sign in sign up
<<
Home , Bazuel, First day on the Somme, Francis Gleeson (priest), Nivelle Offensive, Royal Munster Fusiliers

,doned

at the ime to OND MUNSTERS orders. ,ress of tics of n' was deput- mental asonic Le anti- 1s their he Royal Munster Army entered the town, they encount- :aders, were formed ered on the road a body of troops who ormer from the amalgamation of wore French uniforms and whose officer ster, in the 10lst and the 104th spoke in French. Suddenly, these troops, igious Foot , Bengal The Germans attacked on the 'without the slightest warning, lowered ligious Fusiliers. These two regiments became morning of Sunday, 23rd. As the their and charged'. They were ~g the the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Royal raged all that day around the coal fields German soldiers and, like the 1st Army, ism of Munster Fusiliers, under an order passed of , the Munsters somehow escaped were also scheduled to billet that night at I prove in July, 1881. Although the regimental the German onslaught. About 5 p.m. the . General Haig, thinking he by the headquarters were in , many of the French , which was to the right was under heavy attack, telephoned the lasonic fusiliers and their officers were of the fusiliers, began to give way and headquarters to send help. Assuming the Limerickmen. retreat. Due to a lack of communication worst, GHQ sent orders altering Haig's French After spending their first 33 years on between the French and the British, Sir line of retreat for the next day. his move 'S anti- tours of duty through much of the British John French, the British commander, did was to split the force in two, the result anuary, Empire, the Munsters were stationed at not receive news of the retreat until I1 being that the 1st and 2nd armies lost isit to when the German invasion of p.m. Later that night (2 a.m. on Monday contact for several days. han, Fr. neutral brought England into 24th), the 1st and 2nd armies received After a charge and a fierce ant. the war on 4 August, 1914. The Munster their orders to disengage and pull back. battle and a tiiing march on Fusiliers formed part of the British It appears that the strategy was to hold Wednesday the 26th, the Munsters had Expeditionary Force to . On 13 the Germans at bay during daylight, and reached the village of Fesmy, where they 0-1 951, August, they left Southampton for the then fall back under the cover of received their orders to cover the L. The French port of Le Havre, arriving on the darkness. That Monday morning, the withdrawal of the remainder of the Belgian front on 22 August, where they Mu.nsters were digging in as the German rearguard. formed part of the 1st of the two British attack was renewed. At 12.30 a.m., the road at Etreux was armies, totalling 86,000 men, on a 20 mile On 25 August, the retreating reported to be clear of all transport. At 1 )l. 3, by front near the Belgian mining town of Munsters were expecting to billet at the p.m., orders were dispatched to all Cale, Mons. French town of Landrecies. As the 1st rearguard units to retire at once. This pman - 1974, 3nse of Bredin, I, 1987. by Pat I, No. 2,

'Come and Help Your Comrades ...' message failed to reach the Munsters, of Jonqueusea. At a roll-call parade, at St. through, there was a feeling among the who were now under heavy attack at Gobain on 29 August, the battalion could men that they had avenged the deaths Fesmy. only muster 5 officers and 196 other and capture of their comrades at Etreux. Around 2 p.m., there was a lull in the ranks. Reinforcements arrived on 6 Their next two nights of rest were spent fighting and the Munsters began September. Meanwhile, the Germans bivouacking in the rain and bedding evacuating their positions. the field- advance into France was stopped at the down in a field 3 inches deep in water. gunners went first and took up positions Battle of the Marne which had just On 21 December, the Munsters were outside the village to cover the men's begun. sent down to a gap in the line betwe6 retreat. Meanwhile, A Company and a Some of the Munsters who had been and the village of Givenchy.,, troop of Hussars, after being driven out badly wounded at Etreux were still there There is some confusion as to whav of , retreated southwards in October. happened next. On the 22nd the battalion towards Oisy, arriving about 3 p.m. By Towards the end of October, the received orders that the original line was 5.30 p.m., nearly all the battalion was Munsters were moved up to to be retaken. The day before there had assembled at Oisy. As the fusiliers ('Wipers') and for four days in been a number of contradictory orders, prepared to leave the village, the November they were in the thick of the and it would appear that this was to Germans tried to surround them. The fighting. Reorganised as a battalion on 9 prove fatal for the Munsters. They left Munsters opened fire and a bridge over November, they were ordered into the the trenches that morning at 7 a.m. As which the Germans were forced to come front line. On the loth, they marched to they moved out into no-man's-land, past was filled with the dead and dying. the woods near Klien Zillebeke, where Givenchy, a shot rang out, and what Gradually, the fusiliers left the village they relieved the . On appeared to be a battery of machine-guns and after a final burst of fire, they leaped the next morning, intense artillery fire opened up on them. Within ten minutes, to their feet and ran for it. Unknown to was opened up on them, and the over 200 men were hit. They took shelter the Munsters, the German 19th Reserve constant vibrations from exploding shells in a country road with shallow ditches. Division (who were some miles knocked out the fillings from the men's There was no sign of support, either from away) heard the fighting and anticipated teeth. As the Prussian Guard left or right. Later on, they would the fusiliers' next move to the village of approached, they could be heard singing discover that they had been 500 or more Etreux. The Germans moved into the 'Die Wacht am Rhine', the air was filled yards ahead of the advancing troops. village and waited. with bursting shells and with tree To make matters worse, the battalion As the Munsters edged their way splinters which flew in every direction - was shelled by its own artillery. At 10 towards Etreux, they were surrounded. the falling trees burying the fusiliers as pm. that night, they received orders to The rattle of musketry and the booming they lay in their shallow trenches. The withdraw. On Christmas Day, an of guns could be heard everywhere; the men fought in groups of twos and threes, unofficial truce was observed on some air itself vibrated. On all sides, the dead wave after wave of Germans were shot parts of the front line, but not where the lay in huddled heaps, while the down. Due to the rain and snow that had Munsters were. wounded, with grey faces, tried to rise, fallen, the area was now a sea of mud, Disillusioned with the cries of 'home or crawled in maimed agony a little and the Munsters had a job in trying to before Christmas', the armies on the further on to die. Bit by bit, the shattered stop the mud from clogging their rifles. Western Front were, by January, 1915, remnants of the battalion fell back into an As the Prussian Guard came closer, the settling down to a war of attrition. And, orchard. The German forces surrounded fusiliers charged. scattering them in wild by then, the trench system had stretched them with a ring of shells and bullets. As disorder at the point of the bayonet'. from Nieuport in Belgium, down the hours passed, ammunition could On 12 November, the Munsters began through France, to the Swiss frontier. only be renewed by taking what was left to dig their trenches to a depth of four In the early days of the month, the from the dead and dying. Gradually, the feet. That day also, the senior NCO., of Munsters were having a relatively quiet German's crowded in on them from all the Battalion, Quartermaster- Sergeant time repairing and maintaining the sides and, at 9.15 p.m., the little band of Fitzmaurice, was killed, leaving Reg- trenches, but they were soon back in the not more than 250 men were over- imental Sergeant Major John Ring, a front line, holding an area between powered. They had held out against at Limerickman, in command. The rifle fire Givenchy and the La Bassee canal. While least 9 battalions for nearly 12 hours. was very heavy that day, and the men there had been sporadic fighting On the next day, about 1500 wounded had to throw their food from one trench throughout the month, the Germans Germans were assembled in the village, to another; any attempt to carry it along made a determined attack, on 25 January, this number did not include the the line was to court certain death. to take the town of Bethune. casualties at Fesmy and Oisy. The On the 13th, the Germans broke In the village of Givenchy, the Munsters were allowed to bury their through on the Munsters' left and could Germans charged down the street and, in dead comrades, at least 110 men, in the actually be seeH coming around behind the fierce hand-to-hand fighting which orchard which had been the scene of them. At that moment, some forty men of followed, they were driven out. their last stand. (In 1921, the orchard was C company attacked. Onward swept the The Munsters had another break from bought, a wall was built around it, with wave of Munsters, and in a short time the the fighting during the last two weeks of iron gates facing the Extreux-Landrecies lost trenches were regained. That night, February. road. On the 4 June, 1922, Father Francis under cover of darkness, they moved Between the 10 and 12 March, the Gleeson performed a dedication cere- back to their old positions. gained a piece of ground mony in the cemetry). On the morning of the 14th, a number 4,000 yards by 1,000 yards, at the loss of As the Germans moved into northern of German soldiers came forward as if to nearly 13,000 men. ,t was also around France, groups of fusiliers were trapped surrender. The Munsters shouted at them this time that one of its senior behind the lines. In one case, a party of to drop their rifles and come in. A few commanders was dismissed for pro- twelve Munsters were hidden by a miller did so, but some yards from the trenches testing against the cost in casualties of and his family. The Germans having the rest of them dropped as if one man repetitive frontal attacks. discovered this, raided the house and and a second wave of Germans opened On St. Patrick's Day, the fusiliers executed the miller and eleven fusiliers. fire. This was the last attack that the attended a Mass which was said by Fr. The twelfth, a man named Carey, had left Germans made against the battalio- Feeson, the battalion chaplain. the house the night before to give a hand during the battle for Ypres. In early May, the French army at a neighbouring far% On the 15th, the fusiliers were launched its spring offensive at . To After the battle at Etreux, those relieved by the Grenadier Guards. As stop the Germans from sending men and fusiliers who were lucky enough to they staggered back to the rest area, supplies down the line, the British army escape southwards reformed at the town hungry, haggard, caked in mud, and wet carried out a supporting attack, but their g the eaths :reux. spent lding er. were :ween mchy. what talion Le was .e had ~rders, vas to 2y left m. As 1, past what e-guns inutes, shelter litches. :r from would lr more PS. ~ttalion . At 10 The Munster Fusiliers on parade at the New (now Sarsfield) Barracks, Limerick. ders to ay, an n some main objective was a position behind the Company, killing a number of men. A little wayside memorial chapel on this )ere the German lines, known as Auber's Ridge. Company also suffered heavy casualties new road from Bethune and krmentiers. The Munsters, who were with the 1st from German machine-gun fire but In 1971, it was discovered that the owner f 'home Army, were to attack from the trenches continued to advance to within 50 yards of a nearby cottage had the original on the outside the village of Rue du Bois. On of the German trenches, where they laid plaque that had been placed at the shrine y, 1915, the evening of 8 May, the fusiliers down and waited for the artillery to stop. to commemorate the ~unsters.) ln. And, marched through the village and halted At 5.40 a.m., the lifted. To the After the Allied failure to drive the tretched on the side of the road, about 500 yards right and left, other battalions were held German Army out of France and down from the trenches. In front of each up by the intense fire. A and C Belgium in the spring of 1915, General :ier. company was a green flag, with an Irish companies got to the edge of the German Joffre, the French Commander, was eager nth, the harp and the word 'Munster' trenches, but could not advance any t~ have another crack at the Germans !ly quiet embroidered on it. Fr. Gleeson, on further. The attack was failing. before the winter set in. The British ing the horseback, and wearing his stole, faced Meanwhile, what was left of B generals were reluctant to launch a new :k in the the men, who were standing in a U- Company cleared the German trenches in offensiveso soon after their spring losses, ~etween shaped square. Behind Fr. Gleeson, a theirarea, and continued the advance. As but General Joffre was adamant that they i1. While crucifix had survived in a damaged they reached the stream, some of the men participate. The British armies were to 3ghting shrine. As the shadows of night began to tried to swim across but had attack on a front between the La Basse ;ermans fall, the men stood bare-headed and been staked across the bottom and they canal in the north and the town of Lens January, received a general absolution from the were drowned. The survivors took up in the south. The attack was set for 6.30 priest. Then the whole sang the positions along the bank of the stream a.m. on 25 September. Not having :hy, the Te Deurn. and began firing back at the German enough firepower to support their whole ?t and, in This famous scene was painted by the infantry who were pursuing them. By front, it was decided to use a new tg which artist, Fortunino Matania, and prints of it this time, the artillery had received word weapon - chlorine gas. have hung in many homes. The original that tbattack had failed and that they On 24 September, the Munsters were .eak from painting was destroyed, in a bombing were to open fire again. Those Munsters six miles behind the front line, and by 4 weeks of raid by the Luftwaffee, during the who were now behind the German lines a.m. on the 25th, they had reached their Second World War. were trapped. They could not go forward objective. General Haig, commanding the arch, the Fr. (later Canon) Gleeson, served for and retreat was cut off. Most of the men, 1st Army, had placed high hopes for the f ground many years in and donated the with the exception of two or three who success of the attack on the use of the he loss of stole used at Rue du Bois to a Munsters' were captured, were killed by their own gas. At 5.15 a.m., a slight increase of D around museum. He died in 1958. artillery. Major Rickard, who had been wind was felt and Haig gave the order to 9 senior At 5 a.m. on 9 May, the artillery with "DCompany, was killed instantly carry on. But the increase in the wind for pro- opened fire on the German lines. A new as he left the trenches that morning. was misleading and although there had ualties of method was being used - the 'creeping At 10.30 a.m., the battalion was been well-prepared ~lansto stop the barrage'. Instead of leaving the trenches ordered to retire. By 11 a.m., what was release of the gas, Haig was told it was fusiliers when the firing had stopped, the men left of the battalion had returned to Rue too late. As the gas blew back, many of aid by Fr. moved across no-man's-land while the du Bois - 200 men out of 700. Later that the infantry were poisoned by it. One artillery was still firing in front of them. day, another attack was ordered, with source put the figure at 2,639 casualties, I' ch army The Munsters, as part of a larger force what was left of the Munsters ivort, which included seven fatalities. : Arras. To were to attack the German positions, but that also failed. (After the war, -the On other parts of the front, the gas 5 men and near the vill~tgeof Lorgies. shrine at Rue du Bois was bulldozed into drifted into the German trenches. There itish army As the Munsters left the trenches at a pile of rubble to make way for a road. can have been few among the infantry, ;, but their 5.30 a.m., a shell exploded among B In the 1930's the owner of the land built a who were packed like animals along th communication trenches, sweating in at the offices of the Limerick Chronicle. the battle area, the fighting had been in their improvised talc and flannel As a reader of our paper, I would be very progress for nearly two weeks. On 2 July, 'respirators', who did not feel a sense of much obliged if someone would send us the German garrison at the fortified foreboding as they waited for the whistle out a melodeon to help keep the boys in village of had retreated to the that signalled the beginning of the good trim. As you know, the lrish lads village of Contalmaision. Although assault. are very fond of music, especially these Contalmaision had been one of the 'first At 6.30 a.m., the infantry clambered long cold winter nights in France. day objectives, it was not taken until out of the trenches and, in a fog of gas Priv. P. Costello BEF sometime between the 10 and 12' July. and smoke which made it difficult to see 2nd Battalion, The fusiliers arrived there on the ni@t of where they were going, began their . 14 July. The German artillery had'been advance across no-man's-land. On 21 February, 1916, the Germans shelling the village with gas-shells, and, As the communication trenches launched an offensive against the French when the Munsters entered it, the men became filled with the wounded and city of . But things did not go had to wear inferior gas-helmets for gassed, the Munsters were ordered to according to plan and, by the end of protection. A mile to the left of them was^ move into the support trenches. A March, the French had lost 89,000 men, the village of Pozieres and on their right company was ordered into the offensive and the Germans 82,000. To relieve the was Mametz and Bazentin le Petit Wood. and went to the aid of the battalion pressure on the French, it was agreed In front of them stood three lines of nearest to them. Jumping across the that the offensive on the would German trenches. On the night of 16 July, front-line trenches, they were cheered on begin on 29 June, but, owing to bad the Munsters were ordered to capture a by some of the soldiers who had been weather, it was postponed until 1 July. section of the German first and second gassed and wounded. They were That February, the Munsters were line trenches, on a front of 800 yards. As followed by some of their comrades from back again with the 3rd Brigade, who they moved up to make the assault, they B and D. When they reached the German were still in the Loos sector. In May, there had to pass through an old comm- front line, they found that the barbed were four battalions of the fusiliers at the unication trench, full of dead German wire was still intact, and many of them front. The 1st Battalion, back from the soldiers. As the Munsters moved about died on the wire. Later in the day, A and fiasco at Gallipoli, were stationed at in the darkness, they were shelled by the D made a second attack, (by this time, Mazingarbe, the 2nd at Le Brebis and the German artillery, and some of the men the Germans were also being attacked 8th and 9th near Loos. Leading up to the also walked into their own artillery from the rear) and captured 200 , raids were made on barrage. Around midnight, the fusiliers Germans. the German trenches, and the Munsters made a dash towards the enemy In the afternoon, the Munsters moved took part in one of them, on the night of trenches. The German soldiers put up a into the captured German trenches, being 25 June. strong resistance and the Munsters within 300 yards of Hulluch, and Trench raids were sometimes made to suffered heavily; but eventually the remained there for the rest of the day. 'instil fighting spirit'. They were also Germans were driven out. Again, their That night, they worked ceaselessly made to gather information on the casualties were heavy. bringing up provisions and ammunition, opposing enemy units, and created After capturing the trenches, they as it was thought that they were fresh uncertainty as to where a major offensive spent all of the next day on the alert. and untouched in battle, although 200 of might take place. A trench raid was a Around noon on the 18th, the long- their numbers had been killed or brutal affair and one of the most dreaded awaited German counter-attack began. It wounded. This is known as the battle of duties. Such raids called for the use of a had rained heavily and the Munsters' Loos. variety of weapons; knives, spiked clubs, trenches were full of mud and water, The Munsters remained in the rifles, bayonets, , sharp making many of the rifles unworkable. captured German trenches until the 29th, entrenching tools, fists, boots - at close The fighting was touch-and-go for a when they were relieved by the Irish quarters. When a raid ended, the while but the fusiliers held their ground. Guards. On the last day, the adjutant of trenches were left piled with the dead Throughout the afternoon, the fighting the battalion was killed. Sergeant-Major and wounded. ~ndwhen the raiding continued intermittently, the Munsters John Ring had just left him, when an party made its escape, the wounded capturing five German soldiers. Near artillery shell hit the trench. Ring rushed sometimes lay in no-man's-land, midnight, they were relieved by another back to help the dying adjutant: lingering for as long as a week, while battalion. He was very badly wounded by a 'Pig's they died in agony. The Munsters had been under Squeak' bursting in the trench. I went to That day, 25 June, was also the second bombardment for 100 hours; they had see him at once and, although we knew at day of the bombardment of the German suffered 170 casualties, they had had no the time there was no hope, he still had trenches on the Somme. sleep or food during the fighting. the old cheery smile which everyone As the myning of 1 July broke, it On 10 August, the transport section of knew so well. I had him removed to the gave no hint to the soldiers the scale of the Munsters took part in the 3rd Brigade dressing station which was situated in the ordeal to come. The men had been Horse Show, winning four firsts and one the 1st line German trenches; the doctor told that the German infantry and their second out of five events. On the 20th, looked at him but could do nothing for trenches would be destroyed by the the battalion moved back to the front him. 1 sent him further down to a Field artillery, that the attack would be a walk- line, a quarter of a mile north of Bazentin Ambulance. He died before he reached over, and that they would be able to le Petit, where they suffered more the hospital. smoke their pipes or cigarettes as they casualties. On the 24th they were ordered Later, in October, 350 Munsters tried to advanced. It was also made known to to capture a section of trench, 400 yards hold a sector of the trenches which them that no prisoners were to be taken. long, which was still in German hands. should have been covered by a battalion. At 7.22 a.m., the order was given to fix The left and the right of this trench had After being reduced by another 100 men, bayonets 'The clinking of steel sounded, already been captured, but the German it was quite obvious that the task was down miles of narrow, twisting trench.' infantry held the bit in the middle. (It beyond their powers and, eventually, At 7.30 a.m., the artillery barrage was said that another British officer had they were withdrawn. which had preceded the attack stopped already refused to attack this position). In Throughout the winter of 1915, the and 120,000 British soldiers began the- the event, the British artillery barrage Munsters were out of the front line and advance across no-man's-land. Within a %ad been misdirected and had done very spent their time making and re-making matter of hours, over 19,000 men lay little damage to the Germans. The attack trenches, under intehnittent shell and dead on the battlefield. At the end of the was doomed, even before it began at 7 rifle fire. The work was hard and tedious. day, another 40,000 were wounded. a.m., in daylight, with "A Company on In early December, a request arrived By the time the Munsters arrived in the right and "B" on the left. Concealed Fr. gives general absolution to the Munster Fusiliers, at Rue du Bois, 8 May, 1915, from a painting by Fortunino Matania.

German machine-guns opened up and 1'Abbaye and Flers. The weather had near Bercourt Wood, east of Albert. the assault came to a halt. A Company been very bad and the trenches were in a In December, 1916, General Joffre, the then came under a counter-attack as the terrible state. Heavy rain had turned the French commander-in-chief, was Germans tried to pull down the countryside into a bog and the Munsters' removed from his position and replaced barricade that separated both sides. The trench into a muddy river. Conditions by General , one of the Germans were beaten back by a small were so bad that when the Munsters defenders of Verdun. Although Nivelle company of Munsters, who were waiting were taking up positions on the fire-step, was seen as a hero, his appointment was in reserve. A week later, the Germans they had to cling to the side of the trench to have serious consequences for the evacuated the position. with both hands until they were literally French army, by this time suffering from In early September, the fusiliers pulled out of the mud and water by their war-weariness. Nivelle had decided to manned the support trenches between comrades. From the moment they attack the German army south of the Bazentin le Petit and Memetz Wood. On entered the trench to their return to the Somme, roughly on a front between the 12th, they moved out of the trenches support line, every man was soaked wet, Soissons and . The British army for what was to have been a month's rest caked in mud, bitterly cold, and came to his aid by carrying out a but, by the 17th, they were on their way miserable. Most of the time it was diversionary attack north of the Somme back to the front again. (During the short impossible to walk through the trench at Arras. Meanwhile, the Germans, interlude, a new and ferocious-looking and, on several occasions, a platoon of although knowing of the impending weapon had appeared on the battlefield Munsters made their way along the top French attack, were straightening out - the tank). the Munsters took up a line of the trench in full view of the German their front line on the Somme front, between Martinpuich and Flers, where soldiers, without a shot being fired. between Arras and Soissons; in some they defended their trenches until 25 Almost every mpn in the battalion parts they withdrew to a distance of September, were withdrawn from the suffered from 'trench feet'. between thirty and fifty miles. front and given their promised month's In December, another raid was made AS the Germans retired, they leave which they spent in huts at on the German trenches. The artillery destroyed the towns and villages. Key Feuguiers, near Abbeville. had pounded away for half an hour towns such as Pkronne were devastated. At the end of October, the battalion before the raid and, when a patrol of Trees were laid across roads. Thousands was brought back to an area known as fourteen Munsters went over, they found of booby-traps were laid, some of which' High Wood, near Mametz Wood. They the Germans had gone and that the were extremely ingenious. All this spent their time, from 4 a.m. until noon trenches were nearly wiped out. When should have been a warning to Nivelle the next day, restoring communications they came back and made their report, but he chose to ignore it. and rebuilding roads that had virtually two officers were asked to go and see if On 6 April, America entered the war disappeared. On 14 November, the Battle the Germans had come back; two on the Allied side. The British army of the Somme ended. In its 140 days soldiers volunteered to go with them. attacked at Arras, in a blinding duration, the British armies had One lieutenant and a private named snowstorm, on April and, by 12 April, advanced only six miles at a cost of Welsh were killed. The Munsters they had captured a position known as 400,000 casualties. The total number of remained in the area during the cWnry-Eidge. Nivelle's offensive began, in casualties between the Allies and the Christmas period. similar conditions, on Monday, 16 April. Germans was estimated at over The day finally arrived when the The men, who had been led to believe 1,300,000. k Battalion was relieved and they were that, this would be the deciding battle, In late November, the Munsters were able to leave this terrible place. On 1 were cut down in their thousands. back in the front line between Eaucourt January, 1917, the Battalion was resting By Tuesday, Nivelle had lost just Munster and Dublin jksiliers returning from Ginchy, Somme, 1916. system was destroyed. As the soldiers Munsters moved forward, keeping a At 8.30 a.m., the Germans renewed went over the top on 31 July, the rain distance of fifty-yards behind their the attack on Void Farm. During this began to fall. By 4 August, the ground artillery barrage, they were attacked by attack, Captain Delmege, a Limerickman, was turning into a swamp. After setbacks three German aircraft which bombed and was wounded and captured. When he on 16 August, Haig was advised that the machine-gunned them as they advanced. was on the road to recovery, he was attack should be abandoned, but he was By 6.45 a.m., all the objectives and a transferred to Mainz in Essen. committed to carrying on. number of German prisoners had been Another young Limerickman had not At Clipon Camp, on 15 October, it taken. At 7 a.m., runners were sent back been so lucky. Private John O'Brien, from was announced that the landing was to battalion headquarters to ask for new Arthur's Quay, a baker by trade, had postponed but the Munsters remained instructions on what they were to do been killed earlier that morning. In a there until 29 October. By that time, the next. letter to his father, Captain Jordeson battle for Passchendaele was entering its At this stage, they were only 800 wrote: final phase. yards from the summit of Passchendaele He was one of my company, and he fell Concrete German strongpoints, Ridge and the company commanders while taking part in an attack on a known as pill-boxes, and rain-filled shell- were eager to try to reach it. With no sign German position on the 10 inst. He was holes dominated the landscape. For the of new orders forthcoming, they decided a good and gallant soldier, and being a wounded, seeking refuge in a shell-hole to continue the advance, but the going Limerickman myself, I was proud to have was at times fatal. Exhausted and losing was tough and at 7.30 a.m., owing to the him in my company. blood, they crawled into the holes, only treacherous terrain and muddy condit- As the struggle for Void Farm raged, the to learn that this move could cost them ions, the advance came to a standstill. Germans found a weak spot on the right their lives. Slowly they would slip down Most of the rifles were clogged with of the Battalion. Slowly the fusiliers the muddy sides, too weak to hold mud, and the men tried to clean them by began to fall back to their own lines to themselves up. Their feeble whispers pouring water down the barrels. At 7.50 avoid being surrounded, although one often could not be heard by their a.m., German infantrv could be seen group still held one of the pill-boxes. comrades passing by. Each shell-hole preparing for a counter attack. At once, When the Munsters reached the vicinity with blood on its water usually meant the Munsters released four carrier of their own line, the German artillery another corpse entombed below. pigeons with a 4message asking for concentrated on the, with deadly results. On 6 November, with cold rain artillery support. The artillery opened Casualties were by this time enormous, beating down on them, soldiers of the fire soon afterwards; pounding the and many of those who fell badly 2nd Canadian Division fought their way ground held by the battalion, the missing wounded were drowned where they lay. through the rubble of what was once the the advancing Germans. The fusiliers At 9.30 a.m., a party of thirty Mun- village of Passchendaele. were in a quandary: some of them stayed sters, with the support of their comrades It was on that day also that the where they were; others retreated to in the captured German pill-box, Munsters moved into the battle area. On their original objectives. As the German regained the nearest farm. That after- 8 November, they passed through Ypres infantry advanced on a place known as noon, another battalion was brought in to on their way to the front line. On 10 Void Farm, they found the Munsters reinforce the line. Meanwhile, halfway November, a new effort was made to ready and waiting for them. The fusiliers up Passchendaele Ridge, scattered extend the front line. The battalion had opened up with their rifles and machine- groups of fusiliers still continued to hold instructions to capture three of four guns and threw the last of their Mills' out. By nightfall, and with no hope of wrecked farm buildings and some pill- bombs, but still the Germans tried to being rescued, most of them had been boxes which the Germans were holding; advance. Suddenly, a new wave of eturedby the Germans. At 10 p.m. that each man was carrying an extra bombs landed in front of the Germans. nighf,-after a twenty-seven hour struggle, bandolier, 150 rounds of ammunition, Although they did not explode, they the remnants of the battalion were steel helmet, two Mil:@ bombs (a were enough to drive the er mans back ordered to fall back. Out of the 650 men forerunner of the hand-). They for a while. The much feared 'bombs' who had taken part in the operation, also carried three days' rations, were nothing more than clods of mud, only 247 now remained. Five Munsters waterproof sheet, extra water to drink, pressed to resemble bombs in size and were killed that day trying to carry and a gas and smoke helmet. As the shape. messages to the rear - one man did Commemorative plaque to the Munster Fusiliers atwayside shrine. under 120,000 men, and a fortnight later evacuated its positions around the town heavy fire, to their own lines. Private the offensive was coming to a grinding of Peronne and were withdrawing to a Donovan was one of six Munsters who, halt. By 3 May, were beginning new line of defence which the Allies after the fighting at Etreux, in August, to break out in the French army. called the . The fusiliers 1914, had hidden in France for a number Regiments refused to man the trenches, re-crossed the Somme on 18 March and of months. Eventually, he escaped others said they would defend their began work in the Peronne area by through Belgium and Holland and trenches but would not attack; red flags restoring communications which had rejoined the Battalion in August, 1915. were also unfurled. In Paris itself there been destroyed by the retiring Germans. On 19 July, the , of which were strikes and demonstrations among Some of the Munsters became victims of the Munsters were part, moved to a the civilian population. On 28 April, the numerous booby-traps that the special training camp, situated south- General Petain was made chief of the Germans had planted. On 24 May, the west of . This was Clipon Camp general staff, and shortly afterwards Battalion won three competitions at the (nicknamed 'Hush Camp') and it was Neville was asked to resign. 1st Division's Sports Day. Towards the here that the Battalion went into training Petain visited the front lines and end of June, the Munsters moved up to for an amphibious landing behind the restored morale and discipline. He the Belgian coast to near the town of German lines. The 1st Division were to promised the men more leave (one of the Nieuport. About twenty miles below make an assault on the Belgian coast at regiments had been in continuous action them, at Messines, the opening shots had Zeebrugge and Ostend in order to since Verdun), increased family allow- already been fired in what is officially capture the German submarine bases ances to soldiers' wives and improved known as t$ Third Battle of Ypres, a which were at that time causing serious canteen facilities. But there were to be battle that was to culminate in the blood losses to Allied shipping. The landings other consequences. Although General and mud struggle for Passchendaele were due to take place about two weeks Nivelle was merely demoted, those Ridge. after the opening of General Haig's soldiers who had refused to let The Munsters were relieved at the Flanders offensive. themselves be slaughtered in futile front line on 4 July, from there they General Haig believed he could force attempts to break the German line were marched to their billets at Champermont a successful conclusion to the war by executed. One source gives the figure as Camp. On 10 July, German artillery shells driving the German forces out of twenty-three and another as fifty. Two rained down on the camp, destroying Belgium. The ground over which the hundred and fifty more were marched to most of the huts and killing seven men; battle was to be fought was reclaimed a quiet sector and annihilated by their another forty-one were wounded. marshland. The city of Ypres had once own artillery. Over a hundred ring- Regimental Sergeant-Major John Ring, been a seaport and it was now an inland leaders were banished to various French oblivious to the danger, supervised the city only because of the man-made colonies. Especially disruptive units were evacuation of the remaining soldiers. drainage systems. The ground between sent to the most daagerous fronts. When the Battalion returned ro the front Ypres and Passchendaele was composed-- In January, 1917, the Munster Fusiliers two days later, it again came uh- --oi clay fields. When it rained the water marched south, across the Somme River, heavy artillery fire. One of the men, formed swamps and pools and slugg- and took up a posi?ion on the front line, unable to stand the strain, rushed ishly spread towards the already swollen not far from the village of Barleux. They forward towards the German lines. He rivers and canals. remained in this area until St. Patrick's was followed by a private named When the British artillery opened fire Day. By that time, the German army had Donovan who brought him back, under on 22 July, the precarious drainage eventually succeed in making the terrible and they started falling back. As the journey. afternoon dragged on, they reached the hundred strong column of weary After the , the town of Peronne; later on that evening headed northwards to cross the So Munsters were moved to Eikhoek camp they crossed the Somme river, just before River, as it was thought tha where they went into training and were the last bridge was blown up. had failed in their attacks re-organised as a battalion. On Christmas On Sunday 24 March, the Munsters As the column crossed the Day, 1917, each company provided the were relieved from the front line and a diversion of the Somme, they fou dinners for its own men. There had been were ordered to fall back to a deserted that the Eclusier Bridge was held by t heavy snowfalls in the area and, when a village known as Cappy where they got a Germans. Unable to cross, the men ma thaw set in on 6 January, 1918, the well deserved rest. The afternoon of 25 their way back across the canal bank training ground was a foot deep in water. March was spent guarding bridges in the the next crossing at Chipilly Bridge. By this time, the battalion had been line of retreat on the Somme River, with Here again, their hopes of cross brought up to a strength of 867 men. the instructions to blow them up if the faded when large numbers of Germ Rumour had it, at that time, that the Germans attacked. Later on that night, could be seen,&ross the river, in the German army was massing troops on the orders were received to demolish the village. The officer commanding the Western Front, with the aim of crushing bridges. By 26 March, the battalion had Munsters suggested that the bridge be their opponents before the arrival of the passed beyond Chuignolles, taking up rushed. It was also suggested that if they American army. positions in some old French trenches to knew the German pass-word, they could On 29 January, 1918, the Munsters the west of the village. The 66th Infantry get across before the Germans realised learned that they were to sever their Division passed through the Munsters' what was happening. A captain from the connection with the 1st Division in which lines; soon afterwards the pursuing Dublin Fusiliers went forward, heard the they had served since the beginning of Germans appeared on the horizon. pass-word being given, and then made the war. They were now transferred to Slowly the Germans worked their way his way back to the waiting men. As the the 16th Irish Division. Father Gleeson, around on the left of the Munsters, mixed column of Munsters, Dubliners, their Battalion chaplain, was left behind getting on to the main road just behind and South Irish Horse moved forward in and remained attached to the 3rd them. It was time for the fusiliers to single file on both sides of the road, they Brigade. On 2 February, they boarded the make a run for it. Behind the trenches, a were challenged by the German sentries. train that took them down to the old crossroads had to be passed, and it was The reply was given but it wasn't good battlefields of the Somme, where they on this spot that the Germans enough to fool the Germans, and they were to join the 48th Infantry Brigade. concentrated their fire. The Munsters opened fire immediately. ~ver~one On 10 February, they took up charged through the danger zone, halting rushed forward shouting, firing, and positions on the front line, just outside only when they came near their Battalion cursing; some of the men tripped over a the village of Epehy. On 21 March, the H.Q. As darkness set in, the pursuing large tangle of wire that the Germans had long awaited and much feared German Germans gave up the chase. It was often laid across the road. As the rest of the offensive (code-named St. Michael) noticed that when the retreating soldiers men charged across the bridge, they began. The greatest artillery barrage the laid down to rest, the Germans followed discovered, to their horror, that it was world had ever seen pounded the 3rd suit, too weary to fire a rifle. At this damaged on the far side; the girders had and 5th armies; the fusiliers were part of stage, the Germans had pushed the Allies been cut and were facing down towards the latter force. back nearly forty miles. That night, the the bottom of the pier. ~hcmen in front, A heavy white fog hung over the Munsters were to the east of Mericourt being pushed forward by the surging Munsters' positions which made it village where they formed a defensive crowd, became jammed at the bottom of difficult to see ahead. By 10 o'clock that line with the 2nd Dublin Fusiliers and the pier and had to be hoisted back up. morning, the troops on the right of the the South Irish Horse. As the fighting continued, the Germans Munsters had retreated. Desperate The Germans attacked early the next were swept aside and ran away fighting continued into the night, when morning, but the Munsters, with artillery screaming from the desperate turmoil. orders were received that all Irish troops support, beat them back each time they The bridge was then crossed successfully, were to withdraw towards Tincourt, to tried to advance. Just about noon, a although one party got lost in the which the 48th Brigade had already battalion on the left of the Munsters was confusion and did not rejoin the main retreated. The Munsters reached this withdrawn. The Germans soon spotted body until they met at the next bridge; village, in small parties, during the early this gap and occupied it. A counter- here, the German guards fled without a hours of 22 March. During the previous attack was organised, and a party of nine fight. day, they had fought eighteen hours Munsters drove the Germans back out At this stage, the men were extremely longer than any of the other units in the and re-establishe4 contact with the South tired, but the march had to be continued. area, and had withdrawn undefeated Irish Horse. As they headed for Sailly Laurette, a after one of the greatest attacks of the Throughout the afternoon, repeated small wooden bridge, over which the Great War. German attacks were beaten off. At 7 column was to pass, suddenly blew up On 22 March, the battalion spent an p.m., the officer commanding the Dublin and they had to pass through some of the undisturbed day near Tincourt. That Fusiliers, who were on the right of the worst bogland between the canal and the night, a defensive position was taken up Munsters, came across to report that river. When they reached the crossing for behind Tincourt Wood. At 5.30 a.m. on 23 there was no one guarding the far-right. Sailly Laurette, they found that the March, and in another thick fog, the Runners, who had been sent out earlier Germans had already occupied it. The retreat continued towards Doingt where that day, arrived back with the news that Germans opened a heavy fire on the the Munsters took cover in an old trench, the Brigade H.Q. had been evacuated, column, causing them to retrace their just outside the village. At 10.30 a.m., the and so, after six days of fighting, it footsteps and head back towards the advancing Germans were spotted. For appeared that the remnants of the three canal. Here, they ran into a German the fusiliers another day of fighting had regiments were surrounded and cut off. officers' patrol. Not knowing who was erupted. At 1 p.m., under mounting After consultations between the three who in the dark, the two opposing er man pressure, the troops on the left of commanding officers, it was decided to wroups met; some words were the Battalion began to withdraw. Once fight a way through. At 8 p.m., the with- eFchanged; then the German officer shot again, the Munsters Vre left on their drawal began; one man, a Corporal dead a Dublin , and was at once own, as the soldiers on the right had also Padfield of the Munsters, remained gunned down by the retaliating fusiliers, gone. The fusiliers held on for another behind with a Lewis machine-gun, with who then wiped out the whole patrol. hour, while maps were studied for a line instructions to fire occasionally until 10 Following the Crozat Canal and the of retreat. Eventually, a path was found, p.m. and to try and make his way back to Somme had proved to be a dangerous end of the day, the Battalion was reduced by another 49 men, who had either been killed or wounded. After their mauling in the St. Michael offensive,the Munsters were taken out of the line and left the trenches on 3 April. They were no longer effective as a fighting force, and there were fears that the fusiliers would be disbanded. Eventually, an order was given to amalgamate the 1st Battalion with {he 2nd. This arrangement did not last long and, a week later, the 2nd Battalion Headquarters - eleven officers,and all its senior non-commissioned ranks and transport personnel - were withdrawn to form a training unit to provide instructors for the American Army, who were arriving in France in large numbers; this arrangement lasted until the end of May. On 6 June, the 6th Battalion of the Munsters arrived in France from overseas service in Palestine. They were transferred bodily into the 2nd Battalion. The 6th Battalion suffered from malaria, and special medical steps had to be taken before they could be sent to the front line. I

With the failure of a second German l offensive,its master-mind, General Erich I Ludendorff,made a third attempt to ! breach the Allied line. This time, he chose I the French sector of Champagne. the attack (Blucher) began at 1 a.m. on the morning of 27 May. By the 30th, the Germans were within fiftymiles of Paris. But this attack also lost its impetus and, on 1 June, the American repulsed the Germans at Chdteau-

Thlerry. On 18 July, the Allied counter- I attacks began. On 8 August, after a I massive British attack, the German line in l front of began to crumble. More gams were made by the Allies on the 9th and 10th. The initiative was now in the hands of the Allies. By 9 September, nearly all the territorial gains of the I German spring/summer offensive had been lost. On 15 September, after many antimalarial measures, training and route marches, the re-organised 2nd Battalion of the Munsters moved by train to the town of Doullers and from there Grave at St. Lawrence cemetery, Limerick. marched to Grouches, where they remained until 29 September. On the next strategy, and so it was decided to take a schools' perdnnel, tunneling companies, day, Bulgaria, an ally of , bearing from the stars and head west- Army troops companies, field-survey Austria/Hungary and Turkey, asked for wards. This proved to be a wiser move, companies and Canadian and American an armistice, which was signed on 30 and at 3.30 a.m. on 28 March, the Allied engineers'. September. front line at Hamel Wood was finally The Munsters remained in their By 2 October, the Munsters were back reached. The Munsters marched into the support positions until the morning of 30 in the Epehy area, and were now part of village of Hamel at 4 a.m. and, after March, with a strength of about 140 men. the 150th Brigade. On 3 October, the having something to eat, settled down to A major attack was expected that 151st Brigade had captured most of the a long overdue sleep, but it proved to be morning, and the fusiliers, now divided village of Le Catelet; the Germans held short-lived. At 6.30 am., the village had into two fighting groups, went forward the rest and also the nearby village of La to be evacuated, as it was expected that to the front line in full view of the Pannerie. At 2 a.m. the next day, the the Germans would bombard it. Germans. The German bombardment battalion received orders to capture La Exhausted and disorientated by the lack began at 9.00 a.m. and, an hour later, Pannerie, attacking through the German- of sleep, the fusiliers gradually pulled their infantry advanced to attack Carey's heid section of Le Catelet. These villages themselves together" and took up a Force. In heavy rain, caked in mud and were to be used as a jumping-off point position in support of a group know; as wet through; the Munsters beat-,-- for an attack on the Germans' new line of 'Carey's Force', east of the village. To use repeated attempts not only on their own defence,the Beaurevoir Line. At 5.10 am. .L General Haig's owh words, Carey's Force trenches but also gave assistance to the the Munsters moved forward into Le was composed of 'details, stragglers, hard-pressed units on their left. At the Catelet. The battalion immediately The fighting at Etreux, 27August, 1914.

became involved in street fighting, and Northumberland Fusiliers made an Meanwhile, some Munsters and billets at suffered heavy casualties from machine- attack on the Beauevoir Line; they were Dublin fusiliers lost direction in the fog Munster1 gun posts hidden in the village. unable to break through the barbed wire and, when it cleared away, found advance( Meanwhile, A Company, which had and, at 5.30 a.m., had to be withdrawn. themselves near Bazuel. After fighting the 7th 1 become separated from the main body of Between 17-18 October, the Munsters their way into the village, they had to the Nor men, lost direction and ended up in a took part in the operations to cross the abandon it around 8.30 a.m., when a support. spot known as Prospect Hill; they Selle River and capture the village of British artillery barrage came down on it. to be crc remained there throughout the fighting. Bazuel. Having crossed the waterway, For the rest of the day, the Munsters the Gertl Scattered in the darkness and held up by near the village of St. Souplet, at 9.30 a.m. remained in a position 1,000 yards west side, ha1 two machine-guns at the northern end of on the 17th, they remained dug-in for of the village. On the morning of the on it. the village, the Munsters, rallied by the most of the day, near a ;ailway 19th, the 25th Division marched through outflan sound of their commanding officer's embankment, 400 yards from the river. the battalion's line and occupied Bazuel. brough hunting horn, came in from all angles Orders and counter orders followed each Before the , the fusiliers' houses; and captured the two strong points and other in rapid succession; nobody strength was 322 men; after the fighting went d continued on to take La Pannerie South. seemed to know what to do. On top of it was reduced to 210. The following river aP When the Germans closed the gap in the that, the Germans had launched strong fortnight was spent at ; where the Germaq line, detachments of Munsters from com- counter-attacks which Went the front line Munsters went through the usual process rest of panies B and C, who had also become back in two places. Eventually, an attack of re-organisation. Several drafts arrived, across tl separated in the struggle, had to fight was got under way at 5.30 a.m. on the which brought the strength to nearly 400 the gat their way through to La Pannerie later on morning of 18 October. As the day men. surrend in the day. The 'mopping-up' troops, dawned, a heavy fog hung over the On 30 October, Turkey threw in the Wiltshil following on behind, captured two battlefield, and it was impossible to see towel and signed an armistice, and the village hundred and fifty German soldiers, who twenty yards ahead. The objective was Austro-Hungarian empire followed suit, out the1 had been cut off from their own line an imaginary line on a map and, at 6.30 on 3 November. In Germany itself 7th, th during the fusiliers' advance. a.m. as the fog cleared, the battalion revolution had broken out, and it was to artillerl, Relieved from the front line at 6.30 advanced, with the Dublin Fusiliers on be only a matter of days before the 4 a.m. ( a.m. on the morning of 5 October, the their right. Abandoned German dugouts, country looked for an armistice. 9th, thl battalion moved into some dugouts near machine-gun emplacements, trench On the afternoon of 3 November, the Sars-Pc the village of Gouy. That afternoon, some mortars and equipment of all kinds were Munsters, in preparation for the assault p.m. W of the men occupied the trenches that found all over the battlefield. The last of Mormal Forest, left their billets near La marche had been captured near Prospect Hill, obstacle in their line of advance was an Cateau and arrived at the village of that da while some of their comrades provided orchard, 500 yards square. this was held *-e_au Bois at 1.30 a.m. on the 4th. 2nd Ba search-parties to look for the dead and in strength by the Germans but, Here, they were allotted the task of they W wounded. About 5 p.m., th$battalion eventually, resistance was overcome; mopping-up behind the advancing did nc fightifi came under a heavy bombardment of some of the garrison were seen running troops. By the afternoon of the 5th, the On high explosive shells and mustard gas. away, while others put up their hands in battalion had left the forest, crossed the On 6 October, the Munsters and the surrender. River Sambre, and spent the night in messai F Company 2nd Munsters, Aldershot, circa 1913. billets at the village of Rue des Juifs. The the Western Front - French, British, Limerick Chronicle, 1914-18. Munsters left that morning at 6 a.m. and American, and, of course, German - Guns of August, by B. Tuchman. advanced towards the village of Noyelle; which stated that hostilities would cease The 2nd Munsters in Fvance by H.S. Jervis, the 7th Wiltshires were on their left and at 11 a.m. That night, each side treated Gale and Polden, 1922. the Northumberland Fusiliers were in the other to fantastic fireworks displays The Story of the Munsters at Etreux, support. Outside the village, a river had of rockets, flares, signal-lights and Festubert, Rue Du Bois and Hullock by Mrs. to be crossed; the bridge was down and burning explosives. The next day would Victor Rickard, Hodder-Stoughton, 1918. the Germans, hidden in houses on the far bring a million problems of withdrawal The Irish Sword, Vol. XV, No. 59,1982. side, had several machine-guns trained and reparation, of occupation and con- Old Contemptible by H. Beaumont, on it. While the Wiltshires tried to trol. Men who had been trained to kill, Hutchinson and Co., 1967. outflank the Germans, the Munsters and had killed, would now be returning Combat , Dell Publishing Co., brought a steady fire to bear on the home and be expected to lead normal Inc., 1965. houses; while another party of fusiliers lives. The Donkeys, by A. Clark, Hutchinson went downstream, waded across the During the Great War - a more and Co. Ltd., 1961. river and surrounded the village. As a appropriate name would have been the The , M. German field-gun shelled the road, the Great Slaughter - more than 8,000 men Middlebrook, Penguin Books Ltd., 1984. rest of the battalion made their way passed through theranks of the 2nd War Machine, Nos. 97 and 115, Orbis across the stream. The Germans saw that Munsters, and out of that number 4,261 Publishing Ltd., 1985. the game was up and sixty of them were classed as killed, wounded, and History of the 20th Century, Nos. 19 and 21 surrendered to the Munsters before the missing. After the war, and prior to their (Purnell), 1968. Wiltshires arrived. Later on that day, the disbandment in 1922, the Munsters A Higher Form of Killing, by Robert Harris village of St. Remy was taken. Through- served in Egypt and the Sudan. and Jeremy Paxman, Chatto & Windus, out the night of the 6th and all day on the When the survivors came home to 1982. 7th, the battalion came under heavy Limerick and other parts of Munster, Goodbye to All That, by Robert Graves, artillery fire; the shelling continued until they got a mixed reception. They had Penguin Books, 1960. 4 a.m. on the 8th. On the morning of the returned to a changed country. The History of the First Wovld War, by B. Liddel 9th, the fusiliers marched eastwards to nationalist movement, led by Sinn Fkin, Hart, Pan Books Ltd., 1972. Sars-Poteries. They arrived there at 2.30 was in the ascendant. Although they The Velvet Glove, by M. Clover, Hodder p.m. whistling the 'Marseillaise', as they hardly expected a hero's welcome, they and Stoughton, 1982. marched into the village. It was also on had fought bravely under desperate In Flanders Fields, by L. Wolff, Corgi that day that the Great War ended for the conditions and were, at least, worthy of Books, 1966. 2nd Battalion Royal Munster Fusiliers, as admiration and respect. War I, by S. Everett, Bison Books they were 'whipped off' the pursuit and C~m~a:~,1984. did not take part in any more of the SOURCES The History of the Great War, by C.R.M. fighting. e History of the Royal Munsters, Vol. 2, by S. Cruttwell. On the morning of November llth, a McGance, Gale and Polden, 1922. 1918, The Last Act, by Barrie Pitt, message was sent out to all the armies on War Underground, by A. Barrie-Star, 1981. Papermac, 1984.