ife in the trenches was indescribably miserable. There were three lines of trenches; the first, at the front line, was proteaed bv m-ach- ine-guns and baibed wire entangle- ments; behind were the support and reserve trenches. It was said of the Munsters that they 'waste men wic- kedly' because they did not keep prop- erly under cover in the reserve lines.'. To get from one trench to another they had to pass through what was known as the communication trench. Through this network ran the telephone wires which were fastened by staples to the side of the trenches. When it rained, the staples fell out and the wires fell down, tripping the soldiers as they moved by Des Ryan through the trenches. Part Two For a newcomer, travelling by night in the trenches was a hazard. If the would slip, unnoticed, "into the slime when these shells exploded, they gave wires did not trip him up, he was liable and would often drown and lie con- off clouds of black smoke. Another to fall into a hidden hole. The trenches cealed for days'.2 shell was called a 'Whizz Bang', were dug in a zig-zag pattern in orderto Standing in muddy water for hours because, unlike a normal shell which contain a bomb explosion and also to caused the feet to swell and rot (this gave off a shrieking sound as it stop the enemy soldiers from firing condition was known as 'trench feet'). approached, this one arrived silently. down the full length of the trench. A The soldiers also caught trench-fever. What was the daily routine in the well dug trench, raised with sandbags, One of the most frightening periods of trenches like? Before dawn, all the men provided full cover for a standing man. all, for both sides, was when the artil- were awakened and quickly took up To fire over the top of the trench, a step lery pounded the trenches. Bodies and their positions on "the fire-step in case which was known as a fire-step, was earth flew everywhere and men were of a German attack at first lightW.3The cut out of the mud. Rain was one of the buried alive. For the soldiers trapped in German infantry probably did thesame greatest problems, for when it poured, the trenches, there was nothing to do on their side of the line. Both sides the soldier! could be standing for but pray. The men had names for the might fire off a few shots. If there was hours in mud and water up to their different calibre German shells: 'Coal no attack, it was hoped that a quiet day waist. During a battle, the wounded Boxes' or 'Jack Johnsons', because would follow.4 Breakfast was cooked

A recruiting drive by the Munster Fusiliers in Ennis, 1914.

THIRTY-THREE over little fires, and men shaved and heavy artillery soon began with have displayed throughout the cam- washed, provided they had enough deadly effect, and lasted for over paign? They have behaved like true water to do so. In quiet sectors, both three hours, smashing their trenches Irishmen; I am very proud to have sides observed a truce in this morning to pulp. Shells were going at the rate them under my command. May all domestic period. Any artillery which of a hundred a minute - like good luck attend the Battalion".l3 did not ,obey this rule was roundly hailstones. At about 8.30 the same During Easter, news was received abused becausg it only- encouraged morning large masses of Germans of an impending German attack. But prompt retaliati~n.~Asthedaydragged were to be seen advancing on the this information did not 'deter Fr. on, the men tried to relax or catch up on right of the canal (La Bassee), which Gleeson from carrying,! out his sleep, but this was almost impossible was about fifty yards across. It looked as some soldiers walked by, kicking the very critical for the time being; how- legs of their sleeping comrades. The ever, we were not to be daunted; we officers inspected the trenches and held our ground until the last, but the jobs were found for the soldiers before numbers told. The battalion on our the first shell arrived. In some units a right had to fall back to their reserve measure of rum was issued, and hot trenches, leaving our battalion, the meals were brought up from the rear. Munsters, in a terrible position and In the evening, if the German exposed to a murderous fire. Then trenches were near enough, a sing- came the most arduous task of the song might start. Each side would take day: there was nothing for us but to turns and, as darkness fell, applause retire. The next moment we heard, and encores would sound out across our machine guns opening rapid fire no-man's-land. But, for the most part, at the rate of 500 rounds a minute, the two sides neither saw nor heard covering our retirement. Then, the each other for long period^.^ When same evening, the order came that darkness fell, work began for both the trenches should be taken at all sides: damaged trenches were costs, and of course the Munsters repaired; food, stores and ammunition had to do the work again ... Just were brought up to the front lines; sen- before dusk, our artillery opened a tries were posted for the night; raiding terrific fire to cover our advance; then parties went out and, as daybreak they (the Germans) were only 70 came, another routine day had dawned yards away. The first dash we made on the Western Front.7 we gained our lost trenches, leaving In the disastrous Gallipoli campaign many dead in front of us and plenty of 1915, the 1st. Battalion of the helmets and jack-boots, very good Munsters, who were entrenched at souvenirs; but, after the charge, they Syvla Bay, had to jump out of their had good reason to know the Mun- trenches when, after a heavy rainfall, ster~,who played a most prominent the water came gushing down them. It part in the gallant chargen.g happened so fast that some of the men In the village of Givenchy the Germans were drowned. During the night of the charged down the street and, in the flood, a pony, a mule, a pig and two fierce hand-to-hand fighting which fol- dead Turkish soldiers were swept into lowed, they were driven out. the trenches. Many Munsters died in The Munsters had another break the trenches from exposure in the from the fighting during the last two snow and winds of that winter. weeks of February, and were inspected Disillusioned with the cries of 'home by Lieut-General C.C. Monro, who before Christmas', the armies on the commented: "Everybody knows what Western Front were, by January 1915, the Munsters have done, and how they settling down to a war of attrition. And did it. I have every confidence in the by then, the trench system had Regiment".lo stretched from Nieuport in Belgium, Between the 10th and 12th March, down through France, to the Swiss the British Expeditionary Force gained frontier. a piece of ground, 4,000 yards by 1,000 priestly duties to the men, and he In the early days of January 1915, the yards, at the loss of nearly 13,000 spent four days in the front line, Munsters were having a relatively quiet men." Itwas also around this time that about 150 yards from the German time repairing and maintaining the one of t6e senior commanders of the B trenches. It might be said that many trenches. But th~srespite did not last E F was dismissed for protesting Catholic priests earned a reputation long, and they were soon back in the against the cost in casualties of repeti- for being in the front line with their front line, holding an area between tive frontal attacks.12 men. Givenchy and the La Bassee canal. hn St. Patrick's Day, the fusiliers In early May, the French Army While there had been sporadic fighting attended a mass which was said by Fr. launched their spring offensive at throughout the month, the Germans Gleeson, the battalion chaplain. Major Arras. To stop the Germans from made a determined attack, on January Rickard, who was then in charge of the sending men and supplies down the 25th, to take the town of Bethune. They battalion, read out a message which he line, the BEF carried out a supporting thought it would make a nice present had received the previous day from attack, but their main objective was a for the Kaiser, whose birthday was on Lieut-General Monro: postion behind the German lines, the 27th. One machine-gunner des- "Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. Will known as Auber's Ridge. The Mun- cribes what happened: you therefore convey to all the ranks sters, who were with the 1st Army, "On the morning of January Xth, the of the Royal Munster Fusiliers my were to attack from the trenches out- Germans commenced a lively can- very best wishes on this great side the village of Rue du B~is.On the nonade on the right and left of our anniversary for all Irishmen, and at evening of May 8th, the fusiliers positions, as they were the weakest the same time tell them that I fully marched through the village and points in oy$ines. Our batteries and recognize the fine fighting spirit they halted on the side of the road, about

THIRTY-FOUR 500 yards from the trenches. In front Second World War. parapet with a cheer. Every man tried of each company was a green flag, Fr. (later Canon) Gleeson, served for to beat the others to get there first".15 with an Irish harp and the word many years in Dublin and donated the But the elaborate preparations were 'Munster' embroidered on it. Fr. stole used at Rue du Bois to a Munsters' all in vain. As the Munsters left the Gleeson, on horseback, and wearing Museum. He died in 1958, and one old trenches, a shell exploded among B his stole, faced the men, who were Munster commented: "A canon when Company, killing a number of men. A standing in a U-shaped square. he died -a saint when next we all meet Company also suffered heavy casual- Behind Fr. Gleeson, a crucifix had again". ties from German machine-gun fire but * survived in a damaged shrine. As the At 5 a.m, on the 9th May, the artillery continued to advance to within 50 1 yards of the German front line/ trenches, where they laid down and , waited for the artillery to stop. At 5.40~'/ a.m. the barrage lifted. To the right and left, other battalions were held up by the intense fire. A and C companies got to the edge of the German trenches, but could not advance any further. The attack was failing. "Several of the Munsters could be seen standing on the German trenches waving one ofthe Green flags; then one of them was shot and the rest disappeared".16 Meanwhile, what was left of B Com- pany cleared the German trenches in their area, and continued the advance. As they reached the stream, "some of the men tried to swim across but barbed wire had been staked acrossthe bottom and they were drowned".17 The survivors took up positions along the bank of the stream and began firing at the German infantry who were by then pursuing them. By this time, the artil- lery had received word that the attack had failed and that they were to open fire again. Those Munsters who were now behind the German lines were trapped. They could not go forward and retreat was cut off. Most of the men, with the exception of two or three who were captured, were killed by their own artillery. Major Rickard, who had been with "D" Company, was killed instantly as he left the trenches that morning.18 At 10.30 a.m., the battalion was ordered to retire. As one report stated: "We were the only Regiment in the Brigade who succeeded in doing the job we were put out to do, but eventu- Some Limerick Fusiliers in South Africa. ally found ourselves in the same place as we had started".Is By 11 am. what was left of the battalion had returned to shadows of night began to fall, the opened fire on the German lines. A new Rue du Bois-200 men out of 700. Later men stood bare-headed and received method was being used - the 'creeping that day, another attack was ordered, a general absolution from the priest. barrage'. Instead -of leaving the with what was left of the Munsters in Then, the whole regiment sang the trenches when the firing had stopped, support, but that also failed. Te Deum. Recalling the event, a the men moved across no-man's-land After the war, the shrine at Rue du month later, Fr. Gleeson has this to while the artillery was still firing in front Bois was bulldozed into a pile of rubble say: of them. The Munsters, as part of a to make way for a road. In the 1930sthe "The world has rarely, if ever, seen larger force, were to attack the German owner of the land built a little wayside a body of men marching to battle as positions, near the village of Lorgies. memorial chapel on this new road from the Munsters did on that memorable the attack had been rehearsed before- Bethune and Armentiers. In 1971, it battle-eve. There, in the twilight, the hand, using an area similar to the one was discovered that the owner of a whole Battalion stood bareheaded they were aboutto attack. Aerial photo- nearby cottage had the original plaque and deeply reverent, while I imparted graphs of German positions were that had been placed at the shrine to the Sacrament of Penance to all. They given to all who needed them. Special commemorate the Munsters. were all at Holy Communion the Sun- bridges were constructed for the cros- After the Allied failure to drive the day beforeT'.l4 sing of a stream behind the German Germany Army out of France and Bel- This famous scene was painted by the front line. So all was ready for the great gium in the spring of 1915, General artist, Fortunino Matania, and prints of push forward. "At 5.30 a.m., the assault Joffre, the French Commander, was .* it have hung in many homes. The origi- took place. When the commanding eager to have another crack at the Ger- nal painting was destroyed, in a bomb- officer gave the order for the attack, mans before the winter set in. The gen- ing raid by the Luftwaffee, during the every officer and man mounted the erals of BEF were reluctant to launch a -- THI RTY-FIVE new offensive so soon after their spring dles were used at intervals to simulate recorded the scene in Goodbye to All losses, but General Joffre was adam- gas. As the greenish-yellow chlorine That: ant that they participate. The BEF were came hissing out, it slowing built up "'What's happened? What's hap- to attack on a front between the La into a cloud, from thirty to fifty feet pened?' I asked. 'Bloody balls-up', Basse canal in the north and the town high.26 was the most detailed answer I could of Lens in the south. The attack was set Robert Graves, in his book Goodbye get. Among the wounded were a for 6.30 a.m. September 25th. Not hav- To All That, gives us a glimpse of the number of men, yellow-faced and ing enough firepower to support their chaos that existed when the gas was I choking, with their buttons ,tar- whole front, it ?as decided to use a being released: nished green; these were the! gas new weapon - chlorine gas. "The spanners for unscrewing the cases". i Chlorine does not suffocate; it cocks of the (gas) cylinders were As the communication trenc/l;es poisons, stripping the lining of the found, with two or three exceptions, became filled with the wounde&,and bronchial tubes. The inflammation pro- to be misfits. The gas-men rushed gassed, the Munsters were ordered to duces a massive amount of fluid that move into the support trenches. When fills the lungs, blocks the windpipe and the order came down the line, com- brings froth from the mouth. Its victims panies B, C and D were firstto move out take up'to two days to die, coughing up and, amid some confusion, they began pint after pint of yellow fluid. Any metal to move across open ground. As A object that the chlorine comes in con- Company left the trenches, they were tact with is tarnished - buttons, raked with heavy machine-gun fire watches, coins, rifles, all turn a dull which had also had up the advancing green.20During the preparationsfor the 2nd Brigade. Re-grouping, A Company offensive (known as the Battle of Loos), was ordered into the offensive and the men were forbidden to use the went to the aid of the battalion, nearest word gas -they were told to call it the to them. Jumping across the front-line 'access~ry'.~~ trenches, they were cheered on by In the 24th of September, the some of the soldiers who had been gas- Munsters were six miles behind the sed and wounded. They were followed front line, and at 11 p.m. that night, they by some of their comrades from B and marched off in heavy rain to their 'posi- D. When they reached the German tions of readiness'. By 4 a.m. on the front line, they found that the barbed 25th, they had reached their objective wire was still intact, and many of them and, while they waited for zero-hour, died on the wire. Later in the day, A and some of the men tried to get some D made a second attack, (by this time, sleep. This time the fusiliers, instead of the Germans were also being attacked being with the leading troops, found from the rear) and captured 200 Ger- themselves in a supporting role to the mans. 1st Brigade (the Munsters being in the Meanwhile, the advance by the 1st 3rd).22The 1st Brigade were to advance Brigade towards Hulluch had not been towards Hulluch and the 2nd were to Drawings of the battle area by Des Ryan. made without casualties. Units had attack south of a landmark known as actually entered Hulluch, but were 'Lone Tree'. The French were to move unable to consolidate their position, in from the south and the Belgiansfrom about shouting and asking each and were driven out again. Sometime the north. other for the loan of an adjustable in the afternoon, the Munsters moved' General Haig, commanding the 1st spanner. They discharged one or two into the captured German trenches, Army, had placed high hopes for the cylinders with the spanners that they being within 300 yards of Hulluch, and success of the attack on the use of the had; the gas went whistling out, remained there for the rest of the day. gas. An officer in one of the battalions formed a thick cloud a few yards That night, they worked ceaselessly in had misgivings about its use and was away in no-man's-land, and then bringing up provisions and ammuni- heard to remark: "It's not soldiering to gradually spread back into the tion, as it was thought that they were use stuff likethat. It'sdirty and it'll bring trenches. The confusion in the front fresh and untouched in battle, although us bad luck. We're sure to bungle it".23 trench was great; the (German) shel- 200 of their numbers had been killed or As the morning of the 25th dragged ling broke several of the gas-cylin- wounded.28 on, Haig became worried about ders and the trench was soon full of The next day, Haig ordered two fresh whether the gas would work. Around 5 gas. The gas-company dispersed!." divisions to be thrown into the assault am., he could only feel the faintest On other pjrts of the front, the gas against the German 'Second Po.$ionl. breath of air and asked his senior aide drifted into the German trenches. These two divisions, the 21st and the to light a cigarette. The smoke drifted in There can have been few among the 24th, were part of Kitchener's 'New puffs to the north-east. At 5.15 a.m., a infantry, packed like animals along the Armies', and had had very little train- slight increase of wind was felt and communication trenches, sweating in ing. Now they were to proceed across Haig gave the order to carry on. But the their improvised talc and flannel 're- no-man's-land, in broad daylight, with increase in the wind was misleading spirators', who did not feel a sense of no gas or smoke-cloud to cover them, and, a few minutes later, he tried to foreboding as they waited for the whis- and with little artillery support. Both of stop the discharge and the attack.24 tle that signalled the beginning of the the divis+ons had been told that all that Although there had been well-pre- assault. was required of them would be a long pared plans to stop the release of the At 6.30 a.m., the infantry clambered march in pursuit of a demoralised gas, Haig was told it was too late. As a out of the trenches and, in a fog of gas enemy. But the Germans had rein- result of this mistake, many of the and smoke which made it difficult to forced their lines. At 11 a.m. that morn- infantry were poisoned by their own see where they were going, began their ing, the 21st and 24th left the trenches. gas. One source put the figure at 2,639 advance across no-man's-land.27 The leading columns of the 24th pas- casualties, which included seven fatal- Robert Graves was at the junction of sed the south-east front of Hullu.ch. The itiesZ5Leading up to zero-hour, 150 a communication trench, known as dairy of the 15th German Reserve Regi- tons of chlorine were discharged from Maison Rouge Alley, when the ment describes what they saw: containers in thedknches. Smoke can- wounded started coming in, and "Ten columns of extended line could

P P THIRTY-SIX drill in peacetime. Our artillery and machine-guns riddled their ranks as they came on". When the retreat began, the Ger- mans ceased fire: "no shot was fired at them from the German trenchesfor the rest of the day, so great was the feeling of compassion and mercy for the enemy after such a victory".30 I The Munsters remained in the cap;, tured German trenches during the 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th, when they were relieved by the lrish Guards. On the last day, the adjutant of the battal- ion was killed. Sergeant-Major John Ring had just left him, when an artillery shell hit the trench. Ring rushed backto help the dying adjutant: "He was very badly wounded by a 'Pig's Squeak' bursting in the trench. I went to see him at once and, although we knew at the time there was no hope, he still had the old cheery smile which everyone knew so well. I had him removed to the dressing station which was situated in the 1st line German trenches; the doctor looked at him but could do nothing for him. I sent him further down to a Field Ambulance. He died before he reached the h~spital".~' Later, in October, 350 Munsters tried to hold a sector of the trenches which should have been covered by a battal- ion. After being reduced by another 100 men, it was quite obvious that the task was beyond their powers and, eventu- ally, they were withdrawn. In November, the Munsters were vis- ited by the lrish nationalist leader, John Redmond: "A great honour was con- ferred on us on the 17th. Mr. John Red- mond inspected the Regiment on parade, as we were on our way to the trenches".32 Redmond had arrived in France on the previous Wednesday, accompanied by his son Lieut. W. Red- mond and his secretary, and spent three days in an extended tour of the front. He had seen the muddy trenches and the conditions in which the men lived. As he arrived, a green flag flut- tered in the breeze, and the band struck up 'The Wearing of the Green'. After the inspection, the regiment formed a A headstone at Mount St. Laurence Cemetery. square and, from its centre, Redmond - addressed the Battali~n.~~ be clearly distinguished, each one they could be seen falling literally in As Redmond prepared to address the estimated at more than a thousand hundreds".29 Munsters, a Taube plane appeared men, and offering such a target as As the soldi-rs advanced into the Ger- overhead and the anti-aircraft batteries had never been seen before, or even man fire, they came across little poc- began to blaze away at it. Every sen- thought possible. Never had the kets of dead and dying from the tence Redmond uttered was punctuat- machine-gunners such straightfor- detatchments of the 2nd Brigade. ed by the burst of a shell orthe boom of ward work to do nor done it so effec- Some of these men were delirious, and a gun. He had, he said, come from Ire- tively. They traversed to and fro stood up and screamed at them to turn land to bring the men of the Munsters a along the enemy's ranks unceas- back, or to fetch stretcher bearers. message of affection and congratula- ingly. The men stood on the fire- On the right flank, the 21st Division tions and an expression of the steps, some even on the parapets, was suffering the same slaughter. The gratitude that the lrish nation felt for and fired triumphantly into the mass diary of the 153rd German Regiment her fighting sons. Every movement of of men advancing across the open records: "dense masses of the enemy, lrish soldiers was, he said, watched '- grass-land. As the entire field of fire line after line, some of their officers with the most intense interest and sym- was covered with the enemy's infan- even mounted on horseback and pathetic attention by those at home. He try, the effect was devaaating and advancing as if carrying out a field-day was qrieved that their ranks had been

THIRTY-SEVEN

The Munster Fusiliers recruiting in Limerick in 1914. ---p- to the side of the trench with both fare, with no apparent end in sight, and 23. Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves, Penguin hands until they were literally pulled nothing to show but mounting casual- Books, 1960. out of fhe mud and water by their com- ties. 24. History of the First World War by B. Liddel Hart, rades. From the moment they entered Pan Books Ltd., 1972. the trench to their return to the support 25. The Velvet Glove by M. Clover, Hodder and line, every man was soaked wet, caked REFERENCES Stoughton, 1982. in mud, bitterly cold, and miserable. 26. The Donkeys by A. Clark, Hutchinson and Co. Most of the time it was impossible to 1. Combat World War I, Dell Publishing Co., Inc., Ltd., 1961. walk through thetrench and, on several 1965. 27. Ibid. occasions, a platoon of Munsters made 2. The Donkeys, by A. Clark, Hutchinson and Co. 28. Jervis. their way along the top of the trench in Ltd., 1961. 29. The Donkeys by A. Clark, Hutchinson and Co. full view of the German soldiers, with- 3. The First Day on the Somme, M. Middlebrook, Ltd., 1961. out a shot being fired. Almost every Penguin Books Ltd., 1984. 30. Ibid. man in the battalion suffered from 4. Ibid. 31. Limerick Chronicle, November 27,1915. 'trench feet'.47 (Robert Graves main- 5. Ibid. 32. Ibid. tained that 'trench feet' was caused by 6. Ibid. 33. Ibid. "going to sleep, with wet boots, cold 7. Ibid. 34. Ibid. feet, the depres~ion".)~~ 8. History of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, by S. 35. Limerick Chronicle, December 7,1915. In December, another raid was made McGance, Vol. 2, Gale and Polden, 1927. 36. History of the First World War by B.L. Hart, Pan on the German trenches. The artillery 9. Limerick Chronicle, March 6,1915. Books Ltd., 1972. had pounded away for half an hour 10. McGance. 37. before the raid and, when a patrol of 11. War Machi&, No. 115, Orbis Publishing Ltd., 38. History of the 20th Century, No. 21, (Purnell), fourteen Munsters went over, they 1985. 1968. found the Germans had gone and that 12. History of the 20th Century, No. 19, (Purnell), 39. Ibid. the trenches were nearly wiped out. 1968. 40. Jervis. When they came back and made their 13. McGance. 41. Limerick Chronicle, August 17,1916. report, two officers were asked to go 14. Limerick Chronicle, June 5,191 5. 42. Combat World War I, Dell Publishing Co. Inc., and see if the Germans had come back; 15. Limerick Chronice, June 19,1915. 1965. two soldiers volunteered to go with 16. The Donkeys by A. Clark, Hutchinson and Co. 43. War Machine, No. 97, Orbis Publishing Ltd., them. One lieutenant and a private Ltd., 1961. 1985. named Welsh were killed. The 17. Ibid. 44. Jervis. Munsters remained in the area during 18. The 2nd Munsters in France by H.S. Jervis, Gale 45. Ibid. the Christmas period. and Polden, 1922. 46. The First Day on the Somme by M. Middlebrook, The day finally arrived when the Bat- 19. Limerick Chronicle, June 19,1915. Penguin Books Ltd., 1984. talion was relieved and they were able 20. A Higher Form of Killing by Robert Harris and 47. Jervis. to leave this terrible place. On January Jeremy Paxman, Chatto & Windus, 1982. 48. Goodbye to All That by Robert Graves, Penguin 1st 1917, the Battalion were resting 21. Combat World War I, Dell Publishing Co. Inc., Books, 1960. .- near Bercourt Wood, east of Albert. 1965. (In the first part of this article Fr. Willie Gleeson And so ended twppore years of war- 22. Jervis. should have read Fr. Francis Gleeson). - -- A

FORTY