Blacker’s Boys 9th (Service) Battalion, Princess Victoria’s (Royal Irish Fusiliers) (County Armagh) & 9th (North Irish Horse) Battalion, Princess Victoria’s (Royal Irish Fusiliers) 1914 –1919 Addendum (Material and corrections received since the publication of Blacker’s Boys) Nick Metcalfe Copyright © 2017 Contents Introduction to the Addendum 2 ONE The Formation of the Battalion 3 THREE The Battle of Albert: 1 July 1916 11 FOUR Holding the Line at Messines 12 FIVE The Battle of Messines - 7 June 1917 & 14 The Battle of Langemarck - 16 August 1917 NINE The Final Advance – 20 September to 16 26 October 1918 TEN ‘Finis’ 19 Appendix 2 Roll of Honour 20 Appendix 3 Cemeteries and Memorials 21 Appendix 4 Honours & Awards 24 Appendix 5 Roll of Officers 26 Appendix 6 Roll of Warrant Officers, 32 Non Commissioned Officers & Other Ranks Appendix 9 Sport 45 Photographs 51 Acknowledgements 68 1 Blacker’s Boys—Consolidated Update November 2017 Introduction to the Addendum Since the email that I received the week after the publication of Blacker’s Boys that corrected the spelling of ‘Otago’ on page 110, I have received a huge amount of material from the descendants of those who served in the Battalion and from First World War enthusiasts who embraced the project. As I received these treasures, I compiled a series of updates that were published on the book’s website. Moving into the latter part of the First World war centennial period, it is time to consolidate those documents and to add the wealth of information and photographs since the last one was published. This Addendum brings together all that I have received since Blacker’s Boys was published in 2012. It is in the same format as the book but only those chapters that have new material are included. Each is hyperlinked to assist navigation. In the appendices, new material and corrections are in red but, to ease reading, the new information in the main chapters is in black. I have added a page reference if the new material is a correction or addition. Since the publication of Blacker’s Boys some new sources have been made available that are worth mentioning. The first is the information from the archives of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission that shows the original burial details of those men whose remains were reinterred in concentration cemeteries after the war. The second is the archive of the International Committee of the Red Cross, which has released the information that it holds on the men who were captured. I considered a complete review of the casualty roll and the details in Appendix 6 of those believed captured but, given the ease with which these archives may be examined, I have decided to leave that to those who may be interested in adding more detail to their family story. From October 2015 to March 2017, I published online the edited letters of Lieutenant Colonel S W W Blacker. The letters were well received and contributed to the BBC’s project, Voices 16. They may be found on the Blacker’s Letters website, which will remain ‘live’ through the centennial period. Finally, I must mention the book about the North Irish Horse by Phillip Tardif.1 The stories of the North Irish Horse and the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers are inextricably interlinked, and Phillip’s work adds much to the history of the Battalion. His North Irish Horse website is also recommended highly. I would like to thank everyone who has engaged so actively with the Blacker’s Boys project and for sharing their family treasures. I have no doubt that there are errors here, for which responsibility is mine alone. Any further corrections will be warmly received. Nick Metcalfe November 2017 (Return to Contents) 1 Tardif, P. (2016). The North Irish Horse in the Great War. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. 2 Blacker’s Boys—Consolidated Update November 2017 ONE The Formation of the Battalion Although most of the men who joined the Battalion came from north Armagh, there were many from the south of the county. Of the 31 men in this 1914 photograph of the Victoria Flute Band from Bessbrook, 16 are known to have served—11 with 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers—and four did not come home. Victoria Flute Band, Bessbrook, 1914 Those known to have served are indicated thus (9th Royal Irish Fusiliers unless otherwise stated): Standing (left to right): 14182 Private William Fisher; S Wallace; John McCulla (Unit not known); 14202 (later 7040580) Warrant Officer Class II William Gray; Samuel Blakeley; J McClelland; Lance Corporal William John Roy, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles (died of wounds 11 May 1915); J Bowes; 12242 Sergeant (Acting Company Quartermaster Sergeant) Reynold (Rennie) Gray; J Blair; 14502 Corporal Johnson McCullough (killed in action 1 July 1916); A Thompson; James Gray; 14201 Private Edmund Gray (killed in action 16 August 1917); 14023 Private Robert John Blakeley; 18240 Colour Sergeant Hugh Curran Selby DCM; James Morrow (Unit not known); Samuel Hadden (Unit not known); 14707 (later 29059) Private David Henry Linton (wounded). Sitting (left to right): 14760 Private Frederick Woods; Major (formerly 14236 Company Quartermaster Sergeant) Thomas Gray; A Rudden; S Blair; G Maginniss; Conductor—W Locke; O Fairbrother; R Black; T Preston; Sergeant William Black, 2nd Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles (killed in action 16 December 1914); R Livingstone; 14518 Private Hugh Magarrell (McGarrell) (wounded). 3 Blacker’s Boys—Consolidated Update November 2017 Victoria Flute Band, Bessbrook, Roll of Honour These men of the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers were all from Bessbrook. The photograph was taken in the first few days at Clandeboye, in the last week of September 1914. Private David Henry Linton is standing in the back row, second from the left. At least 26 men from Bessbrook were amongst the first volunteers, of whom nine were killed in action or died of wounds, 12 were wounded, including Private Linton, and one was captured. 4 Blacker’s Boys—Consolidated Update November 2017 Clandeboye This postcard shows the layout of Clandeboye Camp, the home of the newly formed 2nd Brigade of the Ulster Division, in late September 1914.2 It was sent home by Private David Linton. A copy also appeared in the Belfast News-Letter on Thursday 1 October. The News-Letter described the scene: ‘The Medical Details occupy the tents in the lower left hand corner. The Central Antrim and South Antrim Battalions occupy those in the distance on the left, the Down Battalion occupies the corner position, and the Armagh Battalion the next square to the right. In the foreground on the right are the stores. &c., and the marquees in the central distance are devoted to canteen and entertainment purposes. Companies of men are seen drilling left, centre and right. Helen’s Tower is shown in the distance.’ Private Linton marked the postcard to indicate that the Armagh Battalion tents were in the distance on the left in the position described as that for the Central Antrim Battalion. Regardless, this image shows the high degree of organisation in the first weeks of the training of the men of the 2nd Brigade. The News-Letter of 1 October also reported the first trial in Belfast under the Defence of the Realm Act, 1914. Robert Wilson, a carpenter from Crumlin, was accused of: ‘Spreading reports likely to create alarm among the civil population of Crumlin, in that he, at Crumlin, on the 21st September, 1914 stated: “The Ulster Volunteers are being starved,” or words to that effect.’ The court martial was held at Victoria Barracks, Belfast (now demolished—the site was in what is now the south part of New Lodge) on Tuesday 22 September and Wilson was found guilty and sentenced to 14 days imprisonment with hard labour. 2 The 2nd Brigade became 108th Brigade in October 1914. Central Antrim Battalion – 12th (Service) Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles (Central Antrim) South Antrim Battalion – 11th (Service) Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles (South Antrim) Down Battalion – 13th (Service) Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles (1st County Down) Armagh Battalion – 9th (Service) Battalion, Princess Victoria’s (Royal Irish Fusiliers) (County Armagh) 5 Blacker’s Boys—Consolidated Update November 2017 The evidence presented at the trail provides some information about the arrival at Clandeboye of the first recruits. They were men of the South Antrim Battalion (later the 11th (Service) Battalion, The Royal Irish Rifles (South Antrim)) who arrived at Clandeboye on the afternoon of Saturday 19 September at about 4.30pm. Each man was given two shillings to cover food and rations until the following Monday. Sandwiches were available on the Saturday evening at the ‘dry canteen’ and the provision of a regular food supply began the following day, which did not require payment. The meals provided were tea at 6.30am, breakfast at 7.45am, dinner at 12.45pm and tea at 5.00pm (the latter being a full meal). The first men of the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers arrived on the afternoon of Monday 21 September. 36th (Ulster) Division Parades Through Belfast (Blacker’s Boys, Chapter 1, Page 22. This is a slightly fuller description of the parade in Belfast on 8 May 1915.) Most of the battalions and other divisional units travelled to Belfast on the day preceding the parade. On the morning of the parade the men of 108th Brigade, including the 9th Royal Irish Fusiliers, travelled by eight trains from Newtownards and Bangor; the last train arrived in Belfast at a little after 8.00am. The entire Division, numbering nearly 17,000 men, formed up at Malone with 107th Brigade on the right.