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[This eyewitness account by an Englishman appeared in the United Service Magazine in 1829.]
On Monday morning, June 19th, I hastened to the field of battle:
I was compelled to go through the forest de Soignes, for the road was
so completely choked up as to be impassable ; and I had not proceeded
far, before I stumbled over the dead body of a Frenchman, which was
lying on its face amongst the grass. The corpse was so frightfully
disfigured, and so smeared with mud and gore, that I felt horror-
struck ; but when, on advancing a little farther, I saw hundreds, and in
From: Major General C R J Weir CB DSO MBE,
Colonel The Royal Irish Regiment.
May I extend a warm welcome to the Virtual Military Gallery of The Royal Irish Regiment. You may be a past, present or even future member of our Regiment, or you may have ties to us through family or friends. You may simply have a keen interest in the history of the fighting Irish.
Major General Sir Arthur Wellesley wrote to Captain W Wainwright, an Inniskilling officer, on 1 February 1808 by way of a reply concerning promotion for Wainwright's brother. Wainwright appears to have written the letter to Sir Arthur at the behest of his father Henry Wainwright, who also attracts criticism in the last paragraph. The text of the letter included the following:
Private Robert Morrow VC won the Victoria Cross on 12 April 1915 when the 1st Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers was in a 1,000 yard section of trenches along the river Douve close to Messines in Belgium. This map was drawn by one of the officers to record the exact position of the trenches that they occupied from November 1914 to April 1915 near 'La Petite Douve' farm.
| ROYAL INNISKILLING FUSILIERS | |
|---|---|
| 1st Battalion in 29th Division | Objective was Y Ravine in Battle of the Somme, France. |
| 2nd Battalion in 32nd Division | Objective was Thiepval in Battle of the Somme, France |
| 5th Battalion in 10th (Irish) Division | Objective was Holding the Line in Battle of the Struma, Salonika |
In 1946, the Kenya African Union was formed with its main agitator Jomo Kenyatta, who was also the instigator of what came to be called the Mau Mau Rebellion. The Mau Mau at its height had around twelve thousand activists and the war against these fighters was conducted in the jungle around the Aberdare Mountain ranges. From 1952 to 1956 the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, the Royal Ulster Rifles and the Royal Irish Fusiliers were in turn sent there to protect the civilian population and hunt down the Mau Mau.
This helmet plate worn c1830 by an officer of the 86th Foot shows "Quis Separabit", the Latin motto of the Regiment, which translates as “Who Shall Separate Us”.
In 1915, the Allied commanders discussed plans for the offensive of 1916 that would win the war. The British favoured Ypres with its adjacent Belgian seaports and thus access to England. Logistics informed the decision and the area of the River Somme was chosen, for it marked the boundary between the French and British armies and would involve a minimal reorganisation of troops.
William McFadzean was born in Lurgan, Co Armagh on 9 October 1895, the son of William and Annie McFadzean. His father came from Dundalk, Co Louth and his mother from Co Down.
This cigarette case embossed with the cap badge of the Royal Irish Rifles was found after the end of the First World War in the fields close to the city of Mons, the city that lent its name to the opening battle of the First World War. A packet of Wild Woodbine cigarettes normally contained five cigarettes.
