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The 16th Division
National Volunteers
The 16th Division was part
of a new army raised in 1914. The driving force behind
the volunteers was Mr John Redmond an advocate for Home Rule
for Ireland. Home Rule was postponed at the
outbreak of World War One. Redmond saw Germany's
military expansion as a threat to the freedom of Europe and
he believed that having achieved future self-government
"to the best of her ability to go where ever the firing line
extends, in defence of right, of freedom and of religion in
this war. It would be a disgrace forever to our country
otherwise". |
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The 36th Division
The Ulster Division
The 36th Division a Division of Lord
Kitcheners Army of 1914. It was made up of members of
the Ulster Volunteer Force. 13 Battalions were formed
for three existing Regiments these were The Royal Irish
Fusiliers, Royal Irish Rifles (cap badge above top left),
and the The Royal Innisikilling Fusiliers. The 36th
was one of the only Divisions to achieve its objective on
the first day of the Battle of the Somme but the cost was
very high with 5,500 men killed wounded or missing. |
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The 10th Division
The 10th Division was made up of men from the
National Volunteers (John Redmond's Army) and men from the
Carson's Ulster Volunteers. The 10th
brought together Irishmen from all classes and religions.
The 10th Division was a combination of a number
of Irish Regiments such as, The Inniskilling Fusiliers, The
Connaght Rangers, Munster Fusiliers and the Leinster
regiments. The 10th Division saw its first action at
Gallipoli. Some 2000 men lost their lives between
spring and summer of 1915 at the Dardanelles where most of
the lives were lost on the beach at Suvla. It was not
only the enemy the then Turkish Army the 10th had to fight
but they also had to cope with the intense heat, poor
medical treatment and poor military strategy. |
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