William Tyrrell (rugby player)
Encyclopedia
Air Vice-Marshal Sir William Tyrrell, KBE
, DSO
, MC
was a rugby union
international who played for Ireland
and was part of the British and Irish Lions
team that toured South Africa in 1910
. He went on to have a successful career in the British Army
and Royal Air Force
and became the Honorary surgeon to the King in 1939.
and then studied medicine at Queens University, Belfast.
. In 1910 he played his first test for Ireland, which was against France at Parc des Princes
on March 28. He was selected for the 1910 British
tour to South Africa
, the first official such tour (in that it was sanctioned and selected by the four Home Nations official governing bodies). On his return, he continued to play for Ireland, playing nine tests in total and scoring 3 tries. His last international was Ireland v Wales at Belfast on March 14, 1914. After his retirement from his military career, in the season 1950-51 he was President of the Irish Rugby Football Union
.
(Special Reserve) in 1912 and thus served in the Great War from its onset in 1914. During the war he was Mentioned in Despatches six times, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
and Bar in 1918, as well as the Military Cross
in 1914 and was also awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre in 1918. His service in the war was varied, serving as the Regimental Medical Officer (R.M.O.) with the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers
from 1914 to 1915; O.C. No1 M.A.C., from 1915 to 1916; and Deputy Assistant Director of Medical Services (D.A.D.M.S.) for VIII Corps of the British Expeditionary Force in 1916. From 1917 to 1918 he was the Officer Commanding
the 76 Field Ambulance
and in 1918 became the Assistant Commandant and Officer Commanding of the R.A.M.C. School of Instructors. He was seconded as Principal Medical Officer (P.M.O.) to H.Q. R.A.F. with the Army of Occupation
from 1918 to 1919. He continued to pursue a military career after the war. He was P.M.O. Z Expedition Somaliland
from 1919 to 1920. In 1920 he transferred to the R.A.F. He was the Senior Medical Officer (S.M.O.) in Basrah from 1922 to 1923.
In 1922 the War Office
Committee of Enquiry Into "Shell-shock" published its final report providing an overview of the British experience of shell shock during the First World War. Tyrrell was a key contributor of evidence. He gave evidence in his capacity as a medical expert but he also described his own experience of shell shock which he suffered as a consequence of being buried by a shell explosion during his service as a medical officer to the 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers
(12th Brigade, 4th division) on the Western Front. Tyrrell stated that it was his belief that the major cause of shell shock could be ascribed to the repression of fear.
From 1923 to 1926 he was P.M.O. in Palestine and from 1927 to 1931 P.M.O in Cranwell. From 1932 to 1935 he was P.M.O. in Iraq and Middle East and in 1935 moved to Inland Areas Training and Technical Training Command where he remained until 1944. He became an Air Commodore
in 1935 and an Air Vice Marshal in 1939. In 1939 he also became honorary surgeon to King George VI of the United Kingdom
a position he held until 1943. He retired in 1944 and from 1945 to 1947 was the Director of Medical Services (D.M.S.) to the British Overseas Airways Corporation
.
, Hants
. They had two sons, Marcus and Timothy, and a daughter, Phillipa. Coleclough later lived apart from her husband and became a Communist, and a CND activist. Tyrrell was stated to have enjoyed walking and swimming. He was a member of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club
(Bangor Co. Down) and the Ulster Reform Club
(Belfast)
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
, DSO
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
, MC
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
was a rugby union
Rugby union
Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...
international who played for Ireland
Ireland national rugby union team
The Ireland national rugby union team represents the island of Ireland in rugby union. The team competes annually in the Six Nations Championship and every four years in the Rugby World Cup, where they reached the quarter-final stage in all but two competitions The Ireland national rugby union...
and was part of the British and Irish Lions
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
team that toured South Africa in 1910
1910 British Lions tour to South Africa
The 1910 British Isles tour to South Africa was the eighth tour by a British Isles team and the fourth to South Africa. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950. As well as South Africa, the tour included a game in...
. He went on to have a successful career in the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
and Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
and became the Honorary surgeon to the King in 1939.
Early life
William Tyrrell was born on 20 November 1885, the son of John Tyrrell, of Belfast and Bangor, Co. Down. He was educated at Royal Belfast Academical InstitutionRoyal Belfast Academical Institution
The Royal Belfast Academical Institution, is a Grammar School in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Locally referred to as Inst, the school educates boys from ages 11–18...
and then studied medicine at Queens University, Belfast.
Rugby career
William Tyrrell played his first rugby at a senior level for Queen's University RFCQueen's University RFC
Queen's University Rugby Football Club is the rugby union team of Queen's University Belfast. Founded in 1869, it is the second oldest rugby union club in Northern Ireland . They originally played as Queen's College, Belfast and have won the Ulster Senior Cup a record 21 times...
. In 1910 he played his first test for Ireland, which was against France at Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes
The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...
on March 28. He was selected for the 1910 British
British and Irish Lions
The British and Irish Lions is a rugby union team made up of players from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales...
tour to South Africa
1910 British Lions tour to South Africa
The 1910 British Isles tour to South Africa was the eighth tour by a British Isles team and the fourth to South Africa. It is retrospectively classed as one of the British Lions tours, as the Lions naming convention was not adopted until 1950. As well as South Africa, the tour included a game in...
, the first official such tour (in that it was sanctioned and selected by the four Home Nations official governing bodies). On his return, he continued to play for Ireland, playing nine tests in total and scoring 3 tries. His last international was Ireland v Wales at Belfast on March 14, 1914. After his retirement from his military career, in the season 1950-51 he was President of the Irish Rugby Football Union
Irish Rugby Football Union
The Irish Rugby Football Union is the body managing rugby union in Ireland. The IRFU has its head office at 10/12 Lansdowne Road and home ground at Aviva Stadium, where Irish rugby union international matches are played...
.
Military career
Tyrrell served in the medical branches of both the Army and the RAF. He had joined the Royal Army Medical Corps (R.A.M.C.)Royal Army Medical Corps
The Royal Army Medical Corps is a specialist corps in the British Army which provides medical services to all British Army personnel and their families in war and in peace...
(Special Reserve) in 1912 and thus served in the Great War from its onset in 1914. During the war he was Mentioned in Despatches six times, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order
Distinguished Service Order
The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...
and Bar in 1918, as well as the Military Cross
Military Cross
The Military Cross is the third-level military decoration awarded to officers and other ranks of the British Armed Forces; and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries....
in 1914 and was also awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre in 1918. His service in the war was varied, serving as the Regimental Medical Officer (R.M.O.) with the 2nd Lancashire Fusiliers
Lancashire Fusiliers
The Lancashire Fusiliers was a British infantry regiment that was amalgamated with other Fusilier regiments in 1968 to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.- Formation and early history:...
from 1914 to 1915; O.C. No1 M.A.C., from 1915 to 1916; and Deputy Assistant Director of Medical Services (D.A.D.M.S.) for VIII Corps of the British Expeditionary Force in 1916. From 1917 to 1918 he was the Officer Commanding
Officer Commanding
The Officer Commanding is the commander of a sub-unit or minor unit , principally used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. In other countries, the term Commanding Officer is applied to commanders of minor as well as major units.Normally an Officer Commanding is a company, squadron or battery...
the 76 Field Ambulance
Field Ambulance
A Field Ambulance is the name used by the British Army and the armies of other Commonwealth nations to describe a mobile medical unit that treats wounded soldiers very close to the combat zone...
and in 1918 became the Assistant Commandant and Officer Commanding of the R.A.M.C. School of Instructors. He was seconded as Principal Medical Officer (P.M.O.) to H.Q. R.A.F. with the Army of Occupation
Army of Occupation
Army of Occupation is a term for an army occupying conquered territory, and has been used for many armies in many eras including:*The Army of Occupation of the U.S...
from 1918 to 1919. He continued to pursue a military career after the war. He was P.M.O. Z Expedition Somaliland
British Somaliland
British Somaliland was a British protectorate in the northern part of present-day Somalia. For much of its existence, British Somaliland was bordered by French Somaliland, Ethiopia, and Italian Somaliland. From 1940 to 1941, it was occupied by the Italians and was part of Italian East Africa...
from 1919 to 1920. In 1920 he transferred to the R.A.F. He was the Senior Medical Officer (S.M.O.) in Basrah from 1922 to 1923.
In 1922 the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
Committee of Enquiry Into "Shell-shock" published its final report providing an overview of the British experience of shell shock during the First World War. Tyrrell was a key contributor of evidence. He gave evidence in his capacity as a medical expert but he also described his own experience of shell shock which he suffered as a consequence of being buried by a shell explosion during his service as a medical officer to the 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers
Lancashire Fusiliers
The Lancashire Fusiliers was a British infantry regiment that was amalgamated with other Fusilier regiments in 1968 to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.- Formation and early history:...
(12th Brigade, 4th division) on the Western Front. Tyrrell stated that it was his belief that the major cause of shell shock could be ascribed to the repression of fear.
From 1923 to 1926 he was P.M.O. in Palestine and from 1927 to 1931 P.M.O in Cranwell. From 1932 to 1935 he was P.M.O. in Iraq and Middle East and in 1935 moved to Inland Areas Training and Technical Training Command where he remained until 1944. He became an Air Commodore
Air Commodore
Air commodore is an air-officer rank which originated in and continues to be used by the Royal Air Force...
in 1935 and an Air Vice Marshal in 1939. In 1939 he also became honorary surgeon to King George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI of the United Kingdom
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death...
a position he held until 1943. He retired in 1944 and from 1945 to 1947 was the Director of Medical Services (D.M.S.) to the British Overseas Airways Corporation
British Overseas Airways Corporation
The British Overseas Airways Corporation was the British state airline from 1939 until 1946 and the long-haul British state airline from 1946 to 1974. The company started life with a merger between Imperial Airways Ltd. and British Airways Ltd...
.
Honours
In 1942 he was created a Commander of the Order of the British Empire and in 1944 was appointed to the rank of Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for his service during the war. In 1947 he became a Knight of the Order of St John. He was painted by Walter Stoneman on two occasions.Personal life
In 1929 he married Barbara Coleclough, the daughter of M.J. Coleclough of RomseyRomsey
Romsey is a small market town in the county of Hampshire, England.It is 8 miles northwest of Southampton and 11 miles southwest of Winchester, neighbouring the village of North Baddesley...
, Hants
Hants
Hants may refer to:*Hampshire, a county in England** Mid Hants Watercress Railway, in Hampshire*Hants County, Nova Scotia, a Canadian county named for the English one**East Hants, Nova Scotia, a municipal district...
. They had two sons, Marcus and Timothy, and a daughter, Phillipa. Coleclough later lived apart from her husband and became a Communist, and a CND activist. Tyrrell was stated to have enjoyed walking and swimming. He was a member of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club
Royal Ulster Yacht Club
Royal Ulster Yacht Club is located in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, on the south shore of Belfast Lough.-History:The Club was established in 1866 as the Ulster Yacht Club, on the impetus of Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava. In 1869 it received a Royal...
(Bangor Co. Down) and the Ulster Reform Club
Ulster Reform Club
The Ulster Reform Club is a gentleman's club at No. 4, Royal Avenue, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It first opened in January 1885.The club was original built by Ulster members of the Liberal Party, to celebrate William Gladstone's victory in the 1880 UK general election...
(Belfast)
Further reading
- Biography of Air Vice-Marshal Sir William Tyrrell in the British Medical JournalBritish Medical JournalBMJ is a partially open-access peer-reviewed medical journal. Originally called the British Medical Journal, the title was officially shortened to BMJ in 1988. The journal is published by the BMJ Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Medical Association...
, 1968 May 11; 2(5601):369.