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To mark the 50th Anniversary of the formation of the Greenfinches, the archives and collection of The Royal Irish Regiment have been at the heart of a project to highlight the experiences of those females who served in Northern Ireland. Researchers Dr Hannah West and Hannah Richards, from Cardiff University have been instrumental in bringing these fascinating stories to light, the objects and documents enhanced by first hand accounts from those who were there.
In October 1993, Private Daphne Rea, a 'Greenfinch' from the 8th (County Tyrone and County Armagh) Battalion, made British military history when she became the first ever female soldier to complete the Basic Infantry and Combat Infantry (NI) Courses at the Regimental Depot The Royal Irish Regiment at St Patrick's Barracks in Ballymena.
On 6 July 1973, the Under-Secretary of State for Defence for the Army presented the Ulster Defence Regiment Bill to the House of Commons for a second reading and began his statement by saying:
'The Bill is simple in its purpose and I trust that my speech will also be simple. What I am asking the House to agree to do is to allow the recruitment of women to the Ulster Defence Regiment.
The government passed the Imprisonment (Temporary Provisions) Act 1980 in October 1980 in order to deal with the effects of industrial action by the Prison Officers Association (POA). The POA action ran from 6 October 1980 to 20 February 1981 when they refused to receive inmates at any establishment with a population exceeding certified normal accommodation, practiced 'controlled unlocking', and banned overtime by POA members.
Bala Bredin was born in Peshawar on the North West Frontier of India on 28 March 1916, the son of an Indian Army Colonel. He died on 2 March 2005 at the age of 88. He was one of the most decorated officers of his generation being awarded the DSO and two bars, and the Military Cross and one bar.
The Haig Fund was a charity set up in 1921 by Field Marshal Douglas Haig to help ex-servicemen. This is one of the earliest poppies made and sold on the anniversary of the Armistice to raise money for the ex-servicemen in need.
A mounted column of the 2nd Battalion The Royal Irish Rifles was operating in the area of Edenberg, South Africa when, suddenly, on 12 February 1902, as the column was preparing for a raid, it was pounded by hail.
Ian Cecil Harris, one of six brothers and three sisters, was born in County Tipperary on 7 July 1910 and spent his early life at Ballykisteen, his father's stud farm in Co Tipperary. He went to Portora Royal School, Enniskillen before entering the Royal Military College Sandhurst as a Gentleman Cadet. He was commissioned on 28 August 1930 as a 2nd Lieutenant in The Royal Ulster Rifles (RUR).
