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2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment from August to October 1914
2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment from August to October 1914
I have focussed on the men who served with the battalion during the first two months of the war partly because the events that unfolded between August and October 1914 are in themselves extraordinary. In a few short weeks there took place the first hostile contact between the British and the Germans at Mons, the crucial battle of Le Cateau, the long and hot retreat to the outskirts of Paris, the successes on the Marne and the stalling of the allies’ advance at the Aisne. Then, at the beginning of October 1914 the battalion was redeployed north and took part in the fighting around La Bassee. On the 20th of October at Le Pilly, they were surrounded and overwhelmed. All but 135 men and one officer were either killed, wounded and/or taken prisoner. This means that since they had disembarked in France on 14th August well over a thousand members of the battalion had become casualties. Such a casualty rate among the battalions of the First World War may not in itself be exceptional. However, what needs to be taken into account is the fact that many of those who proceeded to France with the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment had been serving together for years and in some cases decades. Some may have fought together in the Boer War or have had a shared experience of the hardship of years of service in India. They genuinely were comrades in arms, which must have made the destruction of this regular army battalion all the more affecting for those who survived. The first day of the Somme may well have produced equally shocking statistics. However, the close camaraderie of the regular army was by then a thing of the past and replaced by a weary acceptance of the brutalities of trench warfare and an understanding that too great an investment in those around you was best avoided. It is the poignancy of all those friendships and long-standing associations torn asunder in eight short weeks that makes this tale so compelling.
Created by: , Patrick63223
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Born 1887
Died 1959
British Army 8552 Private Royal Irish Regiment 1st Battalion
British Army 8552 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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British Army 9058 Serjeant Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1887
Died 1940
British Army 2nd Lieutenant Royal Irish Regiment
British Army Lieutenant Royal Irish Regiment
British Army Temporary Captain Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1880
Died 1914
British Army 5892 Colour Serjeant Royal Irish Rifles
British Army 5892 Company Quarter Master Serjeant Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1879
Died 1943
British Army 4553 Warrant Officer Class 2 Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1884
Died 1950
British Army 7181 Private Royal Irish Regiment 1st Battalion
British Army 7181 Private Royal Irish Regiment Army Reserve
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Born 1878
Died 1956
British Army 6419 Private Royal Irish Regiment (Section B Reserve)
British Army 6419 Private Royal Irish Regiment (Section D Reserve)
British Army 6419 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1889
Died 1914
British Army 8335 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1876
Died 1914
British Army 6599 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Died 1915
British Army 9726 Serjeant Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion (embarkation for France to join BEF)
British Army 9726 Serjeant Royal Irish Regiment
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Born 1879
Died 1919
British Army 9930 Serjeant Major Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion (embarkation for France to join BEF)
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Born 1891
Died 1938
British Army Lieutenant Royal Irish Regiment
British Army Captain Royal Irish Regiment
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Born 1881
Died 1914
British Army 6726 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1882
Died 1914
British Army 3489 Private Royal Irish Rifles
British Army 3489 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1891
Died 1941
British Army 10440 Lance Corporal Royal Irish Regiment
British Army 10440 Private Royal Irish Regiment
British Army 10440 Lance Corporal Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1882
British Army 8215 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1890
Died 1914
British Army 7412 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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Born 1884
Died 1914
British Army 4438 Private Royal Irish Regiment
British Army 4438 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
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