History of the Irish Guards

The history of the Irish Guards as an

The Irish Guards were formed by

Creation

The Irish Guards was formed on 1 April 1900 by order of

Roberts, as the new Commander-in-Chief in the Second Boer War, was too busy at the time to take over a new regiment, but he was appointed a Colonel of the regiment on 17 October 1900. Major Richard Joshua Cooper, of the 1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards, was appointed the first Commanding Officer on 2 May 1900 and 200 Irishmen from the same regiment were transferred as the nucleus of the new regiment. Selected members of the line infantry regiments were chosen to fill out the ranks of the new regiment.^[5]

The regiment's first

The 1st Battalion, Irish Guards deployed to France, eight days after the United Kingdom had declared war upon the

The 1st Battalion suffered huge casualties between November 1–8 holding the line against near defeat by German forces, while defending

In February 1915,

In May 1915, the 1st Irish Guards took part in the Battle of Festubert, though did not see much action. In July 1915, the 2nd (Reserve) Battalion was redesignated the 3rd (Reserve) Battalion, and another battalion, the 2nd Battalion Irish Guards was formed at Warley Barracks.^[10] In August that year the 1st Irish Guards, along with the rest of the 4th (Guards) Brigade, was moved to the Guards Division. The brigade was redesignated the 1st Guards Brigade.^[18] August 1915 also saw the arrival to France of 2nd Irish Guards who were subsequently attached to the 2nd Guards Brigade.^[19] In September that year, both battalions of the Irish Guards fought together for the first time in the Battle of Loos, which lasted from 25 September until early October.^[20]

1916-17: The Battle of the Somme and Passchendaele

Both the 1st and 2nd Irish Guards spent much of the remainder of 1915 and early 1916 in the trenches until 1 July 1916 when the Battle of the Somme began, which was, and still is, the bloodiest day in the history of the British Army, but the 1st Irish Guards were spared the day's bloodshed as they were held in reserve.^[21] The 1st Irish Guards were soon called into the fray at the Battle of Flers–Courcelette where they suffered severe casualties in the attack in the face of withering fire from the German machine-guns.^[22] The battalion then went on to take part in the Battle of Morval. They were involved in the capture of the northern part of the village on 25 September and were relieved the following day by the 2nd Irish Guards.^[23] The 1st Irish Guards suffered quite heavily during the Morval engagement with over 250 casualties.^[24] The 2nd Irish Guards fought until 28 September when they too were relieved and entered into a period of rest along with the rest of the Guard's Division.^[25]

The Irish Guards had been brought back up to strength sufficiently during their rest period so that by the summer of 1917 they would once again be called on to front a major British offensive with the start of the

In a testament to the ferocity of fighting that the Irish Guards faced at the Battle of Passchendaele, an action took place on 12 September that would see two members of the regiment win the Victoria Cross. Lance-Sergeant John Moyney and Private Thomas Woodcock of the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards, were part of an advance post that became surrounded by Germans. During the defence, the Lance-Sergeant attacked the advancing Germans with grenades and with his lewis gun. He, and his men, then charged the Germans, breaking through them and reaching a stream where he and Private Woodcock formed a rearguard while the rest of the party withdrew. They subsequently began to withdraw, crossing the stream, but Private Woodcock heard cries for help and he returned, retrieving the wounded man and carrying him back to British lines under machine-gun fire. They had held out for ninety-six hours.^[30]

The Irish Guards took part in the Battle of Cambrai, the first large use of the tank in battle took place during the engagement.^[29] The 1st Irish Guards initially enjoyed a quiet sector for the opening of the battle until 30 November when they suffered heavy casualties fighting through the streets of the village of Gouzeaucourt.^[31] The Guards Division, and with it the 1st and 2nd Irish Guards, were pulled off the line on 6 December for a rest period, having fought almost continuously since the start of August.^[32]

1918: Final victory and the ending of the War

The regiment enjoyed the relative respite provided by the stalemate that the Western Front experienced in early 1918.

James Marshall of the Irish Guards but attached to the 16th (Service) Battalion, Lancashire Fusiliers, organised repair parties who were trying to repair a damaged partly finished bridge. The first party soon came under fire and all were killed or wounded. Marshall, disregarding his own safety, stood on the bank, encouraging and helping the men as they worked on the bridge.

Once it was repaired, he began to lead his men across the bridge but was shot and killed. He was awarded the posthumous Victoria Cross, the fourth and final to be earned by the Irish Guards during the First World War.^[38]

Throughout October and early November, the Irish Guards took place in the last advances on the Western Front against the crumbling German Army.[39] On 11 November 1918 the Armistice with Germany was signed. The 1st Battalion, Irish Guards were at Maubeuge when the Armistice was signed, which was near to where the Irish Guards began their war in 1914 at Mons, although by 11 November there were few surviving Irish Guardsmen of that first battle.^[40] The sacrifice by the Irish Guards during the First World War had been immense. The two battalions of Irish Guards had suffered 2,349 officers and men killed and well over 5,000 wounded. The regiment was awarded 406 medals, including four Victoria Crosses, during the Great War.^[41]

Among those killed serving with the Irish Guards in the First World War was Second Lieutenant John Kipling, the 18-year-old son of author Rudyard Kipling, who was listed as missing during the Battle of Loos in September 1915.^{[nb 1]} In tribute to his son's regiment, Kipling composed the poem "The Irish Guards" and after the war wrote a two-volume history of the regiment's service in the war.

Inter-War

With the First World War at an end, occupation duties awaited the Irish Guards and on 11 December 1918 the regiment marched into Germany, drums beating, as part of the British Army of the Rhine.^[41] Both battalions returned to Britain victoriously in the spring of 1919 and after a final parade through London, the 2nd and 3rd Irish Guards were now surplus to requirements and disbanded.^[42] In 1920, for St Patrick's Day, the regiment donned its full-dress for the first time since before the outbreak of World War I. The regiment was also compelled to cope with the internal tensions caused by the political situation back home in Ireland following the end of the First World War although the regiment remained largely detached from the events of the Irish War of Independence, with only one member of the Irish Guards being charged with trying to smuggle weapons to republicans and even this act was motivated by a desire for monetary gain rather than political motives.^[43]

The regiment's continued existence was threatened briefly when Winston Churchill (later destined to become the Prime Minister), who served as Secretary of State for War between 1919 and 1921, sought the elimination of the Irish Guards and Welsh Guards as an economy measure. This proposal, however, did not find favour in government or Army circles and was dropped.^[44]

In 1922 the regiment deployed to

Upon the outbreak of war in September 1939, both battalions of the Irish Guards were based in the United Kingdom. In April 1940, the 1st Battalion deployed to Norway as part of the

Later that month the battalion fought in northern Norway, seeing action at Pothus, where they held out against heavy German attacks for two days until they were finally forced to withdraw as their positions were being outflanked. The brigade HQ and battalion were withdrawn by boat, though they left many men behind, who managed to break through the German forces and reach Allied lines later that day.^[48] With the situation worsening for the British in the Battle of France, it was decided to withdraw all British forces from Norway and the 1st Irish Guards were evacuated back to the United Kingdom with the rest of the expeditionary force in June.

In May 1940, the 2nd Battalion, Irish Guards deployed to the

In 1941, 2nd Irish Guards made regimental history when they were reorganised as an armoured battalion, the first in the Irish Guard's history, joining the newly formed Guards Armoured Division as part of 5th Guards Armoured Brigade. The Training Battalion of the Irish Guards was raised the same year, later becoming the 3rd Battalion, Irish Guards. In 1943, the 3rd Irish Guards were reorganised as a full infantry battalion and followed their sister regiment into the Guards Armoured Division as part of the 32nd Guards Brigade.^[51]

North Africa and Italy

In March 1943 the 1st Battalion, Irish Guards, who had been based in the United Kingdom since their return from Norway in June 1940, landed, with the rest of the

Following the

Following the liberation of Brussels, the Irish Guards pushed into north-east Belgium in the face of stiffening resistance and reached the Dutch border on the evening of 10 September, capturing the strategically vital

The Irish Guards remained in the Netherlands until the

With the signing of the final German surrender on 9 May 1945, the Irish Guard's war had finally come to an end. For the second time in barely a generation, the Irish Guards had served throughout a world war with distinction and sacrifice with the regiment losing over 700 men killed, 1,500 wounded and being awarded 252 gallantry medals, including two Victoria Crosses.

1945 – present day

End of Empire and the Cold War in Europe

The end of the Second World War signaled the inevitable downsizing of the British Army and the demobilisation of its wartime strength which led to the 3rd Irish Guards being disbanded in 1946 and the 2nd doing so the following year. The ending of the Second World War had also signaled the beginning of the end for the

It was not long before the Irish Guards would find themselves in another trouble spot of Britain's declining Empire when they were deployed to Cyprus to once again perform vital internal security duties due to the EOKA campaign against the British forces as well as the tension, indeed violence, that was occurring between Greek and Turkish Cypriots. They returned to Britain in the closing months of that year before once again joining the BAOR in 1961 when they were moved back to West Germany. In 1966, the regiment was deployed to Aden, another colony experiencing violence with the Radfan Uprising against British rule. During their tour of Aden, the Irish Guards experienced some of the fiercest fighting they had seen since the Second World War.^[66] The Irish Guards returned home to the UK just before Aden gained independence from the British Empire in 1967.

In 1970 the Irish Guards were posted to the Hong Kong garrison, remaining there for two years until its return to the UK. In 1974, the regiment was re-roled as a

The late 1970s saw the Irish Guards playing supporting roles in several high-profile diplomatic and foreign policy events. In July 1978, they secured the grounds around Leeds Castle for a preliminary meeting between the foreign ministers of the US, Egypt and Israel prior to the historic Camp David Accords. In 1980, they were part of the Commonwealth force dispatched to the former Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) to supervise that country's first internationally recognized elections as an independent country.

In between, from February to August 1979, they were posted to the Central American country of Belize for the second time. (Their first was in 1973 after their return from Hong Kong.) That country (which gained its independence in 1981), was threatened by Guatemala, which claimed its territory.

The Irish Guards returned to the BAOR in February 1982, just missing the Falklands War which was instead participated in by the Scots Guards and Welsh Guards.^[71] In 1986, the regiment returned home from Germany and received new colours two years later from Queen Elizabeth. They returned to Belize later that year, before being posted to the British sector of West Berlin in 1989, which was their first and only deployment to the city. The regiment were present for the historic moment when the Berlin Wall fell that year, signifying the end of the Cold War in Europe. They Irish Guards left the newly united Berlin in 1992 and returned home to the UK.

1990's: Northern Ireland and the Balkans Conflict

The Irish Guards and a number of other British Army regiments including the Gurkhas were long exempted from service in Northern Ireland. (Small numbers of Irish Guardsmen, however, gained experience in Ulster while attached to other Guards regiments during their service in the troubled province).^[72] The drawdown in the overall size of the British Army following the end of the Cold War, however, meant that this policy was no longer sustainable and the year 1992 saw the regiment finally carry out its first tour-of-duty in Northern Ireland, being based in County Fermanagh.^[72] The violence in Northern Ireland had mostly subsided by this time and their first-ever tour west of the Irish Sea passed quietly.^{[citation needed]} They left the following year. In 1995, the Irish Guards began their second tour of Northern Ireland, being based in County Tyrone.^{[citation needed]} The regiment headed for Germany in 1998 as part of British Forces Germany, successor to BAOR.^{[citation needed]}

The Irish Guards were not in Germany long before the Yugoslav Wars meant they were called on to deal with the troubles in the Balkans in 1999. The regiment formed the Irish Guards Battle Group which was split with a company of the Irish Guards deployed to Macedonia while the rest deployed to Kosovo, where heavy fighting had broken out between Serbian forces and Kosovo Albanian rebel groups.^[73] The Irish Guards were the first British unit to enter the Kosovan capital city of Pristina on 12 June and were greeted by the local population who treated the Guards like heroes.^[74] After the city had been secured the British troops began to consolidate their position, moving across the surrounding countryside to secure it. The Irish Guards performed professionally, attempting to prevent violence from breaking out between the Albanian and Serb Kosovans while also helping to rebuild the country. The Irish Guards left the Balkans in September 1999, heading back to their base in Germany.^[75]

21st Century: The Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

The beginning of the Irish Guards second century in existence saw the death of Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, who had for many decades traditionally presented the Irish Guards with shamrock on St. Patrick's Day, in 2002. At the Queen Mother's funeral the coffin bearer-party was made up of Irish Guardsmen. This was a remarkable honour, given the fact that the late Queen Mother not only was not the regiment's colonel (she was, in fact, colonel-in-chief of the Black Watch), she had no official connection with the regiment at all, in spite of her long identification with it.^[76]

In 2003, the Irish Guards were deployed to

Citations