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112-611: The Royal Munster Fusiliers served in India before the regiment fought in the Second Boer War . Prior to the First World War , the regiment's three militia battalions were converted into reserve battalions, and a further six battalions were added to the regiment's establishment during the war. The regiment fought with distinction throughout the Great War and won three Victoria Crosses by

224-560: A kopje . Methuen reached Thomas' Farm, 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Belmont, a day later, where his vanguard was fired upon by the Boers. The Boer fire ceased after British artillery began shelling them, and the British force bivouacked at midnight, anticipating battle in the morning. Without detailed reconnaissance, Methuen planned to focus the attack on the Boer positions running 100 ft above and to

336-613: A 36-hour march were ordered on 22 December to fill a gap by taking two lines of trenches. There were 200 casualties in the first 10 minutes of heavy fire. Withdrawing in total exhaustion on the next day, many wounded drowned in water-filled shell holes. Throughout Christmas and New Year they were fully occupied maintaining the trenches. On 25 January, the Kaiser's birthday the Germans tried unsuccessfully to break through with terrific shellfire. There then followed three months of rebuilding and training

448-561: A Boer position slightly north of the Belmont station, 19 miles (31 km) from the march's starting point at the Orange River station, Methuen anticipated that the first fighting would occur there. As the British force departed Orange River station, the 9th Lancers and Rimington's Guides conducted a reconnaissance from Fincham's Farm of the Belmont area, spotting several hundred Boers climbing up

560-712: A chief commissioner: At the time of independence in 1947, British India had 17 provinces: Upon the Partition of India into the Dominion of India and Dominion of Pakistan , eleven provinces (Ajmer-Merwara-Kekri, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bihar, Bombay, Central Provinces and Berar, Coorg, Delhi, Madras, Panth-Piploda, Orissa, and the United Provinces) joined India, three (Baluchistan, North-West Frontier and Sindh) joined Pakistan, and three ( Punjab , Bengal and Assam ) were partitioned between India and Pakistan. In 1950, after

672-597: A few days with minimal losses, which was exceptional by Western Front standards. The battalion was then relieved, and returned to the Ypres salient front section in August. Continuous rain turned the battlefront into a sea of mud causing a multitude of casualties and failure to take specific positions, reducing the battalion to 37 officers and 701 men. The Munsters were moved with its Division back south into France where it built up to 1,089 all ranks. The 16th (Irish) Division, and with it

784-577: A few more songs of the old country, N.C.O.s and men joining lustily in the choruses". The Kaiser knows each Munster, by the Shamrock on his cap, and the famous Bengal Tiger, ever ready for a scrap. With all his big battalions, Prussian guards and grenadiers, he feared to face the bayonets of the Munster Fusiliers. Following a period of rest in January 1917, the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers were returned

896-440: A frontal assault, rather than a flanking maneuver. Sunrise came at ~4 AM, and at this point the British had advanced four miles, but were still a considerable distance from the Boers. Shortly after sunrise, the Boers began firing on the advancing British, with the 3rd Grenadiers and the 1st Scots returning fire, whilst the 9th Brigade continued to advance up Table Mountain. At 4:30 AM, British Artillery opened fire on Belmont, shelling

1008-401: A gap the Germans made use of to cut off most of the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers who then had to fight their way back to the British lines. A roll call took three hours later saw only 7 officers and 240 other ranks present with 12 officers and 393 other ranks having become casualties. The battalion was moved out to Brieulles for reforming for the rest of the year. From January through to March,

1120-559: A gesture of reconciliation, unveiled a newly refurbished Memorial Arch at the former British Army barracks in Tipperary . On that occasion, the Royal Munster Fusiliers banner was ceremoniously carried and displayed in the area where the regiment had been active. Colonels of the regiment were: British India The provinces of India , earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns , were

1232-432: A legislative power existed in such places. The same two kinds of management applied for districts. Thus Ganjam and Vizagapatam were non-regulation districts. Non-regulation provinces included: At the turn of the 20th century, British India consisted of eight provinces that were administered either by a governor or a lieutenant-governor. The following table lists their areas and populations (but does not include those of

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1344-593: A quiet sector during the summer. On 27 August, the battalion again entered the line for an attack near Croisilles , taking enemy support trenches on the Hindenburg Line in half an hour with minimal losses. This was followed by the assault of 2 September when Martin Doyle won the battalion's third Victoria Cross on the Drocourt – Queant Line south of the river Scarpe , with the battalion suffering 350 casualties. The battalion

1456-408: A renowned rearguard action during the defence of Etreux , losing 9 officers and 87 other ranks killed while holding out, with most of the rest of the battalion being surrounded and taken prisoner after running out of ammunition. The Munster's had stemmed the Germans, who were five or six times their strength, for over a day, allowing their division to escape. The loss on an entire battalion so early in

1568-649: A shadow of its previous strength. The 16th (Irish) Division was reduced to cadre, having suffered the heaviest losses of any British division during the March retreat. The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers was transferred to the 57th (2nd W.Lancs) Division which had not seen action since its arrival in February 1917. The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers was largely destroyed by the German offensive, losing 36 officers and 796 other ranks since 21 March. The battalion moved northwards to amalgamate with

1680-477: A small part of Burma, and by 1886, almost two thirds of Burma had been made part of British India. This arrangement lasted until 1937, when Burma was reorganized as a separate British colony. British India did not apply to other countries in the region, such as Sri Lanka (then Ceylon ), which was a British Crown colony , or the Maldive Islands , which were a British protectorate . At its greatest extent, in

1792-554: A steady stream of casualties from frostbite and raids continuing to the end of December. Throughout the Somme campaign the 2RMF retained its local and Irish character. Following the end of their involvement in the Battle of the Somme, 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers was moved northwards to Ypres in Belgium and also absorbed the remnants of the 8th Royal Munster Fusiliers on 23 November to bring it up to

1904-460: A strength of 48 officers and 1,069 men by 1 December. The Munsters spent Christmas 1916 in the trenches, but as the New Year arrived, an official report relates "as if by mutual consent both sides ceased fire a minute or two before the close of the old year. On the stroke of midnight the pipers tuned up and gave us The Old Year out and the New Year in , A Nation Once Again , God Save Ireland , and

2016-557: A trap'. Many of the Munsters jumped from the gangway in the face of the withering fire and some drowned under their heavy equipment. Those men who continued down the gangway were mown down until all the boats and lighters were filled with dead and wounded. The ship's commanding officer, Captain Edward Unwin , on being informed that they were not succeeding, replied "in British military tradition, offensives once begun are never called off". Unwin

2128-412: The 16th (Irish) Division 's 47th and 48th Brigades, part of Kitchener's second new K2 Army Group . The 16th Division was placed under the command of Major General William Hickie . In the course of the war heavy losses suffered by the two Regular Royal Munster Fusilier Battalions caused the new service battalions to be disbanded and absorbed in turn by the regular battalions, the last on 2 June 1918 when

2240-589: The 1st Division of Lieutenant General Lord Methuen was tasked with breaking the Siege of Kimberley . Methuen planned to advance along the Western Railway from the Orange River to Kimberley, both in order to remain close to his supply line due to a lack of fresh water in the region and pack animals, and to utilize the railway to evacuate all civilians from Kimberley as ordered by Buller. Expecting little resistance,

2352-654: The Battle of Buxar , the Company obtained the Diwani of Bengal, which included the right to administer and collect land-revenue (land tax) in Bengal , the region of present-day Bangladesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar beginning from 1772 as per the treaty signed in 1765. By 1773, the Company obtained the Nizāmat of Bengal (the "exercise of criminal jurisdiction") and thereby full sovereignty of

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2464-422: The Battle of Neuve Chapelle . The day before the attack was to be launched on 9 May, the battalion received Absolution from their chaplain, Father Francis Gleeson , an event which would become depicted in the famous "Rue du Bois" painting by Fortunino Matania . The British bombardment began at 5 a.m. and the Munsters then pressed forward with extraordinary bravery, with German fire sweeping no-mans-land. Some of

2576-736: The Central Powers 's side in November 1914, the object of the landing on the Dardanelles peninsula was to open the Dardanelles Strait in the Battle of Gallipoli to enable Allied relief convoys reach Russia. Aboard the SS ; River Clyde , a converted collier with a capacity for over 2,000 men, they arrived on 25 April together with the 1st Battalion The Royal Dublin Fusiliers and some companies of

2688-564: The Indian Empire . India was divided into British India, regions that were directly administered by the British, with acts established and passed in the British parliament, and the princely states , ruled by local rulers of different ethnic backgrounds. These rulers were allowed a measure of internal autonomy in exchange for recognition of British suzerainty . British India constituted a significant portion of India both in area and population; in 1910, for example, it covered approximately 54% of

2800-579: The Royal Hampshires . The SS River Clyde ran gently ashore, its exit bows facing the beach, for what was to be the troubled British landing at Cape Helles . Small boats first carried companies of Dubliners to the beach, however four hidden Turkish machine gun posts opened fire and decimated them. Lighters to the shore were roped together and two companies of Munsters poured out on to the bow's gangway but were also hit by machine gun fire, with one survivor saying they were 'literally slaughtered like rats in

2912-784: The War Office in London. The regimental depot was located at Ballymullen Barracks , Tralee , County Kerry . Following the outbreak of the Second Boer War in South Africa in October 1899, a number of regiments from areas containing large centres of population formed additional regular battalions. The Royal Munster Fusiliers were announced to be among those regiments set to form 3rd and 4th regular battalions in February 1900, but they do not appear to have done so. The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers embarked for South Africa in 1899, and would serve there throughout

3024-659: The Western Front , but the battalion had already suffered 45% of its total losses for the entire war at Gallipoli, and numbered just 24 officers and 287 men when disembarking in France. While their sister battalion had been fighting on the shores of Gallipoli, the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers had continued to serve on the Western Front and faced their first major action of 1915 in the Second Battle of Ypres , during which they fought at

3136-627: The fusilier regiments had originated and served as "European" regiments of the East India Company, they were transferred to the British Army in 1861 when the British Crown took control of the company's private army after the Indian Mutiny of 1857 . The second half of the 19th Century saw the beginning of widespread reforms in the British Army which would eventually result in the formation of

3248-521: The 1st Army Brigade of the 1st Division at the outbreak of war. At the outbreak of war the Royal Munster Fusiliers three reserve battalions were all mobilised on 4 August 1914 and the regimental colours were sent to Tralee for safekeeping there until after the Armistice . At the outbreak of war, the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers was under strength, and reservists were called up from the regimental depots at Tralee and Fermoy amid much local cheering, to join

3360-491: The 1st Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers and the 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, while the 3rd, 4th and 5th Royal Munster Fusilier battalions were the militia units. The Reforms linked regiments to recruiting areas – which in case of the Royal Munster Fusiliers were the counties of Clare , Cork , Kerry , and Limerick . Militarily, the whole of Ireland was administered as a separate command with Command Headquarters at Parkgate ( Phoenix Park ) Dublin, directly under

3472-445: The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers was involved in various engagements in snow, frost and mud. By St. Patrick's Day 1918, it became clear that the Germans were gaining the initiative and their forecast "Big Move" was awaited. By the end of January 1918 the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers numbered 44 officers and 823 other ranks, and was then transferred to the 48th Brigade of the 16th (Irish) Division on 3 February near Peronne where it entered

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3584-512: The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers, took up positions north of the main attack during the first Battle of Cambrai which opened on 21 November with the use of over 450 British tanks. The Munsters advanced with such speed that only one enemy machine gun post was manned in time to open fire, which was taken with one loss. Considering the success of capturing a difficult objective without tank support and taking 170 prisoners, losses were light, and followed previously unsuccessful attempts by other units during

3696-400: The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers received many of the personnel from the disbanded 9th Royal Munster Fusiliers, bringing it up to strength for the summer campaign. The battalions' first noteworthy operation was the carefully planned Liévin raid on 25 June. It was during this action that Lieutenant Arthur Batten-Pooll would win the regiment's second Victoria Cross, although losses were heavy for

3808-499: The 4th and 5th Battalions, Royal Munster Fusiliers were based in Kerry . However, mounting casualties to the regiment's regular battalion meant that replacements were increasingly drawn from the reservists as the war went on. Last reassembled in France in December before demobilisation , the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers numbered 25 officers and 581 other ranks. After demobilisation by February,

3920-502: The 8th (Service) Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers was amalgamated with the 1st Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers. At the outbreak of war the Royal Munster Fusiliers three reserve battalions were all mobilised on 4 August 1914 and the regimental colours were sent to Tralee for safekeeping there until after the Armistice . Initially planned to be used for home defence, with the 3rd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers being based in Cork while both

4032-513: The Belmont-kopje by surprise before dawn, with the troops marching out at 3 AM. The 9th Brigade headed towards Table Mountain, whilst the Guards Brigade moved towards Gun Hill. The plan was for the British to flank the Boer positions in an effort to minimize casualties and come to a quick victory. However the Guards Brigade moved too far to the right of the front, and instead were in position for

4144-414: The Boers with shrapnel artillery. Lord Methuen wrote to his wife after the battle. "I detest war, people congratulate me; the men seem to look on me like a father, but I detest war the more I see of it.' Outside his tent he could now hear a "poor fellow groaning and dying, shot through the chest, he is silent now, so perhaps God has released him." As many historians of the period and since have pointed out,

4256-520: The Boers, but due to faulty maps the Grenadier Guards found themselves in front of the Boer position instead. The Guards, the 9th Brigade and the Naval Brigade assaulted the Boers over open ground, suffering about 200 casualties. Before the British came to use their bayonets, the Boers retreated by pony and re-formed in another entrenched position at Graspan , where the pattern was repeated with

4368-739: The British conquest of India throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. As well as the Royal Munster Fusilier's origins as part of the East India Company, the regiment's reserve battalions also traced their lineage to the Militia of Munster (namely the South Cork Light Infantry Militia, the Kerry Militia and the Royal Limerick County Militia, which became the 3rd, 4th and 5th Battalions, respectively). While both

4480-564: The British suffering another 197 casualties: one sailor reporting that "at 200 yards we fixed bayonets, and we just saw their heels; they didn't wait when they heard the rattle". In the first days of the Second Boer War , Boer forces besieged British garrisons at Kimberley and Ladysmith . A 40,000-strong Army Corps under the command of General Sir Redvers Buller was dispatched to South Africa and arrived in early November 1899. To relieve Kimberley and Ladysmith, Buller divided his forces, leading one division in an advance on Ladysmith, while

4592-724: The Division's assault on 28 June which secured five trench lines. This provoked a general attack by the Turkish side along the Cape Helles front on 5 July, but the Turks were repulsed after suffering heavy losses. The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers participated in limited actions into the middle of July. A month's rest was promised on 15 July, but by 22 July the battalion were back in action, their strength around 500 of whom only 3 officers and 314 men remained from those who first landed on 25 April. The climax of

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4704-537: The East India Company's victories at the Battle of Plassey (1757), and Battle of Buxar (1764)—both within the Bengal Presidency established in 1765—and the abolition of local rule (Nizamat) in Bengal in 1793, the company gradually began to formally expand its territories across India . By the mid-19th century, and after the three Anglo-Maratha Wars and the four Anglo-Mysore Wars , the East India Company had become

4816-507: The Gallipoli came with the Suvla attack on 21 August in the Battle of Scimitar Hill , the Turks inflicted severe casualties. The unsuccessful attack cost the Munsters 3 officers and 79 men that day alone. There was little further action other than holding front lines from September through to November, when the weather worsened. Late in November, gales swept over the peninsula, hundreds were drowned in

4928-720: The Madras Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort St. George), the Bombay Presidency, and the Bengal Presidency (or the Presidency of Fort William)—each administered by a governor. After Robert Clive 's victory in the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the puppet government of a new Nawab of Bengal , was maintained by the East India Company. However, after the invasion of Bengal by the Nawab of Oudh in 1764 and his subsequent defeat in

5040-435: The Munsters and Dubliners received new drafts on 29 May and became separate units again. By 4 June, the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers numbered 40 officers and 500 other ranks, but many the new recruits were young and inexperienced. The Munsters withheld a further Turkish attack on 17 June, killing over 300 Turks. The arrival of further new drafts replenished the battalion to 23 officers and other 588 ranks. The Munsters took part in

5152-426: The Munsters audaciously charging ahead through the German lines, briefly waving a green flag on its breastwork, then moved beyond until cut off by the British artillery bombardment that followed, which killed many men sheltering in shell craters. By 11 a.m. the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers was withdrawn with only 3 officers and 200 men remaining, having lost 19 officers and 370 men killed, wounded or captured. The Munsters

5264-415: The Munsters who dashed to retreat, with some making it to a high ridge trench where they were driven out and retired to Epehy by dark, fog having allowed the Germans to infiltrate easily. The next day the battalion was withdrawn to Tincourt where the depleted 16th (Irish) Division was concentrated, with the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers now numbering only 290 other ranks, from 629 the day before. On 22 March,

5376-568: The Royal Munster Fusiliers. The first of these reforms saw the localisation of recruiting districts in Britain and Ireland between 1873 and 1874 under the Cardwell Reforms . Five of the historic East India Company's European infantry battalions were given Irish territorial titles under the Childers Reforms of 1881. The former Bengal Fusilier regiments were merged into a single regiment to become

5488-545: The SS Orient in early November 1902. Prior to the First World War , the Royal Munster Fusiliers were an established strength of two regular service and three reserve battalions . With the outbreak of war in August 1914, the need for further divisions resulted in the creation of a New Army made up of volunteers who would serve for the duration of the war. This rapid expansion of the British Army would significantly increase

5600-585: The South Cork Light Infantry, was embodied in early December 1899, and 435 officers and men embarked the SS Sumatra for South Africa on 23 February 1900. The 2nd Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, arrived in South Africa from India in December 1901 and served during the closing stages of the campaign, garrisoning blockhouses in the northeast of the Orange River Colony . Following the end of

5712-591: The administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent . Collectively, they have been called British India . In one form or another, they existed between 1612 and 1947, conventionally divided into three historical periods: "British India" did not include the many princely states which continued to be ruled by Indian princes, though by the 19th century under British suzerainty —their defence, foreign relations, and communications relinquished to British authority and their internal rule closely monitored. At

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5824-509: The area and included over 77% of the population. In addition, there were Portuguese and French exclaves in India. Independence from British rule was achieved in 1947 with the formation of two nations, the Dominions of India and Pakistan , the latter including East Bengal , present-day Bangladesh . The term British India also applied to Burma for a shorter time period: beginning in 1824,

5936-498: The battalion at Aldershot which brought the battalion up to a strength of 27 officers and 971 other ranks before its departure to France on 13 August 1914. As part of the British Expeditionary Force , the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers took part in the Battle of Mons and on 27 August were given the arduous task of forming the rearguard to cover the retreat of the 1st Division in the face of the German advance, with instructions to retreat only if ordered. The Munster's made an epic stand in

6048-410: The battalion crossed back over the Somme at Péronne . By 25 March, the battalion had lost 27 officers and 550 men, as the rest tried to reform, holding off several attacks and near encirclements. The Munsters formed a 400-man column and attempted a night retreat, half reaching friendly positions next morning at Hamel . The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers was fortunate to be in reserve as the Germans opened

6160-400: The battalion moved to the Loos sector in June, with casualties in July and August occurring from shelling. With other forces being withdrawn to reinforce the Gallipoli Campaign , no reinforcements or recruits arrived during the summer, keeping the battalion weak as the Loos offensive began on 25 September 1915. The Munsters were held in reserve at first but they were soon tasked with holding

6272-464: The battalion when it numbered 28 officers and 700 other ranks in May. Only four of the officers were pre-war. The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers, who had been stationed in Burma, arrived back at Avonmouth , UK in January 1915, and were entrained for Coventry where it was assigned to the 86th Brigade of the 29th Division (United Kingdom) . In March it sailed for the Dardanelles , Turkey, when it numbered 28 officers and 1,002 other ranks. Turkey had joined

6384-474: The battalion with 5 officers and 60 other ranks killed or wounded. The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers were transferred with its division down to the Somme sector in July for the opening of the Battle of the Somme , entering the lines on 14 July and capturing its objectives two days later. The battalion repulsed the German counterattack on 18 July, with an officer and 26 men killed, 127 wounded and 50 gassed. The Munsters were in reserve until 20 August, when they entered

6496-520: The beginning of the Hundred Days Offensive . On 1 October, the battalion was transported to Épehy , which had been the scene of its Spring Offensive experiences back in March, and it was again ordered into the lines on 4 October, to capture Le Catelet . The Munsters largely gaining their objective, however, they had to retire after encountering heavy counterattacks and failures elsewhere on the line, losing many 6st Royal Munster Fusiliers pre-war veterans who had survived Gallipoli. The 50th Division's advance

6608-418: The city on 21 October. The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers was billeted in Lille until the Armistice of 11 November 1918 . The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers began reconstruction on 7 June 1918 when most of the 6th Royal Munster Fusiliers who had returned from Palestine were transferred to the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers. The battalion made its last transfer to the 150th Brigade of the 50th Division at Arras for

6720-422: The company established its first factory at Hoogly in 1640. Almost a half-century later, after Mughal Emperor Aurengzeb forced the company out of Hooghly for its tax evasion, Job Charnock was tenant of three small villages, later renamed Calcutta , in 1686, making it the company's new headquarters. By the mid-18th century, the three principal trading settlements including factories and forts, were then called

6832-465: The conflict's conclusion in 1918. Following establishment of the independent Irish Free State in 1922, the five regiments that had their traditional recruiting grounds in the counties of the new state were disbanded and the Royal Munster Fusiliers ceased to be as a regiment on 31 July 1922. Before the regiment was reformed as part of a reorganization of the British Army in 1881, the Royal Munster Fusilier's historic background went back as far as 1652 with

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6944-454: The dark into our trenches bayoneting our men before we knew it had begun. Bayoneting on both sides was terrible. At dawn the Turks were mowed down, and heaps of bodies and streams of blood remaining everywhere." The battalion was reduced to 4 officers and 430 men, with the Turks attempting further attacks the following days only to be driven off once again, but the combined force of Munster and Dublin Fusiliers were down to 372 men by 11 April. Both

7056-417: The defeat of Tipu Sultan in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War more of his territory was annexed to the Madras Presidency. In 1801, Carnatic , which had been under the suzerainty of the company, began to be directly administered by it as a part of the Madras Presidency. By 1851, the East India Company's vast and growing holdings across the sub-continent were still grouped into just four main territories: By

7168-438: The dependent native states): During the partition of Bengal (1905–1912), a new lieutenant-governor's province of Eastern Bengal and Assam existed. In 1912, the partition was partially reversed, with the eastern and western halves of Bengal re-united and the province of Assam re-established; a new lieutenant-governor's province of Bihar and Orissa was also created. In addition, there were a few provinces that were administered by

7280-451: The early 20th century, the territory of British India extended as far as the frontiers of Persia in the west; Afghanistan in the northwest; Nepal in the north, Tibet in the northeast; and China, French Indochina and Siam in the east. It also included the Aden Province in the Arabian Peninsula . The East India Company , which was incorporated on 31 December 1600, established trade relations with Indian rulers in Masulipatam on

7392-452: The east coast in 1611 and Surat on the west coast in 1612. The company rented a small trading outpost in Madras in 1639. Bombay, which was ceded to the British Crown by Portugal as part of the wedding dowry of Catherine of Braganza in 1661, was in turn granted to the East India Company to be held in trust for the Crown. Meanwhile, in eastern India , after obtaining permission from the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan to trade with Bengal,

7504-466: The east of the railroad, parallel to the railway line. These were Table Mountain and Gun Hill to the south. After capturing both positions, the British force would advance to the east against the other Boer line running parallel to the railway, which included Sugar Loaf Hill and Razor Back to the south and Mount Blanc, which, 100 ft higher than Table Mountain, dominated the region. Commanded by: Alfred E. Codrington Lord Methuen planned to assault

7616-399: The end of the war, and was first to last composed of voluntarily enlisted soldiers. During the war 346 officers and over 8,000 O.R.s passed through its ranks". The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers remained a predominantly Irish battalion to the end of the war, composed of many Dublin Fusiliers from May 1918. At least 43 officers and 869 other ranks died in action with the battalion during the war. It

7728-463: The entire Second Boer War. Initially, the battalion took part in Lord Robert's advance into the Orange Free State . Following this, the battalion was attached to the 20th Brigade and fought at the Battle of Belmont . With the beginning of the war's guerrilla warfare phase, the battalion took part in numerous pacification campaigns against the Boers in Pretoria and Western Transvaal . The 3rd ( Militia ) Battalion, Royal Munster Fusiliers, formerly

7840-416: The equally hard hit 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers at Inghem on 14 April, with the resulting unit numbering 28 officers and 896 other ranks. The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers was then reduced to a training cadre of 11 officers, who left the 16th (Irish) Division to provide instruction for newly arrived American Expeditionary Force . In May, the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers entered the lines again at Gommecourt ,

7952-424: The establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922 (predecessor of the Republic of Ireland ), it was agreed that the six former Southern Ireland regiments would be disbanded, including the Royal Munster Fusiliers. On 12 June, five regimental Colours were laid up in a ceremony at St George's Hall, Windsor Castle in the presence of HM King George V . (The South Irish Horse had sent a Regimental engraving because

8064-714: The expanded Bengal Presidency . During the period, 1773 to 1785, very little changed; the only exceptions were the addition of the dominions of the Raja of Banares to the western boundary of the Bengal Presidency, and the addition of Salsette Island to the Bombay Presidency . Portions of the Kingdom of Mysore were annexed to the Madras Presidency after the Third Anglo-Mysore War ended in 1792. Next, in 1799, after

8176-459: The final attack of the Battle of Cambrai on 8 October, which was found to be evacuated the following day as the Germans were in disorganised retreat. The 57th Division was then sent north to Armentières , with the Munsters entering the line on 17 October, with no resistance. Lille was captured the following day and the battalion provided a guard of honour for the French President's visit to

8288-452: The flooded trenches or from exposure and frostbite. Faced with defeat, the British decided to withdraw from the peninsula and the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers was evacuated as it arrived, on the River Clyde , sailing on 2 January 1916 for Alexandria . From there it sailed with the rest of the 29th Division and arrived in France on 22 March. 3 years of warfare still remained for the battalion on

8400-612: The formation of the Bengal European Regiment by the Honourable East India Company . This regiment would eventually become the 101st Regiment of Foot (Royal Bengal Fusiliers) , or the 1st Bengal European Fusiliers . The East India Company formed the 104th Regiment of Foot (Bengal Fusiliers) , or 2nd Bengal European Fusiliers , from this regiment in 1765. Both regiments, which were composed exclusively of white soldiers, not Indian sepoys , played pivotal roles in

8512-573: The formation of the New Army under Lord Kitchener . The war target was seventy divisions in all, the New Army to have thirty volunteer divisions separate and under Army Order 324, as additional from the Regular Army, with a planned period of service of at least three years. On 7 August a general United Kingdom -wide call for 100,000 volunteers aged 19–30 was issued. The battalions were to be distinguished by

8624-601: The front trenches again in February at Barleux , with the thawing weather resulting in extremely muddy conditions in the trenches. In March, the first major event was the German withdrawal from the old Somme battlefield to the newly constructed Hindenburg Line . The battalion followed across the Somme, but was held up into May removing mines and booby-traps and repairing communications. The Munsters then moved to near Nieuwpoort in Flanders for an intended amphibious landing, with an impressive strength of 43 officers and 1,070 men, which

8736-535: The last cadre of 14 officers and 54 other ranks left France in June 1919 and was reabsorbed into the reformed battalion on the Isle of Wight numbering 900 men, of these 500 with war service. Their last commander wrote "Its losses amounted to 179 officers and 4,088 rank and file killed, wounded or missing. There were twenty-eight changes in the battalion's command during the war. The battalion retained its essentially Irish character to

8848-635: The last great German effort in the First Battle of Ypres . From 15 November, as snows began, they drove off further attacks, with trench warfare now becoming dominant. In early December they aided in the evacuation of the Ypres Benedictine Convent, whose occupants subsequently established Kylemore Abbey in Connemara , Ireland. The battalion was moved south to the Festubert sector in France, after

8960-516: The line and suffered over 200 casualties, leaving the battalion with around 350 soldiers all ranks, which further reduced to 250 by the time the battle died down on 13 October. John Redmond M.P., the Irish leader, visited the battalion a month later on 15 November and promised to fill the depleted 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers with Irish recruits. There followed three months of bitter winter weather in appalling trench conditions. New recruits began arriving over

9072-426: The line facing the strategic town of Ginchy on 5 September, having suffered over 200 casualties by gas-shelling on the way. The Munsters took part in the ensuing attack and triumphant capture of Ginchy by the 16th Division but at a high cost for the battalion which was reduced to 5 officers and 305 other ranks. A London newspaper headlined How the Irish took Ginchy – Splendid daring of the Irish troops . In May,

9184-476: The lines a week later. The division was now under the command of General Hubert Gough . The British front was at its lengthiest when the German spring offensive opened with a devastating bombardment early on 21 March 1918, after which a fierce attack by fresh troops was launched. The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers suffered badly from the shelling but held the Germans up all night, before they broke through and overwhelmed

9296-427: The lines once again for steady fighting but ran into heavy off-target and ineffective British artillery bombardment, killing 4 officers and 29 other ranks. A continual toll of casualties made September a costly month for the battalion. After a month's break in October, the 2 Royal Munster Fusiliers returned to the Somme for maintenance duties, then went into the mud filled front-line trenches from 27 November onwards, with

9408-480: The march was undertaken without secrecy and no attempt was made to deceive the Boers as to its direction. After the arrival of the Naval Brigade with its 4.7-inch guns , it began on 21 November. Due to a shortage of cavalry, the British force was unable to conduct effective reconnaissance and thus were unaware of the Boer strength and composition, while the latter were appraised of the exact strength and composition of Methuen's force. As prior reconnaissance had located

9520-426: The middle of March with light casualties (2 officers and 20 men killed). The battalion rehearsed special training during April and May for the assault on the strategic Messines Ridge . The Flanders offensive began at 3.10am on 7 June 1917 with the detonation of nineteen huge mines previously burrowed under the German lines. This was followed by the advance of the 16th Irish Division opposite the village of Wytschaete, to

9632-421: The new Indian constitution was adopted, the provinces in India were replaced by redrawn states and union territories. Pakistan, however, retained its five provinces, one of which, East Bengal , was renamed East Pakistan in 1956 and became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971. Battle of Belmont (1899) [REDACTED]   United Kingdom 1900 1901 1902 The Battle of Belmont

9744-432: The offensive with a gas-bombardment. By the next day, the battalion was heavily engaged, the enemy using a new zigzag attack strategy. The battalion retaliated but was forced to withdraw and were quickly down to 7 officers and 450 men. There was then a general withdrawal across the Somme at Peronne , by which time the battalion was reduced to just 290 men. The German offensive had decimated the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers to

9856-647: The paramount political and military power in south Asia, its territory held in trust for the British Crown . Company rule in Bengal (after 1793) was terminated by the Government of India Act 1858 , following the events of the Bengal Rebellion of 1857 . Henceforth known as British India, it was thereafter directly ruled as a colonial possession of the United Kingdom , and India was officially known after 1876 as

9968-583: The regiment chose to have its standard remain in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin ). The six regiments were then all disbanded on 31 July 1922. With the outbreak of the Irish Civil War , some thousands of the Irish regiment's ex-servicemen and officers contributed to expanding the Free State government's newly formed National Army . In its ranks, Royal Munster Fusiliers ex–servicemen, veterans from World War I, served at

10080-420: The regiment's first Victoria Cross . The 28 April saw a renewed attack in the Battle for Krithia village , but the survivors of the landing were withdrawn by 29 April due to heavy losses and amalgamated with the surviving Dublin Fusiliers, to form the "Dubsters" battalion of 8 officers and 770 men. The Turks launched a renewed attack on the night of 1 May, with one Royal Munster Fusilier saying "they crept up in

10192-418: The right the 36th (Ulster) Division opposite the village of Messines, the largest ever concentration of Irish soldiers on a battlefield. The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers took all its objectives on schedule despite the loss of nearly all of its supporting tanks. The subsequent battle was a complete success militarily for the British, with the two Irish divisions showing great fortitude, advancing over two miles in

10304-502: The side of IRA ex-guerrillas who only a few months earlier had fought against the British Army in the Irish War of Independence . They brought considerable combat experience with them and by May 1923 comprised 50 per cent of its 53,000 soldiers and 20 per cent of its officers. The Irish National Army reached a strength of 60,000. (Royal Bengal Fusiliers) (Bengal Fusiliers) On 30 September 2005, Mary McAleese , President of Ireland , in

10416-630: The size of the Royal Munster Fusiliers who between their regular, reserve and volunteer battalions would have a combined strength of 11 raised battalions throughout the war. At the outbreak of war the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers was acting as a regular garrison in Rangoon, Burma , having been based in the Far East since they had left Fermoy in 1899 to fight in the Second Boer War. The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers were based at Aldershot , England as part of

10528-617: The state of Gujarat ), and this became the company's first headquarters town. It was followed in 1611 by a permanent factory at Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast , and in 1612 the company joined other already established European trading companies in Bengal in trade. However, the power of the Mughal Empire declined from 1707, first at the hands of the Marathas and later due to invasion from Persia (1739) and Afghanistan (1761); after

10640-401: The summer. The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers final front tour of 1917 ended on 2 December when the Division was moved south to take over a French section. By 6 November 1917, the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers now numbered 20 officers and 630 other ranks when it arrived at "Irish Farm" in the Ypres salient. The ground was a quagmire full of water-logged shell-holes following four months of battle. It

10752-622: The time of Indian Independence, in 1947 , there were officially 565 princely states, a few being very large although most were very small. They comprised a quarter of the population of the British Raj and two fifths of its land area, with the provinces comprising the remainders. In 1608, the Mughal Emperor Farrukhsiyar issued a royal farman to the East India Company to establish a small trading settlement at Surat (now in

10864-492: The time of the Indian Rebellion of 1857 , and the end of Company rule, the developments could be summarised as follows: The British Raj began with the idea of the presidencies as the centres of government. Until 1834, when a General Legislative Council was formed, each presidency under its governor and council was empowered to enact a code of so-called 'regulations' for its government. Therefore, any territory or province that

10976-705: The war in 1902 the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers were sent to India. More than 520 officers and men left Cape Town on the SS Lake Manitoba in September 1902, arriving at Bombay the following month and were then stationed at Multan in Punjab . They would later take part in actions against the tribes of the North-West Frontier in 1908. The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers left South Africa soon after their sister battalion, and 450 officers and men returned to Cork Harbour on

11088-499: The war was a disaster for the regiment. When the scattered battalion reassembled on 29 August it was down to a mere 5 officers and 196 other ranks. The remnants of the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers were withdrawn to be recuperated before returning to battle, seeing action most notably at Langemarck , Belgium on 22 October. By 5 November, recruits from home brought its strength up to over 800 men. The battalion next saw action near Zillebeke , Belgium on 12 November and helped to defend against

11200-407: The war, successfully taking a large area around Haute Noyelles on 4 November, the number of prisoners taken indicative of the low state of German morale. After a counter-bombardment on 7 November the battalion was withdrawn for the remaining days up until the Armistice . With the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 the immediate need for a considerable expansion of the British Army resulted in

11312-503: The winter, but in the relative inactivity, 65 men were hit by harassing random fire while 40 men went down with frostbite and trench fever in the Arctic weather before the winter had ended. The 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers entered the front lines in France for the first time on 23 April 1916 at the Somme sector, where they slowly built up strength to 26 officers and 476 men. On 29 May, the battalion

11424-413: The word 'Service' after their number. The first new battalions were raised as units of Kitchener's new K1 Army Group , which led to the formation of the 6th and 7th (Service) Battalions, Royal Munster Fusiliers which were a part of the 30th Brigade of the 10th (Irish) Division , under the command of General Bryan Mahon . The 8th and 9th (Service) Battalions, Royal Munster Fusiliers followed as units of

11536-401: Was aborted following a surprise German attack on 10 July. The Munsters were then moved with their division to Dunkirk for another amphibious attempt near Zeebrugge to link with a land offensive through Passchendaele , but this was also cancelled when the land offensive did not gain enough footing. For the men of the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers, rotating routine trench duties continued up to

11648-482: Was added by conquest or treaty to a presidency came under the existing regulations of the corresponding presidency. However, in the case of provinces that were acquired but were not annexed to any of the three presidencies, their official staff could be provided as the governor-general pleased, and was not governed by the existing regulations of the Bengal, Madras, or Bombay presidencies. Such provinces became known as 'non-regulation provinces' and up to 1833 no provision for

11760-508: Was an engagement of the Second Boer War on 23 November 1899, where the British under Lord Methuen assaulted a Boer position on Belmont kopje . Methuen's three brigades were on their way to raise the Boer siege of Kimberley . A Boer force of about 2,000 men had entrenched on the range of Belmont kopje to delay their advance. Methuen sent the Guards Brigade on a night march to outflank

11872-520: Was assigned to the 48th Brigade of the 16th (Irish) Division at Béthune and they were reinforced by members from the disbanded 9th Royal Munster Fusiliers, bringing the Battalion up to full strength. The Munsters remained in the area of the Loos salient into August with only intermittent casualties. When the 16th Irish Division was ordered south of the Somme battlefield, the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers entered

11984-492: Was awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions that day. At daybreak the next day, just three companies of Munsters, two companies of Hampshires and one company of Dubliners had made it to the shelter of some dunes. On 26 April they took fort Sedd-el-Bahr overlooking the bay, charging and taking the village behind and held off several Turkish counterattacks. It was in this attack that the heroic actions of William Cosgrove won

12096-635: Was demobilised in December, reducing it to 13 officers and 89 others, before leaving France. In May 1919, after returning to England, the 1st Royal Munster Fusiliers absorbed the 3rd Royal Munster Fusiliers at Plymouth . It left for Silesia in September 1921, returning the following April to be disbanded in July 1922, ending a history going back 250 years. The 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers served in Egypt from November 1919 to May 1922, returning for demobilisation and disbandment in July 1922. Due to substantial defence cuts and

12208-431: Was one of only two British battalions to reach the German lines but they had suffered the regiment's highest loss of any one day of the war, with 11 officers and 140 men killed in action. It was an unsuccessful day for the British forces overall, with casualties exceeding 11,000, the devastating losses exposing the British forces weakness in artillery. The summer was relatively quiet for the 2nd Royal Munster Fusiliers after

12320-491: Was resumed on 10 October, and the battalion was reduced to 13 officers and 411 men by 16 October. The Battle of Épehy began on 18 October to drive the Germans behind the river, with the Munsters going in next day in fog surprising the Germans and taking many prisoner as well the objectives. The Munsters overran their objectives and were caught in another Division's barrage, with heavy losses experienced. They were then withdrawn and reorganised for what to be their final operation of

12432-461: Was then relieved and received replacements and trained in preparation for the assault on the Cambrai to St. Quentin line. With a 3,000-yard advance on 27 September, Graincourt was captured by the Munsters. The Germans counter-attacked, recapturing many positions. The battalion remained under shellfire even behind the lines and was reduced to 7 officers and 261 men by 3 October. The battalion supported

12544-605: Was to be the last British effort of the Passchendaele campaign . The Munsters were to be one of two battalions leading the 1st Division's attack at 6 a.m. on 10 November. Weighed down with equipment, they waded waist deep through mud and water, initially taking all objectives within 45 minutes. Seeing the progress by the Canadians on the right, the men of the Munsters pressed on. However, the South Wales Borders advance had left

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