The Irish Brigade website is privileged to reproduce the contents of a letter, which was sent to us on 23 December 2010 by Stephanie Hess, granddaughter of Captain Beglin’s elder sister:

“Joe Beglin’s older sister, Eilish, was my grandmother. She died in 1978, but I can remember clearly the occasions when she spoke of her dear lost brother – they doted on each other and she often spoke of his lovely noble nature which I think must be no exaggeration based on the letter I am attaching. It is written by Lt John R. Stewart, 6th Inniskillings, to his father a few months after Joe’s death. He gives a most moving account of Joe Beglin’s final moments and if that is an example of the type of man who served with the Irish Brigade then they were a most extraordinary group indeed.

Joe Beglin was one of 11 children, seven of which survived to adulthood – my grandmother and six brothers. I know that the family lived in Enniscorthy, County Wexford where the children were born and later moved to the South Circular Road in Dublin. Joe was a keen sportsman and family tradition has it that he played rugby for Leinster.

My great-grandmother, Anastasia Beglin, comes across through the few letters I have of hers as an incredibly strong woman – by 1944 she had lost three boys to the war, her daughter & grandchildren were refugees in Australia and her son-in-law, my grandfather J.B. Dunne, was a prisoner of the Japanese…

I am also attaching a photo of Joe in uniform. It’s impossible to see how tall he was from this but I know he was very tall indeed, hence the nick-name “Tiny”. I wonder what became of his friend John Stewart…

If you are happy to add further details about my great uncle on your website that will be fine – perhaps someone out there will read of him and remember.”