History of the Irish Guards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An original Irish Guards unit went to France as a Stuart regiment in 1692. France's 92 regiment traces its ancestry to it. The current Irish Guards is a regiment of foot guards of the British Army, with a history dating back to 1900.
Contents |
[edit] Genesis
The newer regiment was formed on 1 April 1900 by order of Queen Victoria in response to the many courageous actions performed by Irish regiments in the Second Boer War. The Irish Guards' first honorary Colonel-of-the-Regiment was Field Marshal Lord Roberts, known to many troops as 'Bobs'. Because of this, the regiment gained the nickname 'Bob's Own' though are now known affectionately as 'The Micks'. This is not seen as offensive or derogatory by the regiment.
In May 1902, at Horse Guards Parade, the regiment's first Colours were presented by King Edward VII. A few Irish Guardsmen saw action as mounted infantry in the final stages of the Boer War. Otherwise, the Irish Guards were stationed in the United Kingdom for the first fourteen years of its existence, performing a number of ceremonial duties in London during that time, until, in 1914, the 'Great War' began.
[edit] First World War
The 1st Irish Guards deployed to France, eight days after the UK had declared war upon the German Empire, as part of 4th (Guards) Brigade of the 2nd Division. The 1st Irish Guards would remain on the Western Front for the duration of WWI. The battalion took part in the Battle of Mons and the subsequent arduous and bloody Retreat from Mons, which began on the 24 August and would not end until the 5 September. The Irish Guards were one of the units of the rearguard during the retreat and took part in a small-scale action at Landrecies against the advancing Germans. The 1st Irish Guards also took part in another rearguard action at woods near Villers-Cotterets, on the 1 September, during the Battle of Le Cateau in which their CO, Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon. George Morris and the Second-in-Command Major Hubert Crichton were killed. Le Cateau was a successful action that helped delay the inexorable German advance towards Paris, inflicting very heavy losses on the Germans in the process.
In August that year, the 2rd (Reserve) Battalion was raised at Warley Barracks. The 1st Irish Guards later in September took part in Marne and the advance towards the Aisne. It was already becoming a bitter time for the Irish Guards, having lost their CO only a few weeks after they had reached France month, would face one of the bloodiest battles of 1914, Ypres, which began on the 19 October. The battle would rip the heart out of the old Regular Army, just like the Somme would rip the heart out of the New Army. The battalion was in the thick of it for the duration of 'First Ypres', taking part in the major actions of 'First Ypres, at Langemarck, Gheluvelt and Nonne Bosschen. By the end of 'First Ypres' on the 22 November, the battalion had suffered over 700 casualties. The 2nd Division that the 1st Irish Guards were part of, suffered 5,769 officers and men killed.
The rest of 1914 and early 1915 was spent in the trenches with little happening, yet still danger faced the British soldier everyday from snipers and shells. In February 1915, Lance-Corporal Michael O'Leary performed an astonishing act of bravery at Cuinchy, where attack and counter-attack had been taking place between the British and Germans there from the 29 January to early February. On the 1 February, the Lance-Corporal was part of a storming party which attacked an enemy barricade, during the attack the party suffered casualties and a group of the storming party then got caught up in their own artillery bombardment. The Lance-Corporal rushed forward, shooting five Germans before attacking a further three in a machine-gun position at the next barricade, capturing two Germans in the process. The trench and many prisoners were taken thanks to the actions of the Lance-Corporal. He was awarded the Victoria Cross, the first VC the Irish Guards won in the war.
In May 1915, the 1st Irish Guards took part in the Battle of Festubert, though did not see much action, no doubt a good thing to many of the Guards in the trenches. In July 1915, the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion was redesignated the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, and another battalion, the 2nd Battalion was formed at Waverley Barracks. In August that year the 1st Irish Guards, and the rest of the 4th (Guards) Brigade was moved to the Guards Division. The brigade was redesignated the 1st Guards Brigade. In September that year, the battalion, as-well as the 2nd Irish Guards, who had reached France in August, took part in the Battle of Loos, which lasted from the 25 September to early October.
The 1st Irish Guards spent much of the remainder of 1915 in the trenches, but, on 1 July 1916 the Battle of the Somme began, it was, and still is, the bloodiest day in British military history. The 1st Irish took part in an action at Flers-Courcelette where they suffered rather severe casualties in the attack but performed bravely in the face of terrible withering fire from the German machine-guns. The battalion also took part in the action at Morval. They were involved in the capture of the northern part of a village, during the action and were relieved the following day by the 2nd Irish Guards. The 1st Irish Guards suffered quite heavily during the Morval engagement.
In 1917 the Irish Guards took part in the Battle of Pilckem which began on the 31 July during the Third Battle of Ypres. Further actions took place at Menin Road and Poelcapelle. During 'Third Ypres', at Broenbeek, in September, Lance-Sergeant Moyney and Private Woodcock of the 2nd Irish Guards, were part of an advance post that became surrounded by Germans. During the fifty day of the defence, the Lance-Sergeant attacked the advancing Germans with grenades and with his Lewis Gun. He, and his men, then charged the Germans, breaking through them and reaching a stream where he and Private Woodcock performed a rearguard while the rest of the party withdrew. They then subsequently began to withdraw too, crossing the stream, but Private Woodcock heard cries for help and he then returned, retrieving the wounded man and carrying him back to British lines under machine-gun fire. They had held out for astonishing ninety-six hours.
The Irish Guards took part in the Battle of Cambrai (1917), the first large use of the tank in battle took place during the engagement. In 1918 the regiment fought at the same area that had caused so much pain to the British Army in 1916, the Somme. The regiment fought in a number of engagements during the Battle of the Somme, including at Arras and Albert. The regiment took part in a number of battles during the British offensives against the Hindenburg Line.
On 4 November 1918 at the Sambre-Oise Canal, Acting Lieutenant-Colonel James Marshall of the Irish Guards but attached to the 16th Battalion, The Lancashire Fusiliers, organised repair parties who were trying to repair a damaged partly finished bridge. The first party soon came under fire and all were killed or wounded. The Lieutenant-Colonel, disregarding his own safety, stood at the bank, encouraging and helping the men as they worked on the bridge. Once it was repaired the Lieutenant-Colonel then began to lead his men across the bridge but was killed in the process. He was awarded the posthumous VC.
The Irish Guards took place in the last advances on the Western Front On the 11 November 1918 the Armistice was signed. The 1st Irish Guards were at Maubeuge when the armistice was signed, it was near to where the Irish Guards began their war in 1914 at Mons, yet there would not be many survivors of that first battle by the 11 November. On the 11 December the regiment marched into Germany, drums beating, no doubt reflecting on the many experiences they had during the war, no doubt remembering the men that had fell in this deadly war that had effectively destroyed a generation. The Irish guards sacrifice during WWI was immense. Over 2300 officers and men were killed and well over 5000 wounded. The regiment won 406 medals, including four VCs during WWI.
Among those killed serving with the Irish Guards in the First World War was Lt. John Kipling, the 18-year old son of author Rudyard Kipling, who was listed as missing at Loos in September 1915. (It was claimed that his grave was identified in 1992, though this is disputed.) In tribute to his son's regiment, Kipling composed the poem "The Irish Guards" and after the war wrote a two-volume history of the regiment's service in the war.
[edit] Inter-War
In 1919 the 2nd and 3rd Irish Guards were disbanded, and the 1st Irish Guards returned to the UK victoriously. In 1920, for St Patrick's Day, the regiment donned its full-dress for the first time since WWI. In 1922 the regiment then deployed to Constantinople as part of an allied force during the troubles in that region.
The regiment was also compelled to cope with the internal tensions caused by the political situation back home in Ireland. Several men were caught apparently attempting to divert weapons and ammunition to Republican forces in Ireland. As some Irish soldiers went to war for Irish home rule it would not have been surprising if they joined the new Irish Republican Army. For that reason and to this day, applicants to join the regiment must undergo an exceptionally thorough background check before being accepted.
The regiment's continued existence was threatened briefly when Winston Churchill, who served as Secretary of State for War between 1919 and 1921, sought the elimination of the Irish and Welsh Guards as an economy measure. This proposal, however, did not find favour in government or army circles and was dropped.
In late 1923 the regiment deployed to the garrison at Gibraltar. They returned to the UK in 1924. They were then based in the south of England until 1936 when they deployed to Egypt. While stationed there, the regiment deployed to Palestine for a number of months on internal security duties against Arab militants. The regiment returned to the UK in 1938. The following year the 2nd Battalion of the Irish Guards was re-formed five months before World War II began.
[edit] Second World War
During the Second World War, the regiment lost over 700 men killed, 1500 wounded and was awarded 252 medals, including two VCs.
[edit] North-West Europe
Upon the outbreak of WWII in September 1939, both battalions of the Irish Guards were based in the UK. In 1940 the 1st Irish Guards deployed to Norway as part of 24th (Guards) Brigade in early April. In May the Polish liner, now troopship 'Chobry' which was transporting the Brigade HQ and the 1st Irish Guards from another area of Norway to the northern town of Bodø, was hit by Heinkel He 111 bombers which killed many men, including the CO Second-in-Command, the adjudant and three of the five company commanders of the 1st Irish Guards, as-well as losing all their heavy equipment. Fire began to engulf the ship and, considering the amount of ammunition onboard, a deadly and immense explosion seemed imminent. The men were rescued by escorting vessels.
Later that month the battalion did fight on land in Norway, seeing action Pothus, holding out against tough German opposition for two days until they were finally forced to withdraw due to being outflanked by the advancing Germans. The Brigade HQ and battalion were withdrawn by boat, though they left many behind. The men left behind managed to break out, reaching Allied lines later that day. The regiment was finally evacuated back to the UK with the rest of the expeditionary force in June.
In May 1940, the 2nd Irish Guards deployed to the Hook of Holland to cover the evacuation of the Dutch Royal Family. The battalion evacuated the day after the Government and Dutch Royal Family had been evacuated. They had only a short respite upon their returned to the UK for just a few days later they returned, along with the Welsh Guards, to the continent, to Boulogne, a port in northern France, reaching the town on 22 May. Their orders were to defend part of Boulogne during the epic evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) from the overwhelming and inexorable advance of the Germans. The Guards stoutly defended their area of responsibility from better equipped German forces, repulsing a number of German attacks on the 22nd, but on the morning of the 23rd, superior Germany forces attacked the battalion and the Guards suffered very heavily in the attack. Later that day the battalion was evacuated from Boulogne, they were the last to leave, and fought valiantly while waiting to be evacuated.
In 1941 the 2nd Irish Guards re-roled as an armoured regiment, joining the newly formed Guards Armoured Division. That year, the Holding Battalion, later that year the 3rd Irish Guards, was raised. In 1943, the 3rd Irish Guards joined the Guards Armoured Division as an infantry battalion.
In 1944 the 2nd and 3rd Irish Guards took part in the Normandy Campaign. The Irish Guards, as part of the Guards Armoured Division, took part in Operation Goodwood that began on 18 July. The Division's objective was Cagny, Vimont and the surrounding area. During that day, near Cagny, Lieutenant (later Sir) John Gorman of the 2nd Irish Guards was in his Sherman tank when he was confronted by a far superior 68 ton Tiger II or 'King Tiger'. Gorman's tank fired one shot at the Tiger II but to no avail; the shot simply bounced off of the thick armour. Upon the order to fire again, the Sherman's gun jammed. The Lieutenant then gave the order to ram the Tiger II just as it was beginning to turn its massive 88mm gun on Gorman's tank. The Sherman tank smashed into the Tiger II, the collision disabling both tanks. Both tank's crews then bailed out. Lieutenant Gorman, once he had seen his crew to safety, returned to the scene in a commandeered Sherman Firefly and destroyed the King Tiger. He won the Military Cross for his heroics. The driver from his own crew, Lance-Corporal James Brown, won the Military Medal.
The Irish Guards were involved in further action that day. Cagny, devastated by heavy bombing, was finally liberated on the 19 July. The Irish Guards also saw action in the Mont Pincon area. On the 29 August the 3rd Irish Guards crossed the Seine and began the advance into Belgium with the rest of the Guard's Division on their journey to Brussels.
The Irish Guards were part of the ground force of Operation Market Garden, Market being the airborne assault, Garden the ground assault. The Irish Guards Group were commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Joe Vandeleur, played by Michael Caine in the movie A Bridge Too Far. The Irish Guards led XXX Corps in their advance towards Arnhem, which was the objective of the British 1st Airborne Division, the furthest from XXX Corps. The Corps crossed the Belgian-Dutch border, advancing from Neerpelt on the 17 September but meet very heavy resistance from German forces prepared with anti-tank weapons. Most of the tanks in the initial troops were hit and destroyed. As a result the advance was much slower than planned. The Corps then camped at Valkenswaard. Early the following day recce units of the Guards Division made contact with the 101st Airborne who had liberated Eindhoven, the rest of the Corps reached the city later that day. The Corps were now camped outside Son while the Royal Engineers built a Bailey bridge so that the Corps could cross the Wilhelmina Canal and advance to Nijmegen. The bridge was completed the following day.
Later that day the Guards Division, led by the Irish Guards, reached Nijmegen where the 82nd Airborne Division was located. Their advance had to be halted, for the 82nd had not taken the bridge as intended. The bridge was finally captured in the evening of the 20th. On the 21st, the British Paras at Arnhem, heavily outnumbered and outgunned, had to surrender on the 21st, after many days fighting that saw true heroism and courage, XXX Corps had been just an hour from the bridge at Arnhem but had to wait for the arrival of the 43rd Infantry Division. Further fighting took place until the 25th, it was, at times, a truly tragic campaign.
The Irish Guards saw further action in Holland until they were finally part of the advance towards, and into, Germany, seeing much bitter action as they progressed into Germany. The Guards saw action during the Rhineland Campaign. On the 21 April, at a village known as Wistedt in Northern Germany, Guardsman Charlton of the 2nd Irish Guards, was a co-driver of a tank during the capture of the village by a small number of the Irish Guards. The Germans soon attempted to re-take the village with numerically superior forces, which largely consisted of officer cadets under the command of their very experienced instructor officers as well as two or three self-propelled guns.Three of the four tanks of the small Irish Guards force were badly hit, the fourth (Charlton's) being disabled by a complete electrical failure before the action started. When the tank was disabled, Guardsman Charlton was ordered to dismount the turret 0.50 Browning machine gun and support the infantry. Charlton, as the Irish Guards became increasingly in danger of being over-run by the Germans, took the machine gun from his disabled tank and advanced in full view of the attacking Germans, firing and inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans, halting the lead company and allowing the rest of the Guards time to reorganise and retire. He continued his attack, even when he was wounded. Charlton, now with just one arm, carried on firing until he collapsed from a further wound and loss of blood. His courageous and selfless disregard for his own safety helped most of the Irish Guards to escape capture. He later died of the wounds he had received. He was awarded the posthumous VC, it was the last Victoria Cross of the European theatre, and the last, so far, of the Irish Guards. Unusually much of the citation was based on German accounts of the fight as most of his later actions were not witnessed by any of the Guards officers or surviving non-commissioned officers[1].
[edit] North Africa and Italy
In March 1943 the 1st Irish Guards, who had been based in the UK since 1940, landed at the North African country of Tunisia. The battalion fought in the Medjez Plain area, seeing action at Djebel bou Aoukaz, or 'Bou', during the bloody engagements to capture the area. Part of the area was took on the 27 April and further fighting carried on for a number of days with the Irish Guards suffering heavy casualties in the process.
During an action on the 28th, Lance-Corporal Kenneally of the 1st Irish Guards, charged down the forward slope of the ridge that his own company was positioned alone, attacking the main body of a German company that was preparing to attack, firing his Bren gun as he did so, causing so much surprise and confusion that the Germans broke in disorder and began to retreat. The Lance-Corporal returned to his position unharmed, firing his Bren on the Germans upon his return.
On the 30 April the Lance-Corporal repeated his brave actions when, accompanied by a Sergeant of the RC, charged the enemy who were forming up to assault the same position that the Lance-Corporal performed his daring feat. Both men charged the Germans, firing as they did so and inflicting heavy casualties on the Germans which resulted in the routing of the German force. The two men began to return to their position but as they did so, Kenneally was hit in the thigh. This, however, did not stop him. He carried on fighting, refusing to relinquish his Bren gun and leave his position. Despite his wound he fought for the rest of the day and for his actions was awarded the Victoria Cross, the regiment's first of the war.
Sixty hand-picked men of the Irish Guards were part of the 14,000 strong British contingent that took part in the victory parade in the capital Tunis on the 20 May 1943. In December that year the 1st Irish Guards reached Italy.
The battalion took part in the Anzio Landings on the 22 January 1944. The battalion saw much action at Carroceto only a few days after landing at Anzio where they repulsed a number of German attacks there. The battalion also took part in the attack on Campoleone, experiencing very fierce fighting that saw the Irish Guards dwindle in manpower even more. A German counter-attack was launched a number of days later. The battalion inflicted heavy casualties on the attacking Germans, but the following day, became surrounded with little support against the armour of the Germans, and so were forced to fight their way out which they did successfully, but suffering many casualties in the process.
A few further actions took place for the battalion's companies but, by April, the battalion was severely depleted in manpower and returned to the UK where they would remain for the duration of the war as a training battalion.
[edit] 1945-Present day
With Army demobilisation, the 3rd Irish Guards was disbanded in 1946, the 2nd doing so the following year. In 1947 the 1st Irish Guards deployed abroad for the first time since 1944, heading for troubled Palestine to perform internal security (IS) duties there. After the British left Palestine in May 1948, the battalion moved to Tripoli, Libya and returned home in 1949. The battalion joined the British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) in West Germany in 1951, remaining there until 1953. After the battalion participated in ceremonial duty for the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, it was posted to the Suez Canal Zone in Egypt, remaining there until the British withdrawal in 1956.
An interesting sidelight of this period was the participation of 17 Irish Guardsmen in the recording of the opening "whistling" sequence of David Lean's 1957 masterpiece The Bridge on the River Kwai. "I had 17 members of the Irish Guards, plus a piccolo player, whistling while marching in sand to sound like the footsteps in the film. The orchestra was dubbed on afterward," said composer Malcolm Arnold.
In 1958, during troubles in Cyprus when there was much tension, indeed violence, between Greek and Turkish Cypriots and against the British forces by EOKA, the regiment performed vital internal security duties. They returned to Britain in the closing months of that year. In 1961 it was back in West Germany. In 1966, the regiment moved to Aden, another colony experiencing violence. The Irish Guards returned home just before Aden gained independence from the British Empire in 1967.
In 1970 the regiment was posted to the Hong Kong garrison, remaining there for two years until its return to the UK. In 1974, the regiment re-roled as a mechanised battalion, subsequently being posted to the BAOR. In the same year, the regiment suffered their only fatal casualty of The Troubles, when Guardsman Samuel Murphy was murdered in Belfast by the Provisional IRA in front of his mother, whilst on final home leave before leaving the army.
They returned to Britain from Germany in 1977, being posted at Windsor Castle, and soon found themselves with supporting roles in several high-profile diplomatic and foreign policy events. In July 1978, they secured the grounds around Leeds Castle for a preliminary meeting between Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Dayan prior to the historic Camp David Accords. In 1980, they were part of the Commonwealth force dispatched to the former Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to supervise that country's first internationally recognized elections as an independent country.
In between, from February to August 1979, they were posted to the Central American country of Belize for the second time. (Their first was in 1973 after their return from Hong Kong.) That country (which gained its independence in 1981), was threatened by Guatemala, which claimed its territory.
Upon returning to the United Kingdom, however, "The Troubles" reached into central London when a bus carrying men of the regiment to Chelsea Barracks was subject to a ferocious attack by the IRA on Sept. 10, 1981. Twenty-three soldiers were wounded and two passers-by killed.
The regiment returned to the BAOR in February of the following year, just missing the Falklands War. In 1986, the regiment returned home, receiving new colours two years later from HM The Queen. They returned to Belize later that year, before being posted to the British sector of West Berlin in 1989, their first and only deployment to the city. The regiment were present when the Berlin Wall fell that year. They left the newly united Berlin in 1992.
The Irish Guards, in common with the other British Army regiments of Irish origin, were long exempted from service in Northern Ireland. (Small numbers of Irish Guardsmen, however, gained experience in Ulster while attached to other Guards regiments during their service in the troubled province.) The drawdown in the overall size of the British Army following the end of the Cold War, however, meant that this policy was no longer sustainable. The year 1992 saw the regiment finally carry out its first tour-of-duty in Northern Ireland, being based in County Fermanagh. The violence in NI had mostly subsided by this time and their first-ever tour west of the Irish Sea passed quietly. They left the following year. In 1995 their second tour of NI began, based in County Tyrone. The regiment headed for Germany in 1998 as part of British Forces Germany, successor to BAOR.
During the troubles in the Balkans in 1999, a company of the Irish Guards deployed to former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia while the rest deployed to Kosovo, forming the Irish Guards Battle Group. The Battle Group was the first British unit to enter the Kosovan capital city of Pristina on 12 June and were greeted by the local population who treated the Guards like heroes. After the town had been secured the battle group began to consolidate its position, moving across the surrounding countryside to secure it. The Battle Group performed professionally, attempting to prevent violence from breaking out between the Albanian and Serb Kosovans while also helping to rebuild the country. The regiment left in September, heading back to Germany.
In 2000, the 100th year of the creation of the Irish Guards, Liverpool granted them the freedom of the city. The following year the regiment took part in training exercises in Poland, BATUS in Canada and the large exercise in Oman called Saif Sareea II.
At the funeral of the Queen Mother in 2002, the coffin bearer-party was made up of Irish Guardsmen. This was a remarkable honour, given the fact that the late Queen Mother not only was not the regiment's colonel (she was, in fact, colonel-in-chief of the Black Watch), she had no official connection with the regiment at all, in spite of her long identification with it.
In 2003, the regiment deployed to Kuwait during the build-up to the Iraq War. The Irish Guards were part of the 7th Armoured Brigade (successor of the famed 7th Armoured Division, 'The Desert Rats') and began training for the war. The battalion was split up with companies, platoons and sections being attached to various units of the Desert Rats. Upon crossing the Iraq border, the Desert Rats began the journey towards the area around Basra, gradually taking control of much of the area that surrounded Iraq's second largest city.
Soldiers of the Irish Guards led the British advance on Basra from late March, helping in securing objectives on the outskirts of the city. During the Battle of Basra, the Irish Guards lost two soldiers: Lance Corporal Ian Keith Malone and Piper Christopher Muzvuru. The latter was a native of Zimbabwe, and was the first black piper in the regiment's history. The regiment claim to have been the first to enter Basra on 6 April, stating they did so many hours before the Parachute Regiment.
The Irish Guards reverted from a war-role to performing many duties that would be familiar to any British soldier that has served in Northern Ireland. They performed these duties until early May when they left Iraq. (It is evidence of how seriously stretched is the modern British army that upon their return to the UK, they were almost immediately posted back to Northern Ireland for their third tour.)
Sadly, the regiment's service in Iraq ended on a sour note, with three Irish Guardsmen being indicted for manslaughter in the death of a young Iraqi who was pushed into a canal and apparently drowned. The three were acquitted at court martial in June 2006, and while they afterwards made statements critical of the Army high command, they praised the support they received from the Irish Guards.
In 2005, the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards became the first unit to be officially awarded battle honours for service in Iraq - this was to enable these to be displayed on the battalion's new regimental colour during the Sovereign's Birthday Parade.
As part of the reforms of the army announced in 2004, the Irish Guards will remain as a single battalion regiment but be given a fixed role. It will serve as a light infantry battalion, alternating with the Coldstream Guards on public duties in Windsor.
[edit] References
- ^ "Europe's Last VC - Guardsman Edward Charlton", After the Battle (magazine) No. 49, 1985. Contains additional memoirs of the surviving Irish Guards officers and men and German officers which correct the original citation.
