AUTHOR’S NOTE
This book has sought to retain the original voices of the officers and soldiers whose personal papers and memoirs comprise the bulk of the book. Some of the accounts here were written during the events; others are recollections written long after the war. This means that tenses can vary, and later events can be mentioned side by side with a previous one, but it was felt that the texts reproduced should be preserved here as closely to the originals as possible. However, spellings, especially some placenames, and technical terms within the texts have been standardised so as not to distract or confuse the reader. Any additions or explanations made in the text are bracketed as follows: [ ].
The extracts have been arranged by year and in an order which I hope engages the reader. This has meant that not every event during the years in question is ordered chronologically, but is rather organised in themes, such as arrival in France, life behind the trenches, life in the trenches and the experience of combat. The intention is to allow readers a comparative framework in which to understand the experiences of Irish soldiers in France. Where an account touches on a major incident or battle, I have identified it, but I have left most as they were in the personal papers. (A glossary of battles is included for reference.) A list of abbreviations is provided at the start of the book to guide readers who may be unfamiliar with British military acronyms. Ranks and units have been changed for each officer and soldier as they were promoted or changed unit.
The stories in this book are drawn from the remaining accounts in British archives, and regrettably do not cover every regiment, but the London Irish and Tyneside Irish have been included. Some of the accounts are from non-Irishmen serving in the Irish regiments, yet their accounts also throw a light on the experiences of the Irish on the Western Front.
ABBREVIATIONS
AIFAustralian Imperial ForceANZACAustralian & New Zealand Army CorpsASCArmy Service CorpsBATTBattalionBATTNBattalionBDEBrigadeBEFBritish Expeditionary ForceBNBattalionCaptCaptainC GDSColdstream GuardsCOCommanding OfficerCOLColonelCOYCompanyCPLCorporalCQMSCompany Quartermaster SergeantCSMCompany Sergeant MajorDCMDistinguished Conduct MedalDIVDivisionDIVLDivisionalDSMDistinguished Service MedalDSODistinguished Service OrderGDSGuardsGGGrenadier GuardsGHQGeneral HeadquartersGIBGibraltarGOCGeneral Officer CommandingGordonsGordon HighlandersGRENGrenadierGSOGeneral Staff OfficerHertsHertfordshire RegimentHQHeadquartersLIRLondon Irish RiflesL&NW RailwayLondon and North Western RailwayLtLieutenantMCMilitary CrossMGMachine GunMGCMachine Gun CorpsMMMilitary MedalMOMedical OfficerNCONon-Commissioned OfficerNZ BrigadeNew Zealand BrigadeOC COOfficer Commanding CompanyOTCOfficers Training CampPSPenal ServitudePTEPrivateRARoyal ArtilleryRAFRoyal Air ForceRAMRoyal Artillery MuseumRAMCRoyal Army Medical CorpsRASCRoyal Army Service CorpsRERoyal EngineersRFARoyal Field ArtilleryRFCRoyal Flying CorpsRGARoyal Garrison ArtilleryRIFRoyal Irish FusiliersRIRRoyal Irish RegimentRMCRoyal Military CollegeRSMRegimental Sergeant MajorRSPCARoyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to AnimalsSASouth AfricaSgtSergeantSRSpecial ReserveSSShrapnel ShellUVFUlster Volunteer ForceWAACWomen’s Auxiliary Army CorpsYCVYoung Citizens VolunteersYMCAYoung Men’s Christian AssociationINTRODUCTION
For the first time in history we have today a huge Irish Army in the field. Its achievements have covered Ireland with glory before the world, and thrilled our hearts with pride. North and South have vied with each other in springing to arms, and please God, the sacrifice they have made side by side on the field of battle will form the surest bond of a united Irish nation in the future. We have kept our word. We have fulfilled our trust. We have definitely accepted the position and undertaken the obligations of a self-governed unit amongst the nations which make up the Empire.
JOHN REDMOND, Leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party
It is common now in Ireland to argue that those who fought in the First World War from Ireland did so out of some spirit of adventure or that they joined the British Army out of financial necessity. But there is a third reason, unspoken due to the substantial discomfort it would cause to the carefully crafted nationalist and republican mythologies of the Irish Free State and later of the Republic of Ireland. A profound sense of imperial patriotism led many to join. Redmond’s call was answered by a generation steeped in the values of constitutional nationalism, a generation which sought something that should long have been granted, and indeed granted with far more generosity than the British establishment appeared willing to give—an Irish parliament. As a generation they fought for their country to become an independent self-governing nation—like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa—within the British Empire.
Irish commerce depended on the British Empire. Many in Ireland had close relatives throughout the Empire, especially in the Dominions, countries indeed to which many in the Ireland of the time still wished to emigrate and build their future. Imperial service created opportunities for Irishmen of all creeds and classes in its administration and defence. As with their Australian, Canadian, New Zealand and South African cousins, a sense of imperial identity in no way diminished or diluted each country’s profound sense of its own national identity or destiny.
Yet in Ireland after 1922, this past had to be re-written. Indeed, one of the unique features of popular Irish history over much of the life of the Irish state has been the absence of popular or state interest in the First World War. This historical amnesia was carefully cultivated, and Ireland’s involvement in the war the focus of an active forgetting. The idea of Irishmen gladly serving a ‘British’ Empire and dedicated to its cause was too subversive to be indulged by a state that needed to legitimate its own existence. Yet it remains a fact that never before or since have so many Irishmen served together in uniform or fought such a war.
Over the last few years, efforts have been made by many to redress this, and this book hopes to continue that tradition. This work has sought not to replicate the many fine works that have recently emerged and are listed in a bibliography at the end of the book; rather it has sought to free from archives in the United Kingdom the voices of officers and men who served in the Irish regiments, both Northern and Southern, in the First World War. The goal is to give readers an insight into the experiences, thoughts, hopes and fears of those who served. It seeks to take the reader back to the world of the Western Front from 1914 to 1918, and to allow them to understand, and hopefully empathise with, the men. It attempts to take the reader through the experience of enlistment and training, of life behind and in the trenches, and of the battles fought and losses mourned. This book is about the experiences of ordinary Irishmen in an extraordinary and terrible war. It is my hope that the stories herein will bring the reader closer to a generation who sacrificed a great deal for their country, and indeed some gave their all for Ireland.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha dílse.
