LIST OF SOURCES  

SOURCE A:  GREAT WAR TIME LINE  

SOURCE B:  THE ORGANISATION OF THE BRITISH ARMY  

SOURCE C:  THE ORGANISATION OF THE 36TH (ULSTER) DIVISION  

SOURCE D:  OUTLINE HISTORY OF TWO RIR BATTALIONS  

SOURCE E:  ULSTER’S REACTION TO THE WAR  

SOURCE F:  THE FORMATION OF THE 36TH (ULSTER) DIVISION  

SOURCE G:  SERGEANT THOMAS DAVIS WOUNDED  

SOURCE H:  DERRIAGHY SERGEANT WOUNDED

 SOURCE I:  BRISK RECRUITING IN LISBURN  

SOURCE J:  THE ‘DEATH’ OF MAJOR A.P. JENKINS  

SOURCE K:  RECRUITING BOOM IN LISBURN  

SOURCE L:  “SENTENCED” TO ENLIST  

SOURCE M:  DEPARTURE FOR FRANCE  

SOURCE N:  EXTRACT FROM 13 RIR BATTALION DIARY FOR 28.6.16

SOURCE A

GREAT WAR TIME LINE

1914

4 August                                           Britain declares war on Germany

22 August to 14 September                                    Retreat from Mons
                                                                   First Battle of the Marne
                                                                           Battle of the Aisne

12 October to 11 November                                               First Ypres

1915

10 to 13 March                                             Battle of Neuve Chapelle

22 April to 27 May                                                        Second Ypres

25 April                                                     Gallipoli Campaign begins

9 to 10 May                                                    Battle of Aubers Ridge

15 to 25 May                                                        Battle of Festubert

6 August                                            Landings at Sulva Bay, Gallipoli

25 September to 4 November                                        Battle of Loos

1916

9 January                                                   End of Gallipoli Campaign

1 July to 19 November                                        Battle of the Somme

1917

9 to 14 April                                                               Battle of Arras

7 to 14 June                                                         Battle of Messines

31 July to 10 November                           Third Ypres (Passchendaele)

20 November to 5 December                                    Battle of Cambrai

1918

21 March to 17 July                                       Final German Offensives

8 August to 11 November                                  Final Allied Offensives

THE ORGANISATION OF THE BRITISH ARMY.

Traditionally the British army has been organised into regiments with each one having its own recruiting area, known as a Regimental District (RD).  In Ulster 3 main regiments recruited.  The Royal Irish Rifles (RIR) whose RD was in the eastern half of the province (Antrim and Down), the Royal lnniskilling Fusiliers, (RInF) whose RD was in the west (Donegal, Derry, Tyrone and Fermanagh), and the Royal Irish Fusiliers (RIrF) whose RD was in the south (Armagh, Cavan and Monaghan).

Every infantry regiment consisted of two regular battalions, the lst. and 2nd., (e.g. 1 RIR and 2 R1R) with between 800 and 1,000 professional soldiers in each.  When the Great War started it was these men who were sent out to the front first.  These regular battalions were supported by reserve battalions (3 in the case of the RIR, the 3rd., 4th. and 5th.) whose peacetime job was to train reservists.  In wartime they replenished the regulars as casualties occurred.  Early in the war these replacements were reservists, sometimes called Territorials, who volunteered for overseas service.  Later on in the war, they would be new volunteers or conscripts.

Plans to increase the size of the army by recruiting volunteers into what were called New Army battalions were implemented as soon as the war started.  These were service as opposed to regular battalions as they would only exist, and the men in them would only serve, as long as the war lasted.  In the case of the RIR there would eventually be 11 service battalions, the 6th to the 16th.  The expansion of other regiments took place along similar lines, though not always to the same extent.

Many, though not all of the battalions of these regiments became part of the 36th. (Ulster) Division which was filled largely by volunteers who had previously belonged to the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).  Set up in 1912 to resist Home Rule the U.V.F. had been organised on a regional basis and as a result of this, so too was the infantry of the Ulster Division.  This aspect of the 36th. Division is clearly reflected in the names given to the various battalions that made it up.  Thus, for example, the 11th. battalion of the RIR was known as the South Antrim Volunteers and the 13th. battalion of the RIR was known as the 1^st Co. Down Volunteers.

THE ORGANISATION OF THE 36TH (ULSTER) DIVISION

The infantry of the 36th (Ulster) Division was grouped into three brigades each containing four battalions.

107TH INFANTRY BRIGADE

8th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (East Belfast Volunteers)

9th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (West Belfast Volunteers)

10th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (South Belfast Volunteers)

15th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (North Belfast Volunteers)

108TH INFANTRY BRIGADE

11th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (South Antrim Volunteers)

12th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (Mid Antrim Volunteers)

13th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (lst Co. Down Volunteers)

9th Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers (Armagh, Monaghan and Cavan Volunteers)

109TH INFANTRY BRIGADE

9th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Tyrone Volunteers)

10th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Derry Volunteers)

11th Battalion Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers (Donegal and Fermanagh Volunteers)

14th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (Young Citizen Volunteers of Belfast)

There was also a Divisional Pioneer Battalion

16th Battalion Royal Irish Rifles (2nd Co. Down Volunteers)

OUTLINE HISTORY OF TWO RIR BATTALIONS

11th. (Service) Battalion. (South Antrim Volunteers).  Formed in County Antrim in September 1914 primarily from the South
Antrim Volunteers, one of the UVF battalions, it became part of the 108th. Brigade, 36th. Division.  Sent to Clandeboye near Newtownards for training in December 1914, the following July it was posted to Seaford in Sussex and then Bordon Camp in Hampshire.  The battalion eventually sailed for France from Folkestone on the evening of the 4 October 1915 landing at Boulogne.  Just over two years later on the 13 November 1917, it was amalgamated with 13 RIR to form the 11/13th. battalion.  On the 18 February 1918 11/13 RIR was disbanded.

13th. (Service) Battalion. (1st. Co. Down Volunteers).  Formed in County Down in September 1914 primarily from the lst. Co. Down Volunteers, one of the UVF battalions, it became part of the 108th. Brigade, 36th. Division.  Its subsequent history was much the same as that for the 11th. Battalion with which it frequently alternated in the front line trenches and with which it was amalgamated in November 1917.

ULSTER’S REACTION TO THE WAR

In Ireland there were mixed reactions to the outbreak of war.  Even in Ulster where Unionist support was strongest, many men were reluctant to join up while there was a possibility that Home Rule might be introduced.  However, there were also those who could no wait until the matter was resolved and came forward immediately.  Many enlisted in Scottish regiments which recruited in Ulster as well as across the water.

THE FORMATION OF THE 36TH (ULSTER) DIVISION

Once the government agreed that Home Rule Bill would not become law until after the end of the war, the Unionist leadership put its full weight behind the war effort.  Members of the UVF would now be encouraged to enlist.  Moreover, Sir Edward Carson persuaded the government to create a Division which would be raised in Ulster.  Thus on the 3 September 1914 the 36th (Ulster) Division was formed.  Recruitment began immediately and the men often enlisted along with their friends in their local UVF battalions.  Thus it was that the Ulster Division possessed all the comradeship and closeness of the ‘pals’ battalions which were being raised throughout other parts of Britain.

SOURCE G

On the 30 June 1916 just before the start of the Battle of the Somme, the following article appeared in the Lisburn Standard.  “Sergeant Thomas Davis, Royal Irish Rifles (Pioneers) has been wounded.  He had just returned to the front after being on leave.  He resided at the Old Hillsborough Road, Lisburn.  Sergeant Davis offered to enlist in the 11^th. Royal Irish Rifles (South Antrim Volunteers) but was debarred owing to the age limit.  Being an old soldier anxious to do his bit, he “discovered” that he was really younger than he had previously thought he was, and to his great delight was accepted when he presented himself at Lurgan, whither he went especially to make another attempt.  Sergeant Davis’s son, also sergeant Thomas Davis, is serving at the front with the Young Citizens Volunteers (14^th. Royal Irish Rifles)”.

SOURCE H

DERRIAGHY SERGEANT WOUNDED

The following article was published in the Lisburn Standard on the 10 November 1916.  “Mr. Edward Partridge, Ivy Hill, Derriaghy, has received intimation that his son, Sergeant John Partridge, Royal Irish Rifles, was somewhat seriously wounded about a fortnight ago when his battalion was leaving the trenches for a well earned rest.  He received two bullet wounds in the right lung.  Sergeant Partridge was not quite sixteen when he volunteered following the outbreak of the war.

SOURCE I

The following article was published in the Lisburn Standard on the 18 September 1914.  “Lisburn was lethargic enough at the first, chiefly on account of the position of the Home Rule Bill; but once the path of duty stood out in clear relief … the men could not be enrolled soon enough. … Saturday last [the 12 September 1914] between the hours of 12 o’clock and 5 o’clock was fixed for recruiting, the Assembly Rooms^* being secured for the occasion. … So constant, however, was the stream that … it was nearer nine o’clock in the evening when … the last man was taken on. … The number of rejects was small, the majority being boys whose chest measurement has not yet developed to the required military proportions; while a good few were men well over the standard age. … At the end of the day 327 had [enlisted] … the [event] was a great success [especially] when one considered how many … had been called up with the reserves and the very considerable number who in their eagerness could not wait to see what the U.V.F. were going to do, and had [already] joined”.

^*Now part of Lisburn Museum.

SOURCE J

THE ‘DEATH’ OF MAJOR A.P. JENKINS

The following article was published in the Lisburn Standard on the 7 July 1916.  “Unfortunately we have to confirm the sad news that has been so persistently circulating through the town that Major A.P. Jenkins has been killed in action.^*  Up to well in the afternoon the news was not confirmed, and everyone was hoping for the best but just a few minutes ago Major Jenkins’ brother called with us to say that official confirmation of the dreaded news had arrived.  For the comparatively short time that Major Jenkins lived here there was no man so well known nor more highly respected.  He took a very active part in forming the 1^st. Lisburn battalion U.V.F., and was unanimously appointed commander of that body of men, the majority of whom followed their plucky commander’s lead and joined the army, the 1^st. Lisburn battalion U.V.F. being formed into a battalion of the Royal Irish Rifles, known as the South Antrim Volunteers”.

^*In fact Major Jenkins was not dead but badly wounded and a PoW.  See the entry on the casualty list for his son Garratt Jenkins.

SOURCE K

RECRUITING BOOM IN LISBURN

The following article was published in the Lisburn Standard on the 21 May 1915.  “No. 8 Platoon of the 11^th. R.I. Rifles (South Antrim Volunteers) from Clandeboye, accompanied by the band, arrived in town in Monday afternoon for a weeks recruiting in Lisburn and district.  Quite a large crowd accompanied the band in its march round the town.  As a result of two days’ recruiting in Lisburn a very satisfactory number of recruits were sent on to Clandeboye on Tuesday evening.  Broomhedge was visited on Wednesday, Aghalee and Ballinderry yesterday; to-day (Friday) the soldiers are at Brookhill, and they will finish up tomorrow in the vicinity of Ballymacash.  The recruiting all over has been satisfactory, some particularly fine raw material having been unearthed in the country districts.  Close on 200 recruits were secured for all branches of the service, the majority going to the Ulster Division.  A goodly number of Nationalists enlisted in the Irish Brigade, and on Wednesday evening the local company of the Irish National Volunteers had a farewell route march.  The company numbering 120 strong, carrying rifles, marched out from St. Joseph’s Hall via the Longstone, away round by Halftowns, Blaris and home by the Dublin Road”.

SOURCE L

“SENTENCED” TO ENLIST

The following article was published in the Lisburn Standard on the 5 November 1915.  “William Cochrane, a well built and physically fit looking young man, appeared at Lisburn Town Court yesterday to answer a charge of drunkenness and disorderly conduct.  The Chairman (Sir Hugh Mack) addressing the defendant said, ‘Their Worships think you are a likely looking young man for the Army; if you enlist they will let you off.  The court stands adjourned for a fortnight; but recollect if you do not enlist in the meantime it will be brought up again’.  The defendant turned and walked out of Court without a word”.

SOURCE M

DEPARTURE FOR FRANCE

Writing in his diary, Captain Arthur Samuels recorded the departure of his battalion, the 11th. Royal Irish Rifles, for France.  “We fell in at 4 o'clock on the afternoon of 4 October 1915 on the parade ground of St. Lucia barracks, Borden.  As we marched to the station [en route for France] we were struck by the apathy displayed by the few civilians we saw.  There was no cheering, waving of handkerchiefs, or kissing of hands; even the children, making mud pies on the side of the road did not trouble to look up.  We were only one of many battalions that had passed down the same road during the previous 14 months.  It was almost an everyday sight for people who lived there.  We felt we were only going on our business and that those plain clothes civilians, many of them young and physically fit men, were going on theirs”.  From Bordon the battalion made its way to Folkestone and from there on the steamer, to Boulogne.

SOURCE N

EXTRACT FROM 13 RIR BATTALION DIARY FOR 28.6.16

The Battalion left Martinsart by half platoons at about 10 p.m. in the following order 'D', 'A' and 'C' Companies.  On arrival 'A' Company took over the front line from the 11th Royal Irish Rifles and remained in the assembly trenches, 'D' Company went into the left of the line and 'C' Company into Antrim Villas.  Just as the last platoon of 'C' Company was fallen in and going to march off, a large shell struck their faces, and there were 14 rank and file killed on the spot, 7 died of wounds later and 32 were wounded, among them Major R.D.P Maxwell and the Adjutant, Lieutenant  W.M. Wright.

Those killed were Battalion Sergeant Major Beaston, Company Sergeant Major McCoy 17379, Rifleman Crawly R. 17856, Heenan G. 16841, Mercer T. 17492, Crangle A. 16230, Bell T. 16867, Martin J. 2370, Hamilton S. 16425, Thompson J. 16567, Daragh W. 16641, Jones A. 87, Carson S. 137, Dale D. Captain A.T. Bell was wounded.

Battalion Diary, 13 RIR.

M. Corbally: “The Royal Ulster Rifles”.

E.A. James: “British Regiments 1914-1918”.

Lisburn Standard.

P. Orr:  “The Road to the Somme”.

“With The Ulster Division in France” based on the diary of Arthur Samuels.