2nd battalion royal ulster rifles

Regimental Sergeant Major Sam Fleming talking to Montgomery prior to Normandy.

8th Division, which was then in Palestine dealing with the Arab Rebellion.

The interlude came to an end on May 25th, when the Battalion was sealed in a camp which allowed of no entry or exit. There the problem of briefing had to be considered and preperations made. The sorting of operational maps started immediately. As these were, of course, highly secret, they had to be

' Your Battalion was in that Division, and that was my first meeting with the Ulster Rifles, and since then i have taken a very close interest in the Battalion which contains so many Irishmen, and quite a number of them from my part of Ireland, from Donegal and Derry way. When we had finished with the Arab Rebellion, i took command of 3rd Division and i was anxious that your Battalion should be in 3rd Division, so home you went. I well remember speaking to you on parade in Palestine before you went home. I said then that i am not fond of making prophecies, but i made two. Firstly i said that i did not think that the war would come in 1939. I thought it would come in 1940. I was proved wrong. My second forecast referred to the football cup, which i said was going in that year, 1939, to Portsmouth. They won the cup, and my prophecy came true. Whenever i have watch Portsmouth they have not lost a match. I saw them play a few weeks ago. And i had to leave ten minutes before the end and the score was then three goals to one against them. As i came away i said ' It's alright. They'll win. ' and they did win. After the war i feel i can always get a job by being taken on by Portsmouth as their mascot. '

Montgomery adresses men of the 2nd Battalion

made into craft loads for each individual and sealed, only to be opened when the craft sailed. Each officer had 14 and each section leader 7. Each officer also had two folders of aerial photographs showing a ' wave-top view ' of the coast, the Assembly area, the immediate area of the beachead, the anti-tank ditch, and the town of Caen. The problem of briefing was solved by the issue of bogus

Montgomery with two officers from the Battalion. One of them being Major Donlea M.C

The General recalled an occasion in Belgium in 1940 when the Battalion was in Louvain and there was some doubt as to whether we or the Germans held the city. He said that was impossible, for the Ulster Rifles were there. ' I sent my aide-de-camp, now your Major Sweeney, to Louvain to inquire, and he came back with the message ' the Rifles are there ' I have felt that wherever the Ulster Rifles are, there is no need to worry'

maps. These were correct in every detail except that bogus names were substituted for the real names. Thus, Caen was known as Poland and other places were concealed by such names as Japan, Mexico, Dublin and Belfast. The Commanding Officer's Orders and briefing of all officers including supporting arms took the whole of the first day. The briefing marquees were then allotted on a Company and Platoon basis, and briefing continued for three days under the supervision of the Intelligence Officer and the Intelligence Section. The principal had been laid down that, despite the risk from the point of security, the fullest

' Monty ' takes the salute as the 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles marches past. It would not be long before they would be landing on Sword Beach.

possible information was to be passed on to the men who had to do the fighting. It can safely be said that no army had ever before had such a wealth of information made available to help it to fight. Officers and men were then split into various boatloads and the D minus two days started to embark on Landing Craft Infantry. One might have expected very high tension in the face of such a mighty undertaking, but on the contrary, the troops appeared to . .

On May 22nd, His Majesty the King inspected the Battalion with other units in 9th Infantry Brigade and this proved to be the last big parade before D-day. The C.O, 2nd in Command, Major Sweeney, and R.S.M Fleming were presented to him, and he recalled the occasion in 1939 when he presented Major Sweeney with the Military Cross, on a similar inspection. He also spoke to several men in the ranks and was keen, but not surprised, to know the number of Eire men now serving in the Battalion.

the 2nd battalion royal ulster rifles

World War 2 Living History Group

Preserving the Memory of All Irishmen who served During World War Two And the traditions of The Fine Irish Regiments They served In