HAZELWOOD SECRETS
RESEARCHER TERENCE DISCOVERS HAZELWOOD WAS HOME TO AN ARMY
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HAZELWOOD House has a long and interesting history, possibly the most obscure period of which was when it served as a barracks during the Emergency years.
In June 1940, France fell to Hitler’s Wehrmacht and with Ireland facing a very real threat of invasion, the Defence Forces launched a recruiting drive.
Thousands of young Irishmen answered the call, but an accommodation problem soon emerged when existing barracks proved inadequate to house the flow of recruits.
Many derelict stately homes around the country were pressed into service, one of which was Hazelwood House, then the property of the Forestry Department.
In September 1940 over a hundred young soldiers arrived there, fresh from their basic training. One, Trooper named Neville later recalled:
“We arrived at Hazelwood on that glorious day, pitched our bivvies ( tents) in orderly rows... the following day we were told the official title of our new unit- a terrible beauty was, indeed, born. “
Hazelwood’s garrison was to be the 12th Cyclist Squadron, one of fourteen such Squadrons informally known as ‘ The Peddalling Panzers’ ( there was naturally a less polite variant.)
While a modern ( or even contemporary) observer might find amusing the concept of bicycle mounted soldiers, in December 1941 the Imperial Japanese Army proved just how effective cyclist soldiers could be when they overran Malaya with thousands of such troops moving swiftly over paths and narrow bridges, constantly outpacing and outflanking Allied infantrymen.
The Swiss Army only disbanded their Bicycle Regiment in 2001.
The 12th Cyclist Squadron were young men in the peak of physical fitness capable of covering sixty miles in a day on their Mark V Cycles and were highly trained in the use of landmines and “Bangalore torpedo” explosive charges, night operations being a forte.
Hazelwood’s Georgian kitchen range was pressed into service, the kennels converted to a petrol store for the officers’ BSA M. 20 motorcycles, and a room converted to an Orderly Room ( administrative office) with air recognition posters covering damp spots on the wall.
Trooper Neville remembered: “Guards, Training, Route marches, this was our lot for the next three months, and in retrospect a very happy time.
“Like all the Stately Homes, ours had its resident ghost and perhaps would have it still had not an over- conscientious sentry fired a shot.”
Young men in intensive training tend to be hungry and food was in short supply but Trooper Charlie Braden proved adept at scrounging extra rations.
Due to their skill as explosives experts, a troop ( 30 men) was often detached, usually to Ballinamore where fifty 25 pound landmines were stored to demolish selected bridges and mines in case of invasion.
By late 1942, the Squadron CO was Captain Pat Cahalane, with Lieutenants Tom MacAndrew and P Liddy. Company Sergeant Taylor was the senior NCO.
Also then posted to Hazelwood House was Lieutenant Owen Quinn of the Coastwatching Service, responsible for the Look Out Posts on the Sligo coast.
On the 17th of November a Consolidated Catalina flying boat made a forced landing on Lough Gill.
The 12th Cyclist Squadron were quickly on the scene and guarded the aircraft while the crew were brought to Sligo where they were treated “royally” by locals.
Fuel and assistance arrived from Baldonnel and the aircraft flew out three days later, the pilot flying low enough over Hazelwood House to remove acorns from the oak trees.
The Squadron carried out a pilgrimage of sorts in Easter 1943 to Maynooth for 1916 commemorations, where the unit colours were blessed by College President Monsignor Edward Kissane.
There were no married quarters at Hazelwood House, which meant that any trooper of the 12th Cyclists who wed was obliged to transfer to another unit.
Such factors, and the difficulty in recruiting suitable replacements, meant that the strength of the unit began dwindling from its established strength of 120.
Just after Christmas 1943, the 12th Cyclist Squadron was given the sad task of guarding the scene of an air crash ( an RAF Miles Martinet) near Scotstown in County Monaghan and recovering the remains of the young pilot.
By late 1944 the threat of invasion had receded and the Defence Forces began releasing some individuals on early discharge and selecting some units for disbandment, including the Cyclist Squadrons.
In January 1945 the 12th Cyclist Squadron ceased to exist and this chapter in the history of Hazelwood House drew to a close.