Lives of the First World War
Discover, explore and remember millions of personal stories from the First World War
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
-
Born 1874
Died 1914
British Army 5532 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Patrick Kelly -
Born 1881
Died 1918
British Army 5578 Serjeant Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion (embarkation for France to join BEF)
British Army 5578 Corporal Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Thomas Richard Thresher -
Born 1891
Died 1919
British Army 8743 Private Royal Irish Regiment
British Army 8743 Lance Corporal Royal Irish Regiment
More about Henry Edward Measor -
-
-
Born 1890
Died 1977
British Army 9725 Serjeant Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Claude Harold Sansom -
Born 1891
Died 1914
British Army 5873 Private Royal Irish Rifles
British Army 5873 Private Royal Irish Regiment 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve)
British Army 5873 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Michael Moran -
Born 1891
Died 1914
British Army 4226 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Peter Mccarthy -
Born 1883
British Army 7085 Private Royal Irish Regiment 1st Battalion
British Army 7085 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about James Green -
Born 1897
Died 1914
British Army 10643 Private Royal Irish Rifles
British Army 10643 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about John Henry Humphreys -
British Army 32622 Private Royal Irish Regiment
British Army 7514 Private Royal Irish Regiment
More about Thomas Hearne -
-
Born 1885
Died 1914
British Army 8319 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Francis Albert Bartlett -
British Army Captain Royal Irish Regiment 3rd Reserve
British Army Captain Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
British Army Captain Royal Irish Fusiliers 2nd Garrison Battalion
More about W J Parnis England -
Born 1874
Died 1914
British Army 5904 Lance Corporal Royal Irish Regiment 1st Battalion (South Africa)
British Army 5904 Corporal Royal Irish Regiment 1st Battalion (South Africa)
British Army 5904 Private Royal Irish Regiment 1st Battalion (South Africa)
…
More about Thomas Kelly -
-
Born 1878
British Army Captain Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion (embarkation for France to join BEF)
More about George Oswald Michael Furnell -
Born 1893
Died 1963
British Army Captain 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment
British Army 2nd Lieutenant Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about Conrad Fulke Thomond O'brien Ffrench -
Born 1876
Died 1914
British Army 6486 Private ALIAS
British Army 6486 Private Royal Irish Regiment 3rd Battalion (Special Reserve)
British Army 6486 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about James Moran -
Born 1893
Died 1920
British Army 10716 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion (embarkation for France to join BEF)
British Army 10716 Private Royal Irish Regiment 2nd Battalion
More about John Thompson