n December 1916, General Joffre, the French Commander- in-Chief, was remov- ed from his position and replaced by Gen- THE SECOND eral , one of the .defenders of Verdun. Although Nivelle was seen as a hero, his appointment was to have serious consequences for the French Army, who were by this time suffering from -weariness. Nivelle had decided to attack the German Army south of the , roughly on a front between Soissons and Reims. The came to their aid by carryinsout a diversinary attack north of the Somme at . Meanwhile, the Germans, although knowing of the impending French attack, were straightening out their front line on the by Des Ryan Somme front, between Arras a~dSois- Part ~hr& sons; in some parts they withdrew to a distance of between thirty and fifty booby-trapped. Furniture was chopped their thousands. A French officer miles. up, and livestock taken away.2 All this described what happened: "We found As the Germans retired, they should have been a warning to Nivelle nothing but barbed wire. If it hadn't destroyed the towns and villages. Key but he choose to ignore it. been forthat we'd have been far ahead, towns such as Peronne were devas- On April 6th, America entered the instead of being killed where we tated.l Every house in the abandoned war on the Allied side. The British Army stood". areas was blown up. Trees were chop- attacked at Arras, in a blinding A corporal, who had been using a ped down and laid across roads. snowstorm, on April 9th, and by April rifle as a crutch, said: "We just couldn't Thousands of booby-traps were laid; 12th they had captured a position keep moving ... Too many blasted some of which were extremely ingeni- known as Vimy Ridge. Nivelle's offen- machine-guns, which we couldn't do ous. A new shovel lying among old sive began, in similar conditions, on anything again~t".~ ones, would be wired to a bomb, as Monday, April 16th. The men, who had By Tuesday, Nivelle had lost just would an innocently opened door; been led to believe that this would be under 120,000 men, and a fortnight even fountain-pens left on desks were the deciding , were cut down in later the offensive was coming to a

A drawing by Christopher Clark of Munster and Dublin fusiliers returning from the Somme, 1916.

4, b NINETEEN grinding halt. By May 3rd, mutinies artillery .shells rained down on the dierswent overthe top on July 3lst, the were beginning to break out in the camp, destroying most of the huts and rain began to fall. By August 4th, the French Army. Regiments refused to killing seven men; another forty-one ground was turning into a swamp. man the trenches. Others said they were wounded. Luckily most of the Bat- After setbacks on August 10th and would defend their trenches but would talion were out working at the time or 16th, "Haig was advised that the attack not attack; red flags were also unfurled. the losses would have been greater. should be abandoned"12 but he was One regiment, on being led to the front, Regimental Sergeant-Major John Ring, committed to carrying on. persisted in baa-ing like sheep oblivious to the danger, supervised the At Clipon Camp, on October 15th, it to indicate that they were like lambs evacuation of the remaining soldiers. was announced that the landing was being led to the ~laughter.~When they When the Battalion returned to the posponed but the Munsters remained were told to shut-up, they returned to front two days later, it again came there until October 29th. By tpat time, the rest billets from which they had under heavy artillery fire. One of the the battle for Passchendaelewa/s enter- come. In Paris itself there were strikes men, unable to stand the strain, rushed ing its final phase. /'/ and demonstrations among the civilian forward towards the German lines. He Concrete German strongpoints, population. On April 28th, General was followed by a private named known as pill-boxes, and rain-filled Petain was made Chief of the General Donovan who brought him back, under shell-holes dominated the landscape. Staff, and shortly afterwards Neville heavy fire, to their own lines. Private For the wounded, seeking refuge in a was,asked to resign. Donovan was one of six Munsters who, shell-hole was attimes fatal. Exhausted Petain visited the front lines and after the fighting at Etreux, in August and losing blood, they crawled into the restored morale and discipline. He 1914, had hidden in for a holes, only to learn that this move promised the men more leave (one of number of months. Eventually, he could cost them their lives.13 Slowly the regiments'had been in continuous escaped through and Holland they would slip down the muddy sides, action since Verdun), increased family and rejoined the Battalion in August too weak to hold themselves up. Their allowances to soldiers' wives and l915'.7 feeble whispers often could not be improved canteen facilities. But there On July 19th, the , of heard by their comrades passing by. were to be other consequences. Al- which the Munsters were part, moved Each shell-hole with blood on its water though General Nivelle was merely to a special training camp, situated usually meant another corpse demoted, those soldiers who had re- south-west of Dunkirk. This was Clipon entombed below.14 fused to let themselves be slaughtered Camp (nicknamed 'Hush Camp') and it On November 6th, with cold rain in futile attempts to break the German was here that the Battalion went into beating down on them, soldiers of the line were executed. Figures vary on training for an amphibious landing fought their way how many were executed. One source behind the German lines. The 1st Divi- through the rubble of what was once gives the figure as twenty-three and sion were to make an assault on the the village of Passchendaele. Wolff, another as fifty. Two hundred and fifty Belgian coast at Zeebrugge and Ostend the official Canadian historian, more were marched to a quiet sector in order to capture the German sub- describes the moments before their and annihilated by their own artillery. marine bases which were at that time entry: Over a hundred ringleaders were causing serious losses to Allied ship- "It is not too much to compare the banished to various French colonies. ping. The landings were due to take Canadian troops struggling forward, Especially disruptive units were sent to place about two weeks after the open- the pangs of hell racking their bodies, the most dangerous front^.^ ing of General Haig's offen- up the Ridge, (Passchendaele was In January 1917, the Munster sive. fifty-feet above ground level) their Fusiliers' marched south, across the General Haig (who had replaced dying eyes set up the summit, with a Somme River, and took up a position General John French as head of the Man who once crept up another hill, on the front line, not farfrom thevillage British forces in December 1915) with agony in soul and body, to of Barleux. They remained in this area believed he could force a successful redeem the world and give until St. Patrick's Day. By that time the conclusion to the war by driving the Passchendaele its glorious name".15 German Army had evacuated its posi- German forces out of Belgium. The It was on that day also that the tions around the town of Peronne and French Army's mutinies and the fear of Munsters moved into the battle area. were withdrawing to a new line of the German submarines operating out On November 8th, they passed defence which they called the Siegfried of Belgium were a blessing to Haig, as through on their way to the front Line; the Allies preferred to call it the they were used to justify his Flanders' line. On November loth, a new effort . The fusiliers re-cros- campaign. The ground over which the was made to extend the front line. The sed the Somme on March 18th and battle was to be fought was reclaimed Battalion had instructions to capture began work in the Peronne area by marshland. The city of Ypres had once three or four wrecked farm buildings restoring communications which had been a seaport and it was now an and some pill-boxes which the Ger- been destroyed by the retiring Ger- inland city only because of the man- mans were holding; each man was car- mans. Some of the Munsters became made drainage systems. The ground rying an extra bandolier, 150 rounds of victims of the numerous booby-traps between %res and Passchendaele was ammunition, steel helmet, two Mills that the Germans had planted.=On May composed of clay fields. When it rained bombs (a forerunner of the hand-gre- 24th, the Battalion won three competi- the water could not soak through the nade). They also carried three days' tions at the 1st Division's Sports Day. ground; it formed into swamps and rations, waterproof sheet, extra water Towards the end of June, the Munsters pools and sluggishly spread towards to drink, and a gas and smoke helmet. moved up to the Belgian coast to near the already swollen rivers and canak8 Their artillery opened fire at 5.55 a.m., the town of Nieuport. About twenty Farmers living on the reclaimed marsh- zero-hour being 6 o'clock. As the miles below them, at Messines, the land were made responsible, at the risk Munsters moved forward, keeping a opening shots had already beenfired in of heavy fines, for the state of repair of distance of fifty-yards behind their artil- what is officially known as the Third the ditches and dykes on their land.g lery , they were attacked by , a battle that was to cul- Meteorological reports forthe previous three German aircraft which bombed minate in the blood and mud struggle eighty years had shown that the best and machine-gunned them as they for PasschendaeleRidge. that could be hoped for was two-to- advanced. By 6.45 a.m., all the objec- The Munsters were relieved at the three weeks of fine weather.1° tives and a number of German prison- front line on July 4th, from there they When the British artillery opened fire ers had been taken. At 7 a.m., ynners marched to their billets at Champer- on July 22nd, "the precarious drainage were sent back to Battalion headquar- mont Camp. On Julv loth, German system was destroved".I1 As the sol- ters to ask for new instructions on what they were to do next. the Germans found a weak spot on the now remained. The rest had been At this stage, they were only 800 right of the Battalion. Slowly the either killed, wounded, or missing. Five yards from the summit of Passchen- Fusiliers began to fall backto their own Munsters were killed that day trying to daele Ridge and the company com- lines to avoid being surrounded, carry messages to the rear - one man manders were eager to try to reach it. although one group still held one ofthe did eventually succeed in making the With no sign of new orders forthcom- pill-boxes. When the Munsters reached terrible journey.22 ing, they decided to continue the the vicinity of their own line, the Ger- After the Battle of Passchendaele, the advance, but the going was tough and man artillery concentrated on them, Munsters were moved to Eikhoekcamp at 7.30 a.m., owing to the treacherous with deadly results. Casualties were by where they went into training andwere terrain and muddy conditions, the this time enormous, and many of those re-organised as a battalion. On Qhrist- advance came to a standstill.16 Most of who fell badly wounded were drowned mas Day 1917, each company prpvided the rifles were clogged with mud, and where they lay.21 the dinners for its own men. Therg had the men tried to clean them by pouring water down the barrels. At 7.50 a.m., German infantry could be seen prepar- ing for a counter attack. At once, the Munsters released four carrier pigeons with apessage asking for artillery sup- port. The artillery opened fire soon afterwards; pounding the ground held by the Battalion, and missing the advancing Germans. The fusiliers were in a quandary: some of them stayed where they were; others retreated to their original objectives. As the Ger- man infantry advanced on a place known as Void Farm, they found the Munsters ready and waiting for them. The fusiliers opened up with their rifles and machine-guns and threwthe last of their Mills' bombs, but still the Germans tried to advance. Suddenly, a new wave of bombs landed in front of the Germans. Although they did not explode, they were enough to drive the Germans back for a while. The much feared 'bombs' were nothing more than clods of mud, pressed to resemble bombs in size and shape." At 8.30 a.m. the Germans renewed the attack on Void Farm. During this attack, Captain Delmege, a Limerickman, was wounded and cap- tured. He had served in Gallipoli and was later posted to the 2nd Munsters. A local press report, based on a letter addressed to his father, gives a short account of the battle: "It was his own expressed wish to lead the company. They took the place, but were shelled out of it and counter-attacked. Captain Delmege was so badly wounded that they had to leave him in a shellhole, and when the place next day was retaken he was not to be found".18 Inscription on the Limerick cenotaph at Pery Square. The Germans had found him and had him removed to a hospital. When he J was on the road to recovery, he was At 9.30 a.m., a party of thirty been heavy snowfalls in the area and, transferred to Mainz in Essen.lg Munsters, with the support of their when a thaw set in on January 6th, Another young Limerickman had not comrades in the captured German pill- 1918, the training ground was a foot been so lucky. Private John O'Brien, box, regained the nearest farm. That deep in water. By thistime the Battalion from Arthur's Quay, a baker by trade, afternoon, another Battalion was had been brought up to a strength of had been killed earlier that morning. In brought in to reinforce the line. Mean- 867 men.23Rumour had it, at that time, a letter to his father, Captain Jordeson while, halfway up Passchendaele that the German Army was massing wrote: Ridge, scattered groups of fusiliers still troops on the Western Front with the "He was one of my company, and he continued to hold out. By nightfall, and aim of crushing their opponents before fell while taking part in an attack on a with no hope of being rescued, most of the arrival of the American Army. A German position on the 10 inst. He them had been captured by the Ger- captured German officer confirmed was a good and gallant soldier, and mans. At 10 p.m. that night, and after a this, when he said: being a Limerickman myself, I was twenty-seven hour struggle, the "If we succeed in beating our adver- proud to have him in my com- remnants of the Battalion were ordered saries in the West, itwill mean a capid panyn.20 to fall back. Out of the 650 men who had German peace with annexations, but As the struggle for Void Farm raged, taken wart in the operation, onlv 247 if we experience the same defeat as

p &- TWENTY-ONE at Verdun, it will be a disastrous to withdraw. By 2.30 pm., the 49th was withdrawn. The Germans soon peace. We shall have attained the Brigade and the 1st and 2nd Dublin spotted this gap and occupied it. A maximum of our efforts, and ought fusiliers had retreated. Once again, the counter-attack was organised, and a to end the struggle. The situation at Munsters were left on their own, as the party of nine Munsters drove the Ger- home will not allow us to go on".24 soldiers on the right had also gone. The mans back out and re-established con- On January 29th, the Munsters learned fusiliers held on for another hour, while tact with the South lrish Horse. that they wereto severtheir connection maps were studied for a line of retreat. Throughout the afternoon, repeated with the,lst Division in which they had Eventually, a path was found, and they German attacks were be3ten off. At 7 served since the beginning of the war. started falling back. As the afternoon pm., the officer comma 'ding the Dub- They were now transferred to the 16th dragged on, they reached the town of lin Fusiliers, who were ?on the right of lrish Division. Father Gleeson, their Peronne; later on that evening they the Munsters, came acess to report Battalion chaplain, was left behind and crossed the Somme River, just before that there was no one guarding the far- remained attached to the . the last bridge was blown up. right. Runners, who had been sent out On February 2nd, they boarded the On Sunday March Mth, the Munsters earlier that day, arrived back with the train that took them down to the old were relieved from the front line and news that the Brigade H.Q. had been battlefields of the Somme, where they were ordered to fall back to a deserted evacuated, and so, after six days of were to join the 48th Infantry Brigade. village known as Cappy where they got fighting, it appeared that the remnants On February loth, they took up posi- a well deserved rest. The afternoon of of the three regiments were sur- tions on the front line, just outside the March 25th was spent guarding rounded and cut off. After consulta- village of Epehy where they relieved bridges in the line of retreat on the tions between the three commanding the Dublin Fusiliers, and they, in turn, Somme River, with the instructions to officers, it was decided to fight a way relieved the Munsters. On March 21st, blow them up if the Germans attacked. through. At 8 p.m., the withdrawal the long awaited and much feared Ger- However, the day was quiet and some bagan: the Dublin Fusiliers going first, man offensive (code named St. of the men went off searching for food followed by the Munsters and then the Micheal) began. The greatest artillery for themselves and their companions. South lrish Horse. One man, a Corporal barrage the world had ever seen Later on that night, orders were Padfield of the Munsters, remained pounded the 3rd and 5th armies; the received to demolish the bridges. By beh~ndwith a Lewis machine-gun, with fusilierswere part of the latter force. March 26th, the Battalion had passed instructions to fire occasionally until 10 A heavy white fog hung over the beyond , taking up posi- p.m. and to try and make his way back Munsters' positions which made it dif- tions in some old French trenches to to the Battalion. Meanwhile, the four ficult to see ahead. The bombardment the west of the village. The 66th Infan- hundred strong column of weary men had started at 4.30 a.m., with gas-shells try Division passed through the headed northwards to cross the dropping on the support positions and Munsters' lines; soon afterwards the Somme River, as it was thought that ordinary heavy shells on the trenches. pursuing Germans appeared on the the Germans had failed in their attacks At 9.40 am., all along the front, crack horizon. As the fusiliers waited, two in this sector. As the column crossed German stormtroopers spearheaded German Horse Artillery guns trundled the Crozat Canal, a diversion of the the assault. By 10 o'clockthat morning, forward. When they came within firing Somme, they found that the Eclusier the troops on the right of the Munsters range, the Munsters machine-gunners Bridge was held by the Germans. had retreated. Desperate fighting con- opened fire and the Germans retreated. Unable to cross, the men made their tinued throughout the morning. At Large numbers of German infantry way back across the canal, and headed noon, the Battalion, isolated and fight- could be seen massing north-east of down the canal bank to the next cros- ing in small groups, continued to hold Chuignolles, while their machine-gun- sing at Bridge. out. A wounded fusilier, being brought ners crept forward into the village. to the rear by stretcher-bearers, had Slowly the Germans worked their way Here again, their hopes of crossing walked straight into the Germans who around on the left of the Munsters, get- faded when large numbersof Germans ordered the party to turn around and go ting on to the main road just behind could be seen, across the river, in the back. They arrived back to their them. It was time for the fusiliers to village. The officer commanding the beleaguered comrades, with the Ger- make a run for it. Behind the trenches, a Munsters suggested that the bridge be mans hot on their heels, at about 6.30 crossroads had to be passed, and it was rushed. It was also suggested that.if am. As the fighting continued into the on this spot that the Germans concen- they knew the German pass-word, they night, orderswere received that all Irish trated their fire. The Munsters charged could get across before the Germans troops were to withdraw towards Tin- through the danger zone, halting only realised what was happening. A cap- court, to which the 48th Brigade had when they came near their Battalion tain from the Dublin Fusiliers went for- already retreated. The Munsters H.Q. As darkness set in, the pursuing ward, heard the pass-word being reached this village, in small parties, Germans gave up the chase.25It was given, and then made his way back to during the early hours of March 22nd. ofterr noticed that when the retreating the waiting men. As the mixed column During the previous day, they had soldiers laid down to rest, the Germans of Munsters, Dubliners, and South lrish fought eighteen hours longer than any followed suit, too weary to fire a rifle.26 Horse moved forward in single file on of the other units in the area, and had Earlier on that day, behind the front both sides of the road, they were chal- withdrawn undefeated after one of the lines, in the town of , the lenged by the German sentries. The greatest attacks of the Great War. French General, Foch, was appointed reply was given but it wasn't good On March 22nd, the Battalion spent "to co-ordinate the operations of the enough to fool the Germans, and they an undisturbed day near Tincourt. That Allies on the whole Western Fr~nt".~' opened fire immediately. Everyone night, a defensive position was taken At this stage, the Germans had pushed rushed forward shouting, firing, and up behind Tincourt Wood. At 5.30 a.m. the Allies back nearly forty miles. That cursing; some of the men tripped over on March 23rd, and in another thick night, the Munsters were to the east of a large tangle of wire that the Germans fog, the retreat continued towards Mericourt village where they formed a had laid across the road. As the rest of where the Munsters took cover defensive line with the 2nd Dublin the men charged across the bridge, in an old trench, just outside thevillage. Fusiliers and the South lrish Horse. they discovered, to their horror, that it At 10.30 am., the advancing Germans The Germans attacked early the next was damaged on the far side; the gir- were spotted. For the fusiliers another morning, but the Munsters, with artil- ders had been cut and'were facing day of fighting had erupted. At 1 pm., lery support, beat them back each time down towards the bottom of the pier. under mounting German pressure, the they tried to advance. Just about noon, The men in front, being pushed for- troops on &"e left of the Battalion began a battalion on the left of the Munsters ward by the surging- - crowd, became

TWENTY-TWO jammed at the bottom of the pier and their own trenches but also gave assis- Gough; whether during the course of had to be hoisted back up. As the fight- tance to the hard-pressed units on their the offensive on the 22nd and 23rd ing continued, the Germans were left. At the end of the day, the Battalion March this lrish Division held the swept aside and ran away screaming was reduced by another 49 men, who front between Epehy and and from the desperate turmoil. The bridge had either been killed or wounded.30 Tincourt; whether, as stated in offi- i was then crossed successfuIly, although one party got lost in the con- fusion and did not rejoin the main body until they met at thenext bridge; here, the German guards fled without a fight. At this stage, the men were extremely tired, but the march had to be continued. As they headed for Sailly Laurette, a small wooden bridge, over which the column was to pass, sud- denly blew up and they had to pass through some of the worst bogland betweep the canal and the river. When they reached the crossing for Sailly Laurette, they found that the Germans had already occupied it. The Germans opened a heavy fire on the column, causing them to retrace their footsteps and head back towards the canal. Here, they ran into a German officers' patrol. Not knowing who was who in the dark, the two opposing groups met; some words were exchanged; then the Ger- man officer shot dead a Dublin Fusilier, and was at once gunned down by the retaliating fusiliers, who then wiped out the whole patrol, one of the Ger- man soldiers having been first knocked out by a Dublin Fusilier who was a boxer.** Following the Crozat Canal and the Somme had proved to be a dangerous strategy, and so it was decided to take a bearing from the stars and head west- wards. This proved to be a wiser move, and at 3.30 a.m. on March 28th, the Allied front line at Hamel Wood was finally reached. The Munsters marched into the village of Hamel at 4 a.m. and, after having something to eat, settled down to a long overdue sleep, but it proved to be short-lived. At 6.30 a.m., the village bad to be evacuated, as it was expected that the Germans would bombard it. Exhausted and disorien- tated by the lack of sleep, the fusiliers The cenotaph at Pery Square, Limerick. gradually pulled themselves together and took up a position in support of a group known aslCarey's Force', east of It would appear from contemporary cial German communiques of the the village. To use General Haig's own reports that the Munsters got very little 23rd March, the troops holding this words, Carey's Force was composed of credit fortheir attempts to stop the Ger- front put up a valiant resistance, and "details, stragglers, schools' person- man advance in its early stages. The vigorously attacked the Germans, nel, tunneling companies, Army troops following two*hewspaper accounts are and in particular fought bitterly at companies, field-survey companies from August and October 1918: Epehy until they were finally compel- and Canadian and American "During the past six months, official led to abandon the heights in orderto engineer~".~O tributes have been earned by and avoid being encircled by reason of The Munsters remained in their sup- paid to the English, Scottish, and Col- the retirement of the forces on their port positions until the morning of onial troops in France, but a veil of flanks; and, if so, explain why there March 30th, with a strength of about silence has been drawn over the has been no official mention of the 140 men. A major attack was expected achievements of lrish troops, valour of this division, or any other that morning, and the fusiliers, now although it is common knowledge public recognition of their services divided into two fighting groups, went that in the early days of the German other than the anonymous tribute forward to the front line in full view of offensive they acquitted themselves contained in the communique of the the Germans. The German bombard- with credit. When the House of Com- germ an^".^^ ment began at 9.00 a.m. and, an hour reassembles, Mr. John O'Con- When the matter was raised in the later, their infantry advanced to attack nor will askwhether at the time of the British House of Commons, Mr. Mac- Carey's Force. In heavy rain, caked in German offensive on 21st March an pherson, the Under-Secretary of State mud and wet through, the Munsters lrish Division formed part of the 5th for War, gave the following reply: beat off repeated attempts not only on Army underthe command of General "No official mention of the valour of t TWENTY-THREE this division has been made so far, 27th. By the 30th, the Germans were village. Meanwhile, 'A' Company, for the reason that, owing to the sev- within fifty miles of Paris. But this which had become separated from the erity of the fighting and conflicting attack also lost its impetus and, on main body of men, lost direction and reports, added to the fact that a big June Ist, the American ended up in a spot known as Prospect proportion of this division was cut repulsed the Germans at Chiiteau- Hill, and remained there throughout off, evidence of the behaviour of this Thierry. On July 18th, the Allied the fighting. Scattered in the darkness division,,as a whole, has been impos- counter-attacks began. On August 8th, and held up by two machine-guns at sible to obtain. Evidence however of after a massive British attack, the Ger- the northern end of the village, the the gallant behaviour of a battalion of man line in front of began to Munsters, rallied by the sound.of their the Munster Fusiliers of this division crumble. More gains were made by the commanding officer's huntivg horn, has been received, and an article Allies on the 9th and 10th. The initiative came in from all angles andpaptured describing the conduct of this unit was now in the hands of the Allies. By the two strong points and contiyued on would shortly be submitted to the September 9th, nearly all the territorial to take La Pannerie South. WHen the Press for publication". gains of the German springlsummer Germans closed the gap in the line, By the beginning of April, the Ger- offensive had been lost. detachments of Munsters from com- man juggernaut was running out of panies 'B' and 'C', who had also steam and, having failed to drive a become separated in the struggle, had wedge between the British and the to fight their way through to La Pan- French armies and also to deal a knock- nerie later on in the day. The 'mopping- out blow to the Allied forces, the Ger- up' troops following on behind, cap- man General Staff switched their attack tured two hundred and fifty German northwards on a front between Lens soldiers, who had been cut off from and Passchendaele. This new offen- their own line during the fusiliers' sive, named Georgette, began on April advance.34 9th. The main thrust of the attack fell Relieved from the front line at 6.30 upon a Portuguese division, who a.m. on the morning of October 5th, the cracked under the strain and retreated., Battalion moved into some dug-outs But if the Portuguese broke, so too did near the village of Gouy. That after- some of the battle-weary British troops noon, some of the men occupied the who had just come up for a rest in what trenches that had been captured near they thought was a quiet area, from the Prospect Hill, while some of their com- battle in the south. Having captured rades provided search-parties to look Messines, Ploegsteert, Armentiers and for the dead and wounded. about 5 Neuve Chapelle, and unable to reach p.m., the Battalion came under a heavy their objective, the railway town of bombardment of high explosive shells Hazebrouck, the second German offen- and . On October 6th, the sive came to a halt on April 29th. Munsters and the Northumberland Pa$schendaele, where so many men A drawing of the baffle area by Des Ryan showing Fusiliers made an attack on the suffered and died in the previous year, the Munsters' final line of advance, and (in the Beauevoir Line; they were unable to was evacuated. shaded areas) the German offensives, St. Micheal break through the barbed wire and, at After their mauling in the St. Micheal and Georgette. 5.30 %.m., had to be withdrawn, the offensive, the Munsters were taken out 2nd Dublin Fusiliers taking over their of the line and left the trenches on April On September 15th, after many anti- positions. 3rd. They were no longer effective as a malarial measures, training and route Between October 17th and 18th, the fighting force, and there were fearsthat marches, the re-organised 2nd Battal- Munsters took part in the operations to the fusiliers would be disbanded. Even- ion of the Munsters moved by train to cross the Selle Riverand capturethevil- tually, an order was given to amalga- the town of Doullers and from there lage of Bazuel. Having crossed the mate the 1st Battalion with the 2nd. marched to Grouches, where they waterway, near the village of St. Soup- This arrangement did not last long and, remained until September 29th. On the let, at 9.30 a.m. on the 17th, they a week later, the 2nd Battalion Head- next day, Bulgaria, an ally of Germany, remained dug-in for most of the day, quarters - eleven officers, and all its AustrialHungary and Turkey, asked for near a railway embankment, 400 yards senior non-commissioned ranks and an armistice, which was signed on Sep- from the river. Orders and counter- transport personnel -were withdrawn tember 30th. orders followed each other in rapid to form a training unit to provide By October the 2nd, the Munsters succession; nobody seemed to know instructors for the American Army, were back in the Epehy area, and were what to do. On top of that, the Germans who were arriving in France in large now part of the 150th Brigade. On had launched strong counter-attacks numbers; this arrangement lasted until October ?d, the 151st Brigade had cap- which bent the front line back in two the end of May. On June 6th, the 6th tured most of the village of Le Catelet; places. The American 27th Division. Battalion of the Munsters arrived in the Germans held the rest and also the who were to the right of the Munsters, France from overseas service in Pales- nearby village of La Pannerie. That were also driven back. Eventually, an tine. They were transferred bodily into afternoon, the fusiliers had moved into attack was got under way at 5.30 a.m. the 2nd Battalion. The 6th Battalion suf- a position south of Le Catelet. At 2 a.m. on the morning of October 18th. As the fered from malaria, which it had con- the next day, the Battalion received day dawned, a heavy fog hung overthe tacted in the Struma Valley and Pales- orders to capture La Pannerie; they battlefield, and it was impossible to see tine, and special medical steps had to were to attack through the German- twenty yards ahead. The objective was be taken before they could be sent to held section of Le Catelet. These vil- an imaginary line on a map and, at 6.30 the front line.33 lages were to be used as a jumping-off am. as the fog cleared, the Battalion With the failure of the second Ger- point for an attack on the Germans' advanced, with the Dublin Fusiliers on man offensive, its master-mind, Gen- new line of defence, the Beaurevoir their right. Abandoned German dug- eral , made a third Line. At 5.10 am., the Munsiers moved outs, machine-gun emplacements, attempt to breach the Allied line. This forward into Le Catelet. The Battalion trench mortars and equipment of all time, he choose the French sector of immediately became involved in street kinds were found all over the Champagne. The attack (Bliicher) fighting, and suffered heavy casualties battlefield. The last obstacle in their began at 1 am. on the morning of May from machine-gun posts hidden in the l line of advance was an orchard, 500 ii 'i l TWENTY-FOUR

d yards square. This was held in strength steady fire to bear on the houses; while reparation, of occupation and control. by the Germans but, eventually, resis- another party of fusiliers went Men who had been trained to kill, and tance was overcome; some of the gar- downstream, waded across the river had killed, would now be returning rison were seen running away, while and surrounded the village. As a Ger- home and be expected to lead normal others put up their hands in surrender. man field-gun shelled the road, the rest lives. As six hdrses were led up to pull a of the Battalion made their way across During the Great War - a more field-gun away, the fusiliers dashed the stream. The Germans saw that the appropriate name would have been the forward and captured the horses; later game was up and sixty of them surren- Great Slaughter - more than 8,000 men on the gun itself was captured. Mean- dered to the Munsters before the Wilt- passed through the ranks of theq2nd while, some Munsters and Dublin shires arrived. Later on that day, the vil- Munsters, and out of that number4,261 fusiliers lost direction in the fog and, lage of St. Remy was taken. Through- were classed as killed, wounde$ and when it cleared away, found them- out the night of the 6th and all day on missing. After the war, and prio~to selves near Bazuel. After fighting their the 7th, the Battalion came under their disbandment in 1922,,Othe way into the village, they had to aban- heavy artillery fire; the shelling con- Munsters served in Egypt and the don it around 8.30 am., when a British tinued until 4 am. on the 8th. On the Sudan. artillery barragecamedown on it. Forthe morning of the 9th, the fusiliers When the survivors came home to rest of the day, the Munsters remained marched eastwards to Sars-Poteries. Limerick and other parts of Munster, in a posjtion 1,000 yards west of the vil- They arrived there at 2.30 p.m. whistl- they got a mixed reception. They had lage. On the morning of the 19th, the ing the 'Marseillaise', as they marched returned to a changed country. The 25th Division marched through the Bat- into the village. It was also on that day nationalist movement, led by Sinn talion's line and occupied Bazuel. that the Great War ended for the 2nd Fein, was in the ascendant. Although Before the Battle of the Selle, the Battalion , as they hardly expected a hero's wel- fusiliers' strength was 322 men; after they were 'whipped off'the pursuit and come, they had fought bravely under the fighting it was reduced to 210. The did not take part in any more of the desperate conditionsand were, at least, following fortnight was spent at fighting.36 worthy of admiration and respect. But Maretz; where the Munsters went On the morning of November 1Ith, a this aspect of the history of the Munster through the usual process of re-organi- message was sent out to all the armies Fusiliers deserves a separate study. sation. Several drafts arrived, which on the Western Front - French, British, brought the strength to nearly 400 American, and, of course, German - REFERENCES men.35 which stated that hostilities would On October 30th, Turkey threw in the cease at 11 a.m. The French, as already 1. In , by L. Wolff, Corgi Books, towel and signed an armistice, and the noted, seemed to have a policy of live- 1966. Austro-Hungarian empire followed and-let-live, and all they did that morn- 2. Ibid. suit, on November 3rd. In Germany ing was to post sentries and stand 3. , by S. Everett, Bison BoksCompany, itself revolution had broken out, and it ready to defend their positions in case 1984. was to be only a matter of days before of a suicidal German attack. But the 4. L. Wolff. the country looked for an armistice. other belligerents were prepared to 5. Ibid. On the afternoon of November 3rd, fight it out to the bitter end. 6. The 2nd Munsters in France, by H.S. Je~is,Gale the Munsters, in preparation for the A young, wounded, German officer, and Polden, 1922. assault on Mormal Forest, left their bil- near Valenciennes, told a battalion of 7. Ibid. lets near La Cateau and arrived at the British soldiers that the village was 8. L. Wolff. village of Fontaine au Bois at 1.30 a.m. empty and, as they halted in thevillage 9. Ibid. on the 4th. Here, they were allotted the square, German machine-guns opened 10. History of the First World War, by B.L. Hart, Pan task of mopping-up behind the advanc- up on them and killed orwounded over Books Ltd., 1972. ing troops. Companies 'A' and 'C', a hundred men. At 10.50 a.m., a squad- 11. History of the20th Century, Purnell, 1968. accompanied by three , were, to ron of British cavalry was sent forward 12. Ibid. enter the western edge of the forest; to capture a bridge over the River 13. L. Wolff. when they had crossed the Hirondelle Dendre and took up their position at 11 14. Ibid. River, they were to turn northwards am. But the American artillery, on the 15. Ibid. and head for the village of Preux au Meuse-Argonne front, kept firing and it 16. H.S. Jervis. Bois, which was to be taken by the 50th needed several orders from high-rank- 17. Ibid. and 18th Divisions. 'B' Company wasto ing sources before the shelling finally 18. Limerick Chronicle, 2411 111917. do the mopping-up behind the North- ceased. 19. Limerick Chronicle, 241811 918. uberland Fusiliers, who were to By midday, the Allies and the Ger- 20. Limerickchronicle, 1/12/1917. advance eastwards; zero-hour was at mans began to emerge from their 21. H.S. Jervis. 6.15 am. The three companies were to cover; meeting in what was then no 22. Ibid. re-group near a sunken road, 1,000 mans-land, they shook hands, and 23. History of the Royal Munster Fusiliers, by S. yards east of the starting point, and by cigarettes add wine were passed McGance Vol. 2, Gale and Polden, 1927. 2.30 a.m. that day, both tasks had been around. Orders were issued hurriedly, 24. Limerick Chronicle, 101111918. accomplished. By the afternoon of the by the Allied authorities forbidding 25, H.S. Jervis. 5th, the Battalion had left the forest, fraternization with the Germans. As 26. The , by C.R.M. crossed the River Sambre, and spent Barrie Pitt has remarked in his book Cruttwell. the night in billets at the village of Rue 1918, The LastAct: 27. Ibid. des Juifs. The Munsters left that morn- "After all, something might still have 28. H.S. Jervis. ing at 6 a.m. and advanced towards the happened to wreck the negotiations, 29. C.R.M. Cruttwell. village of Noyelle; the 7th Wiltshires and then these men would have to 30. Limerick Chronicle, 101811918. were on their left and the Northumber- start killing each other again; it 32. Limerick Chronicle, 19/10/1918. land Fusiliers were in support. Outside would not do for them to become too 33. H.S. Jervis the village, a river had to be crossed; friendly". 34. lbid the bridge was down and the Germans, That night, each side treated the other 35. lbid hidden in houses on the far side, had to fantastic fireworks displays of roc- 36. lbid several machine-guns trained on it. kets, flares, signal-lights and burning Events from the last day of the war on the Western While the Wiltshires tried to outflank explosives. The next day would bring a Front are taken from 1918, The Last Act, by Barrie the Germans, the Munsters brought a million problems of withdrawal and Pin, Papermac, 1984. * WENTY-FIVE