Lives of the First World War

known 11th November 1923

On the 11th November 1923 the Memorial to the Royal Irish Regiment was unveiled at Mons on a little knoll which overlooks the ground on which the 2nd Battalion fought on the 23rd August 1914. Standing by the veiled monument, Lord Ypres delivered a speech in French in which he made particular mention of the battle-honours of the 2nd Battalion: "At the beginning of the last Great War the 2nd Battalion took an active part in the Battle of Mons, 1914. A hard struggle enabled them to return in 1918, after having been not merely decimated but four times virtually "wiped-out"....Years must pass before the true history of the Great War can be known and understood, but when this moment comes the attitude of the soldiers of Ireland will stand out nobly. They were always where the fighting was hottest and the Irish regiments held their ground with a tenacity that has never been surpassed. Alas! the inexorable decrees of destiny have caused them to disappear from the ranks of the Army, but the memory of their actions will survive, I am convinced, for all time..."

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