|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 10, 2011 22:15:57 GMT
Sept 10th In Irish Military History 1602Red Hugh O'Donnell died in Simancas, Spain. Legend has it that he was poisoned by an English spy. 1855Sebastopol fell to the Allied armies in the Crimean war. If you've been following the VC thread you'll know that there was a big Irish input into the siege. 1857During the Siege of Delhi Pte John Divane of the 60th Rifles earned a VC leading a charge of Indian infantry. Divane is also called Devine and Duane. He was from Co. Galway. 191626437 Pte Frank Forde, 10th Bn Royal Dublin Fusiliers. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. 6946 Pte Denis Bannon 6th Bn Connaught Rangers. Killed in action on the Western Front. 1963 Pte James Fitzpatrick, 6th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Fethard, Co. Tipperary. 1923 Ireland joined the League of Nations. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 10, 2011 23:59:33 GMT
11th Sept in Irish Military History 1649
The Siege Of DroghedaThe siege took place during the Confederate Wars in the second week of September 1649. Having landed in Ireland in August 1649, to re-conquer the country on behalf of the English Parliament, Oliver Cromwell moved north to Drogheda in September. The town was garrisoned by an English Royalist regiment under Col Arthur Aston and Irish Confederate troops. The garrison had a total strength of about 3100 men, roughly half English, half Irish. Cromwell had around 12,000 men at Drogheda and eleven 48-pounder artillery pieces. Cromwell however didn’t want to go through the lengthy process of blockading the townand forcing a surrender so he opted for a direct assault. He positioned his forces on the south side of the river Boyne concentrated for the assault. On Monday 10th September Cromwell had a letter delivered to Aston, calling him too surrender the town. Aston refused to surrender so Cromwell ordered his artillery to begin the bombardment of the town. The Parliamentarian batteries were situated on the south side of Drogheda. The first battery was aimed at the southern wall between the Duleek Gate and St Mary's Church, whose tower was used as an observation post by the Royalists. The second battery was placed to the east of St Mary's to fire across a ravine which ran along the eastern wall. The batteries were placed so that the breaches they made would allow the two columns of assault troops to converge in the south-eastern corner of the town and mutually support one another once they had gained entry. Aston ordered the construction of additional defensive earthworks when he realised where Cromwell intended to concentrate his fire. The cannon quickly battered two large breaches in the town's medieval walls and Cromwell ordered his troops to assault the breaches at 5 pm on September 11th. The regiments of Colonel Castle and Colonel Ewer attacked the southern breach while Colonel Hewson's regiment drew the short straw and had to attack across the ravine and into the eastern breach. Hewson's men met with fierce resistance in the eastern breach. Their first assault was thrown back and they began to retreat back down the ravine. The regiments of Colonel Venables and Colonel Phayre came up in support and the Parliamentarians succeeded in forcing their way into the town. The assault on the southern breach also met with heavy resistance. Colonel Castle was shot in the head and killed during a Royalist counter-attack and his men began to retreat. Cromwell himself moved into the breach to rally the wavering men. At this stage the tide turned and the Royalist commander in the breach, Colonel Wall was killed. The defenders fell back as the Parliamentarians poured through the breaches and overran the Royalist defences. The soldiers of the New Model Army pursued the defenders through the streets, killing them as they ran. Aston and about 200 men barricaded themselves into Millmount Fort, which overlooked the town's eastern gate. This fort held out while the rest of the town was being sacked but eventually it too fell and the defenders were put to the sword. Another group of soldiers holed up in St Peter’s church, at the northern end of Drogheda. They were burned to death when the Parliamentarian soldiers set fire to the Church. About 200 of the garrison survived the assault on Drogheda. They were transported as slaves to Barbados, which for Europeans in the 17th century was virtually a death sentence. Estimates of civilian casualties vary from several hundred to several thousand. In Irish history the siege has gone down as a Cromwellian massacre, making Oliver one of the most hated men in history. 150 Parliamentarians died in the assault. After the fall of Drogheda, the Royalists abandoned the towns of Trim and Dundalk without a fight. Cromwell sent three regiments under Colonel Venables north to join forces with Sir Charles Coote in Ulster while he returned to Dublin with the main body of his army and prepared to advance into southern Ireland. 1709 The Battle of Malplaquet was fought in Belgium between the British and the French. John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, commanded and won the bloodiest battle of the 18th century. Ireland was ably represented by The Royal Irish Regt. www.britishbattles.com/spanish-succession/battle-malplaquet.htm1857Pte Patrick Green from Galway, serving at Delhi with the 75th Foot during the Indian Mutiny, rescued a comrade who had fallen wounded, among the enemy and earned a Victoria Cross. 191520303 Pte Thomas Murray, 1st Bn Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. Died At Sea. He was from Waterford. 19169560 Pte Denis Mc Grath, 1st Bn Irish Guards. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. 19178498 Pte Maurice Lacey, 1st Bn Irish Guards. Died of wounds on the Western Front. He was from Cappagh, Co. Waterford. 2769 Pte Thomas Brien, 1st Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers. Died on the Western Front. From Clonmel, Co. Tipperary. 200429 Pte E Carroll, Labour Corps. Died At Home and was buried in the Curragh Military Cemetery. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 12, 2011 15:35:10 GMT
12th Sept in Irish Military History 19142nd Bn The Leinster Regt landed in France at St Nazaire, as part of 17th Brigade in the 6th Division. It had been in Cork in August and was then moved to Cambridgeshire. The battalion spent the entire war on the Western Front. It was transferred to the 17th Brigade in 24th Division in Oct 1915 and to 73rd Brigade in 24th Division in Feb 1918. The Battle of the Aisne began. After the Marne a few days previously it became clear that the Germans were withdrawing. Consequently the allied armies worked to push them back over the Aisne river. The same Irish units that had fought on the Marne were committed to this battle. 4362 Sgt Albert Chambers from Windgap, Co.Kilkenny. Serving in 19th Hussars. He died in England. 4283 Pte Edward Grey, 1st Bn Irish Guards. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Tallow, Co. Waterford. 19151247 Pte Timothy O'Brien, 5th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Died in Gallipoli. He was from Cashel, Co. Tipperary. 19167545 Pte Martin Gavin from Waterford, 6th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Died of wounds in France. 1917At Broembeek, Belgium, Lance-Sgt John Moyney from Co.Laois, serving in 2nd Irish Guards, was in command of 15 men manning two outposts. They were surrounded by the German for four days, with no water and very little food. On the fifth day, t hey fought off an enemy attack with grenades and a Lewis gun. Finally Moyney led a charge on the enemy and broke through to a stream, where he and Pte T Woodcock covered the rest as they crossed before escaping themselves. Moyney and Woodcock received a VC . John Moyney died in 1980 in Roscrea, Co. Tipperary. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 12, 2011 22:38:01 GMT
13th Sept in Irish Military History 1882 The Battle of Tel-el-Kebir was fought in Egypt. The Irish input was 2nd Royal Irish Regt and 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers. The commander in chief was Sir Garnet Wolseley (born in Dublin) and his QMG was Sir Francis Butler (Bansha, Co. Tipperary). A mutiny of the Egyptian army in 1881 had seen the rise to dictator status of Ahmed Arabi, an Egyptian Colonel. The British needed to control the Suez canal which provided a short cut to the colonies and so it was decided to restore the compliant Khedive as a puppet ruler. Initially the Royal Navy tried to do the job with a bombardment of Alexandria. They discovered yet again, and they've been discovering ever since, that there is no substitute for the infantry. Sir Garnet Wolseley was sent to do the job. Royal Irish Regt fatalities Capt C M Jones (attached from Connaught Rangers) L/Cpl F Devine, Ptes, P Milligan, P Stars, C Looby, J Woodall, P Maher and H Lines. www.britishbattles.com/egypt-1882/tel-el-kebir-1882.htm1914The Battle of the Aisne continued. The British army succeeded in crossing the river. 19168139 Pte John Cummins, 2nd Bn Irish Guards. KIA at the Somme. He was from Fethard, Co. Tipperary. 191710064 Pte John Maye, Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford. 2nd Bn Irish Guards. KIA Ypres. 7710 Pte William Nicholson, Ballybricken, Waterford. 2nd Bn Irish Guards. KIA Ypres. 1943In New Guinea Pte Richard Kelliher of the 2/25th Bn Australian Army single handed destroyed a MG position that was inflicting heavy casualties on his platoon. He then rescued his wounded section commander, under heavy fire from another enemy position. He was awarded a Victoria Cross for this action. Oddly enough he had been court-martialled for cowardice only 6 months previously. Kelliher is officially an Australian VC but he was born in Tralee, Co. Kerry in 1910. He died in 1963. 1961Tpr Edward Gaffney died in the Congo. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 14, 2011 9:50:07 GMT
14th Sept in Irish Military History 1647Lord Inchiquin, sacked Cashel. He was fighting for Parliament at that time. Cashel was garrisoned by troops of the Confederation of Kilkenny. 1852 The Duke of Wellington died. Arthur Wellesley was born in Dublin, served in India and commanded the allied armies in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo. He served as MP for Meath and became Prime Minister of Britain. 1857At Delhi during the Indian Mutiny Bugler Robert Hawthorne of the Oxf & Bucks Light Infantry earned a VC while in action with a group which blew up the Kashmir Gate. He was from Maghera. Meanwhile at the Kabul gate, Sgt James McGuire and Drummer Miles Ryan, of the 1st Bengal European Fusiliers, the antecedent of the Munster Fusiliers, were both awarded the VC for saving many lives by throwing blazing boxes of ammunition into a canal. McGuire was from Co. Fermanagh. Ryan from Derry. 19147225 Pte Michael Sullivan, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Died on the Western Front. He was from Portlaw, Co. Waterford. 191512295 Pte Patrick Dillon, 1st Bn King's Liverpool Regt. Died on the Western Front. 1943157713 Lt Stanley Armitage, from Ballinure, Co. Tipperary. He was a member of 7th Coast Regt, Royal Artillery. He died in Singapore, presumably a prisoner of the Japanese. His brother Ben had been killed in action on the HMS Prince of Wales in Dec 1941. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 15, 2011 1:19:38 GMT
15th Sept in Irish Military History 19145983 Sgt William Castles, 6th Bn Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Ardmore, Co. Waterford. 1916The Battle of Flers-Courcelette opened on the Somme. The Guards Division took part and the increased fighting is reflected in the days local casualties in the two battalions of the Irish Guards. The battle also heralded tank warfare. 15 of the new weapons attacked Flers and precipitated an advance of 2,000 yards. Unheard of on the Somme, where Divisions had died to advance 100m. A famous casualty of the battle on this day was Raymond Asquith, a Lieutenant in the 3rd Bn Grenadier Guards and son of the Prime Minister of Great Britain. He was wounded near Lesboeufs and died shortly after. He is buried in Guillemont Road cemetery. In the same row is his step-mother’s nephew, Lt Hon Edward Tennant, who was KIA a week later with the 4th Grenadier Guards. Killed in action on the Somme serving in 1st Bn Irish Guards 4228 L/Cpl Daniel Earl, Waterford. 5451 Pte George Lawless, Kilgainey, Co. Tipperary. He is commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial and on his family headstone in St Patrick’s Cemetery, Clonmel. 5607 L/Cpl Harry O'Leary, Macallagh, Co. Waterford. Killed in action on the Somme serving in 2nd Bn Irish Guards 8073 Pte John Delahunty, Waterford. 7482 Pte Patrick Grant, Ballybricken, Waterford. 7269 Pte Frank Hogan, Waterford. 9338 Pte Peter O'Brien, Fourmilewater, Co. Waterford. 191616497 Pte William Duggan, 5th Bn Royal Irish Fusiliers. Killed in action in Salonica. He was from Waterford. 19172105 Pte Charles Ryall, 1st Bn Irish Guards. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Fethard, Co. Tipperary. 1961Killed in Action in the Congo with 35th Bn. Cpl Michael Nolan. Pte Patrick Mullins. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 16, 2011 11:24:01 GMT
16th Sept in Irish Military History 191410861 Pte Joseph Marshall from Waterford. 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt KIA France. 191517035 Pte Michael Barry, 5th Bn Royal Irish Fusiliers. Died in Gallipoli. He was from Clonmel. 1916Lt Hubert Malcolmson, from Clonmel. A member of 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt , he died in at home. He was a Quaker and is buried in the Friends Burial Ground, O’Neill St, Clonmel. 1941Sixteen soldiers were killed in the Glen of Imaal while training with landmines. Many others were seriously injured including 3 who were blinded for life. www.irishwarmemorials.ie/html/showMemorial.php?show=348Those killed were Anti-Aircraft Battalion Lt J.J. Brierton Lt J.D. Fennessy Lt T.O. O'Neill Sgt T. Stokes Cpl E.J. Kennedy Cpl W. Shannon Gnr J. Murphy Gnr J. McDonnell Gnr G. P. O'Hagan Gnr James Osborne Artillery Depot & School CS P. McMahon Sgt M. Scullion Cpl D. Cleary Cpl C. Heffernan Cpl J. Taylor Corps of Engineers Lt M.J. McLoughlin. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 17, 2011 15:48:49 GMT
17th September in Irish Military History 1862The Battle of Antietam (or Sharpsburg) was fought in the American Civil War. Combined casualties on both sides were around 23,000. Meagher's Irish Brigade participated. 1899The British Army began sending troops to South Africa as the relations with the Boers became strained. 19149861 Sgt Stephen Knox, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Died of wounds on the Western Front. From Mooncoin, Co. Kilkenny. 19169566 Pte John Brown,1st Bn Irish Guards. KIA on the Western Front. He was from Carrickbeg, Co. Tipperary. 3566 Gunner John Colbert, Royal Garrison Artillery. He died on the Western Front and was from Lismore, Co. Waterford. Another Lismore man was 4983 Cpl Timothy Kemp, 8th Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers. Died of wounds on the Western Front. 3582 Pte Michael Murphy, 6th Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. From Waterford. 1922Volunteer Thomas Hayes, IRA. KIA Bushfield, Co. Tipperary. Born Nenagh. 1939HMS Courageous was sunk by U-29. 519 sailors died. Among them were several Irish sailors www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/crews/listing.html?country=Irish1944Operation Market Garden began when, British US and Polish paratroopers seized Dutch bridges over the River Rhine. 1970The Jordanians drove the PLO from Jordan into Lebanon. The PLO set themselves up as a state within a state in southern Lebanon and further destabilised and already unstable country. The PLO launched attacks on Israel and inevitably Israel invaded in 1978 and again in 1982. The 1978 invasion led to the setting up of UNIFIL in which the Irish DF participated. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 18, 2011 0:25:45 GMT
18th Sept in Irish Military History 1916The Quadrilateral Redoubt near Ginchy was captured. 1941Sean McCaughey was convicted of kidnapping former IRA chief of staff Stephen Hayes on June 30th. Hayes claims he was court-martialed and tortured. He managed to stave off execution by spending weeks writing a full confession while he waited for a chance to escape. Hayes was a Garda informant. Thanks to his information the GS raided IRA arms dumps in Wexford, for which one Michael Devereaux was murdered in Co. Tipperary. George Plant was tried and executed in Portlaois by a firing squad for that murder. 1922Volunteer Con Hanly, IRA. KIA Ballinard, Co. Tipperary. Born Donohill. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 19, 2011 20:16:09 GMT
19th Sept in Irish Military History 1916205771 Pte Daniel Raymond from Waterford, 1st Bn Wiltshire Regt. Died of wounds on the Western Front. 1918Killed in action in Salonika with 12th Bn, Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. S/20101 Pte William Flynn, Kilmacthomas, Co. Waterford. Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. KIA Salonika. S/20133 Pte Patrick Gibson, Waterford. Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders. KIA Salonika. The A&S Highlanders were part of 77 Bde, 26th Div which sustained heavy losses in the Battle of Doiran. 1941The crew of the Irish-owned City of Waterford was rescued by the Walmer Castle after a collision in mid-Atlantic. 1944 Flt/Lt David Lord earned a VC dropping supplies to the 1st Airborne Div at Arnhem. His Dakota was hit twice but, with one engine on fire, Lord completed his drop. Finding two containers still aboard, he returned to drop them and then ordered his crew to bale out while he kept his plane on course. Lord was killed when the plane crashed seconds later. David Lord was from Cork and he is buried in Osterbeek Cemetery, Holland. He had previously been awarded the DFC. 194414434372 L/Cpl Thomas Morrissey, from Mantlehill, Co. Tipperary. London Irish Rifles. KIA Italy. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 20, 2011 10:00:55 GMT
20th Sept in Irish Military History 1689 Williamites from Enniskillen defeated Jacobite forces at Boyle, Co. Roscommon. 1803Robert Emmet was executed in Dublin. 1854The Allies defeated the Russians at the battle of Alma during the Crimean War. Three Irishmen won VCs at the Alma. They were Capt Edward Bell of the 23rd Foot. Who commanded his battalion when all senior officers were casualties and captured some enemy artillery. In the same battalion Sgt Luke O'Connor from Co. Roscommon, earned the VC when he carried the Regiment's colours throughout the battle, though wounded. He rose to the rank of Major-General and lived another 60 years. Over in the Middlesex Regt, another Irish Sgt, John Park, earned another VC for his courage. 1917At Ypres, Belgium, Lt Hugh Colvin, 9th Bn., The Cheshire Regiment took command of two companies and led them forward under heavy fire with great success. He personally captured 14 prisoners. He was awarde a Victoria Cross. 1917KIA on the Western Front 39340 Pte James Corby, 1/5th Bn South Lancashire Regt. From Tipperary. 371381 Pte Richard Lonergan, 8th Bn The London Regt. From Fethard, Co. Tipperary. 1918192743 Pte Richard Power, Royal Engineers. KIA Western Front, he was from Cappoquin, Co. Waterford. 1920The Black and Tans burned Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. Kevin Barry was captured after ambushing a British Army detail collecting bread from a bakery. He was later executed in Mountjoy Jail. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 22, 2011 18:51:10 GMT
21st Sept in Irish Military History 1170Diarmuid MacMurrough and and his Norman allies marched on the Norse kingdom of Dublin. 1601A Spanish army under Don Juan del Aguila landed at Kinsale. 1795The Battle of the Diamond took place between the Peep o' Day Boys and the Catholic Defenders near Loughgall, Co. Armagh. 1857 Sgt Patrick Mahoney of the 1st Madras Fusiliers (later Royal Dublin Fusiliers) won a VC when he helped in the capture of the Regimental Colour of the 1st Regiment of Native Infantry during the Indian Mutiny. He was KIA a month later. 1881Eamonn Ceannt was born in Co. Galway. 19149966 L/Cpl Henry Moore, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Rifles. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Waterford. 19157611 Pte James Shanahan, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action on the Western Front. He was from Aglish, Co. Waterford. 1941Five Irish merchant seamen from the City of Waterford were killed when the Walmer Castle was attacked by German aircraft as she sailed in Convoy OG 74 to Gibraltar. They had been rescued after a collision on Sept 19th. Killed aboard the Walmer Castle Captain Thomas Aplin. Ordinary Seaman Edward Kearney. Sailor Patrick Murphy. Sailor Samuel Naylor. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 22, 2011 18:57:41 GMT
22nd Sept in Irish Military History 1798Government forces under Colonel Trench marched from Castlebar and took Ballina 1821Patrick Moore, a Confederate General, was born in Galway. 1884HMS Wasp was wrecked off Tory Island, Co. Donegal, with the loss of 52 lives. There were eight survivors. 1914 HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue and HMS Cressy were all sunk in the North Sea by a German U-Boat. The submarine was the U-9, commanded by Commander Otto Weddigen. He fired one torpedo at the Aboukir which began to sink and capsized in 30 minutes. The other two ships stopped to take on survivors, assuming that Aboukir had hit a mine. U-9 manoeuvred around the stricken Aboukir and fired two torpedos at Hogue, which went down in 10 minutes. An hour after hitting Aboukir Weddigen fired his last 3 torpedos at Cressy. She sank in 15 minutes. The three ships were old cruisers unable to sail at more than 12 knots. The captains were not even zig zagging due to the assumption that there were no submarines in the area. Over 1400 sailors died. 10502 Pte Michael Hennessey, 2nd Bn Royal Irish Regt. Died of wounds on the Western Front. He was from Waterford. 19166167 Pte Thomas Bacon from Tallow, Co. Waterford. He was killed in action on the Western Front, serving in 2nd Bn Royal Munster Fusiliers. He was born in Carrick on Suir, Co. Tipperary. 1918 The British army captured Haifa and Nazareth in what was then Palestine. 10445 Pte John Pender, 1st Bn Royal Irish Regt. Killed in action in Palestine. He was from Waterford. 1920At Rineen, near Miltown Malbay, Co. Clare, the IRA ambushed and killed 6 RIC men. The Black and Tans wrecked the town that night. The RIC men killed were Sgt Michael Hynes, Constables Reginald Hardman, Michael Harte, John Hodnett, Michael Kelly and John Maguire. The ambush party was commanded by the local IRA Comdt Ignatius O’Neill, ex-Irish Guards. He was wounded when a large party of soldiers appeared on the scene after the ambush and a running battle commenced. Earlier that day the IRA had killed a local magistrate in the area. 1989 The IRA bombed a Royal marine band in Kent, killing ten people. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 23, 2011 10:32:35 GMT
23rd September in Irish Military History 1586In Co. Mayo, the Battle of Ardnaree was fought. The Government forces of Sir Richard Bingham, governor of Connacht, took on the Burkes, who were represented by a large force of Scottish mercenaries. 2000 died and the leaders of the Burke Clan were hanged. 1641A rebellion began in Ulster 1798The Second Battle of Killala ends in the surrender of the combined French and Irish forces to the English. 1803 The Battle of Assaye was fought in India, Anglo-Indian forces were commanded by Maj-Gen Arthur Wellsley. 1906Mary Edith Coleman died at Blackrock, Co. Dublin. As a member of the Red Cross she had cared for both French and German wounded in the Franco-Prussian War in 1870. Known as Mrs Alsager, she was decorated by Kaiser Wilhelm II with the Verdienstkreuz für Frauen und Jungfrauen 1870/71. 19431511663 Sgt William Maher from Clonmel. He was KIA over Germany serving with 419 SQDN, RAF. He is interred in a communal grave in Rheinberg War Cemetery along with 3 others of his crew. |
|
|
|
Post by groundhog on Sept 24, 2011 19:57:45 GMT
24th September in Irish Military History 1880 The neighbours and tenants of Captain Charles Boycott a Co. Mayo landagent began shunning him and thus gave his name to the English language as a verb- to boycott. 191640102 Pte Percy Hayden,10th Bn Scottish Rifles, from Waterford. Died of wounds on the Western Front. 10061 Pte Patrick Walsh from Kilmacow, Co. Kilkenny. Died of wounds on the Western Front serving in 1st Bn Irish Guards. 1950Executed by the North Korean Army at Taejon Monastery, South Korea Fr Tom Cusack from Co. Clare. Fr Jack O’Brien from Co. Roscommon. 1952PFC John White from Co. Kerry. A member of the 1st Marine Division he died while a Prisoner of the North Korean Army. His body was never recovered. |
|
