Explore Listing
During September 1900, when British troops were fighting the Boers, a troop of Mounted Infantry of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles attacked the farm of Commandant Philip Botha, the brother of the Boer leader. As the farm caught fire, Trooper Paddy Flynn, noticing a dog inside the farmhouse, rescued it.
Birds in the Trenches
Ye fearless birds that live and fly where men
Can venture not and live, that even build
Your nests where oft the searching shrapnel shrilled
And conflict rattled like a serpent, when
The hot guns thundered further, and from his den
The little machine-gun spat, and men fell piled
In long-swept lines, as when a scythe has thrilled,
And tall corn tumbled ne'er to rise again.
_Ye slight ambassadors twixt foe and foe,
Small parleyers of peace where no peace is,
Sweet disregarders of man's miseries
And his most murderous methods, winging slow
On 11 October 1899, the Boer Republics declared war on the British. Battalions of The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, The Royal Irish Rifles and The Royal Irish Fusiliers were to fight in the campaign and gain great praise for their loyalty and courage*. After the war Queen Victoria referred to the Irish Regiments as 'my brave Irish'. Later, in further recognition of the exploits of Irishmen, Queen Victoria gave permission for the raising of a new Regiment of Foot Guards, The Irish Guards.
*
Southern Africa, the Second Anglo-Boer War (11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902)
Having occupied Middlesburg, about 100 miles from Pretoria, on 27 July 1900, the British force, which included the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Fusiliers, remained in that area for most of August. There was little further fighting as the British were busy improving communications and garrisoning the area. During this lull in operations, the 2nd Battalion was employed in manning the outposts that protected the approach to the town.
There had been a raid on the Depot of The Royal Irish Fusiliers, Gough Barracks, Armagh by the IRA in June 1954 when a quantity of weapons was stolen. Another raid was attempted on 12 December 1956 but an alert sentry opened fire on the IRA when a bomb was placed against a wall of the barracks. The explosives, two charges of Gelignite and detonators, were examined by the Commanding Officer, Major B D H Clark MC, who concluded that there was a grave danger and moved everyone away.
American patriots, the Sons of Liberty, some disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded three British East India Company ships and threw 342 chests of tea into Boston Harbour. The Americans were protesting a tax on tea and the tea import monopoly of the East India Company. This was the first notable action that would lead to the American War of Independence and the Declaration of Independence on 4 July 1776. The protest (much later) came to be known as 'The Boston Tea Party'.
After one of the first and most disastrous battles in the Boer War at Talana Hill on 20 October 1899, the 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Fusiliers were forced to retreat, marching 60 miles in 86 hours and leaving most of their equipment and belongings behind. They sought refuge in the town of Ladysmith and after attempting to fight their way out several times, were ultimately trapped and besieged by the Boer forces. The Royal Irish Fusilier officers and men used whatever came to hand to supply their needs.
Including:
-
Second Battles of Arras, 26 August - 3 September, including Battle of the Scarpe (26 - 30 August) and Battle of Drocourt-Queant (2 - 3 September)
-
Battles of the Hindenburg Line, 12 September - 9 October, including Battle of Havrincourt (on 12 September), Battle of Épehy (on 18 September), Battle of the Canal du Nord (27 September - 1 October), Battle of St Quentin Canal (29 September - 2 October), Battle of Beaurevoir (3 - 5 October) and Battle of Cambrai (8 - 9 October).
Shortly after the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rangers moved from Gibraltar to Watchet, Somerset in 1971, Major Alistair Hayes, to mark his retirement, presented the Battalion with an Irish wolfhound. The dog was named after Brian Boru (Brian Bóramha) King of Munster and High King (Ard Rí) of Ireland who was born near Killaloe around 941, killed at the Battle of Clontarf in 1041, and buried close to the north wall of St Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh.
Brigadier R D Longe, commanding 49 Brigade of the 16th (Irish) Division, held his first inspection of the 7th (Service) Battalion The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers in Tipperary Barracks on 27 November 1914.
