ireland, the last in 1914. In 1950-51, he was President of the Irish Rugby Football Union. During the 1920s and 30s, he was a senior Medical Officer in the RAF, serving in the Middle-East and in 1939-43, he was Honorary Surgeon to King George VI. In WW1, he served in the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) on the Western Front and was mentioned in Dispatches six times. He received the DSO and Bar, the MC and the Belgian Croix de Guerre. Whilst serving as Medical Officer in the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers in 1915, he was buried by an exploding shell and he experienced temporary shell-shock. He drew on this experience when he participated in a War Office Committee of Enquiry into the causes and effects of shell-shock in 1922 and he stated that it was his belief that shell-shock was primarily caused by a ‘repression of fear’
Tyrrell, Sir William KBE DSO* MC played for Ireland Internationals: 9 : 1910 F+ ; 1913 E- S- W- F+ (2t) ; 1914 F+ E- S+ W- ; William Tyrrell was born on 20 November 1885. Played as a Forward for: Royal Belfast Academical Institute, Queen’s University Belfast Profession: Medicine/Royal Air Force War service: Lieutenant, Royal Army Medical Corps, promoted to Captain on 1 April 1915, later Temporary Lieutenant Colonel, RAMC, DSO Gazetted 1 January 1918, and bar, Gazetted 26 July 1918: “For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty when in charge of a line of evacuation. He worked continuously for six days, and it was due to his gallantry, organisation, and energy that touch was maintained so efficiently with the brigades, and many casualties evacuated. He displayed great courage and coolness throughout, and inspired those under him by his fine example.” Croix de Guerre (Belgium) 1918. He transferred to the Royal Air Force on 22 November 1918. William Tyrrell is mentioned in Christmas Truce where his diary entry for 25 December 1914, when he was the Medical Officer attached to the 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, is quoted: “Germans send in a party and white flag. Our B. F—l of a sentry brings one in without blindfolding him and of course he had to be made prisoner.”Lt Col William Dacre, Royal Army Medical Corps, wrote in his diary in April 1915: ‘We played the 4th Division at footer and beat them. It was a famous match and a great number of old internationals were playing. The Gloucester County line were in the 5th Gloucesters and did great work. Tyrrell, the Irish international, was playing against us and Poulton captained our side.’ There is a reference to William Tyrrell in Forgotten Voices of the Great War, where Private Alfred Bromfield of the 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Regiment (sic) [the 2nd Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, 12th Brigade, 4th Division] comments on the opening of the Second Battle of Ypres on 22 April 1915: ‘While we were doing this [firing rapidly into a cloud of chlorine gas] the rifles were getting hotter and hotter with the continual fire. Fat was pouring out of the woodwork and the muzzles were beginning to extend. Then an Irish medical officer named Captain Tyrrell, realising that we needed help, got out of the trench and ran along the back with a can of oil in his hand, pouring it on our rifles as he went by. We’d stop firing just long enough for him to splash a drop of oil on the bolt. All we needed was the bolts to work perfectly, and he managed to get right along the trench.” During a gas attack on 2 May 1915 during the Second Battle of Ypres, the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers were at Shell Trap Farm “In B Company, a little to the east of the Farm, the medical officer, Lt W Tyrrell, ordered the men to use a wetted rag over their noses and mouths to protect themselves. In the confusion that had ensued following the warning of gas much of the available water in the trench, and the tea that had just been prepared, was spilled and Tyrrell immediately urinated on a rag and urged the men nearby to do the same. The natural ammonia in the urine gave added protection against the gas and at least B Company were able to stand to arms as the gas reached them. Tyrrell is reported to have been ‘more than a hero’ on that day and took full part in the defence of the line when the enemy infantry finally appeared.” Remarks: He was not capped on the 1910 Great Britain tour of SA. “The Irish pack of 1914 was regarded as one of the roughest ever. It was led by a Belfast medical student, William Tyrell, who later became a distinguished doctor. Tyrrell’s pack paved the way to victory in Paris and against Scotland, but their rough methods were countered in Belfast by an equally rough Welsh pack [the ‘Terrible Eight’ led by the Rev Alban Davies].” KStJ 1947, KBE 1944. He was President of the Irish Rugby Football Union 1950-1951. He died on 29 April 1968.
