Letters By Author
Joseph Fitzsimons (1894 - n.d.)
Date of letters
19 November 1915 - 9 August 1919
Number of letters
31
Regiments
41st Casualty Clearing Station, Royal Army Medical Corps 19 November 1915 - 16 December 1918
43rd Casualty Clearing Station, Royal Army Medical Corps 28 March 1919 - 16 August 1919
Rank
Private
Regimental number
59670
Joseph (Joe) Fitzsimons was born on 19 November 1894 in the Ballycastle district to parents Mary Finnegan and John Fitzsimons, a clerk. The family moved to Belfast sometime between his birth and 1901 residing in Bantry Street, near the Springfield Road. They continued to live in the surrounding area, in Kashmir Road, Waterville Street and for the duration of Fitzsimons’ war service in Clonard Gardens. He joined the staff of Belfast Public Libraries on 19 April 1912 as an Assistant Librarian in the Lending Department.
On 7 June 1915 Fitzsimons joined the 41st Casualty Clearing Station in Limerick. A problem with his eyesight prevented him from joining the ‘combatant corps’. He left for France at the end of November 1915 as a ‘1st Class Nursing Orderly’, turning down a position of Corporal to remain working with friends. His highly descriptive letters bring to life the workings of a Casualty Clearing Station- its day-to-day operations and the bravery and horrors he witnessed in his role as a Nursing Orderly.
He returned home after demobilisation in June 1919 and resumed work in the library service on 18 August 1919. He remained in the library service and was appointed Branch Librarian of Falls Road Branch in 1931 until the 1960s.
Belfast Central Library. © National Museums Northern Ireland Collection Ulster Museum.
For Author Joseph Fitzsimons we have found 31 correspondence(s).
Reference | Date of Letter | Type | Summary | View Letter |
---|---|---|---|---|
FIT-001 | 19 November 1915 | Letter | Elliott to Fitzsimons. Army life, staff at war. | View |
FIT-002 | 01 December 1915 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Elliott. Aldershot. Leaving for France, casualty clearing station, turns down promotion. | View |
FIT-003 | 12 December 1915 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Elliott. France. Camp, Y.M.C.A. | View |
FIT-004 | 14 January 1916 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Elliott. France. Camp. | View |
FIT-005 | 26 January 1916 | Letter | Elliott To Fitzsimons. Lectures, Eagleson. | View |
FIT-006 | 01 March 1916 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Elliott. France. Casualty clearing station work, other staff at war. | View |
FIT-007 | 01 March 1916 | Postcard | Field Service Postcard from Fitzsimons to Elliott. School- Location censored. | View |
FIT-008 | 25 March 1916 | Letter | Elliott to Fitzsimons. Clearing station at factory and school, other staff at war. | View |
FIT-009 | 03 April 1916 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Elliott. France. Wages. | View |
FIT-010 | 05 July 1916 | Postcard | Field Service Postcard from Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. Location censored. German POW. | View |
FIT-011 | 25 July 1916 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Elliott. France. 'Great offensive' casualties, Ulster Division, Robert Rainey. | View |
FIT-012 | 31 July 1916 | Letter | Elliott to Fitzsimons. Read letter to staff, experiences. | View |
FIT-013 | 13 October 1916 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Elliott. France. Casualty clearing station, roads, French countryside, star shells. | View |
FIT-014 | 18 December 1916 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Elliott. France. Christmas wishes, Serious Surgical Ward. | View |
FIT-015 | 22 January 1917 | Letter | Elliott to Fitzsimons. Bravery and bright presence, other staff at war, library staff. | View |
FIT-016 | 03 February 1917 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. France. Elliott's death, Belfast food production, French farmers, war effort. | View |
FIT-017 | 11 April 1917 | Letter | Goldsbrough to Fitzsimons. Separation allowance. | View |
FIT-018 | 16 April 1917 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. France. Separation allowance, German prisoners. | View |
FIT-019 | 10 July 1917 | Letter | Goldsbrough to Fitzsimons. Miss Miller, other staff at war. | View |
FIT-020 | 09 August 1917 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. France. Staff at war, 'big attack', casualties. | View |
FIT-021 | 27 September 1917 | Letter | Goldsbrough to Fitzsimons. Hospitals bombed, Miss Miller, other staff at war. | View |
FIT-022 | 14 November 1917 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. France. Home, career after the war, wages, war effort. | View |
FIT-023 | 10 January 1918 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. France. *Typo-should be 1919*. Camp, demobilisation, New Year. | View |
FIT-024 | 21 January 1918 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. France. Station, weather, O'Rourke. | View |
FIT-025 | 06 June 1918 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. France. Close to the firing line, Brown. | View |
FIT-026 | 16 December 1918 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. Le Cateau, France. French civilians and soldiers. | View |
FIT-027 | 16 January 1919 | Form | Application for Release from The Colours | View |
FIT-028 | 28 March 1919 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. France. Demobilisation, flu. | View |
FIT-029 | 06 May 1919 | Letter | Goldsbrough to Fitzsimons. Demobilisation, other staff at war. | View |
FIT-030 | 06 June 1919 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. France. Demobilisation, Bapaume, landscape, poppies. | View |
FIT-031 | 09 August 1919 | Letter | Fitzsimons to Goldsbrough. Glenariff, Co. Antrim. Demobilization, home. | View |