Tread softly here! go reverently slow!
You let your soul go down upon its knees,
And with bowed head, and heart abased strive hard,
To grab the future gain in sore loss!
For not one foot of this dank sod but drank,
Its surfeit of the blood of gallant men,
Who for their faith their hope for life and liberty
Here made the sacrifice, here gave their lives,
And gave right willingly for you and me.
John Oxenham,
( Beaumont Hamel memorial park)

 

the Germans retreated to the Hindenburg Line which was a formidable series of defences that the

had constructed. In April the British launched the Arras Offensive and the Dublin Fusiliers took part in the two battles of the Scarpe that took place in April. The 10th Dublins took part in the Bttale of Arleux (28th-29th April ) that saw the Dublins last involvement in a major battle of the Arras offensive. Half of the French Army, exhausted and angry at the enormous losses it had sustained, mutinied, refusing to fight unless it was to defend against german attacks. This compelled the British Army to take the leading role and this would see the Dublin Fusiliers take part in further offensives before the year ended. In June, the Dublins took part in the capture of Wytschaete during the Battle of messines. The regiment's battalions subsequently took part in the Third Battle of Ypres ( 31st July- 10th November ) being involved in several of its subsidiary battles including that at Langmarck. As during Second Ypres, the regiment suffered heavily, indeed the 9th Dublins had sustained such losses that they effectively ceased to be a fighting unit and were amalgamated with the 8th dublins in October, forming the 8th/9th Dublins. The Regiments last major action of 1917 was a diversionary attack during the Battle of Cambrai ( 28th November-3rd December ).

In February 1918 due to heavy losses that had been sustained, the 8th/9th and 10th Dublins were disbanded and its men were transferred to the 1st and 2nd Dublins. On the 21st March the Regiment was on the defensive during the Battle of St Quentin when the Germans began an immense bombardment as part of their last-gasp major offensive known as operation Michael against british and Empire forces in the Picardy area. The 1st and 2nd Dublins suffered heavily from the intense bombardment ( which included poison gas ) and when the Germans attacked shortly afterwards, the germans broke through the shattered remnants. The Germans made significant gains but their offensive graduallt lost momentum and the Germans were pushed back by April. During that month, on the 14th of April, the ist and 2nd Dublins had briefly amalgamate due to the losses it had sustained during the German offensive, forming the 1st/2nd Dublins. The 1st Battalion was reconstituted a few days later with drafts from the 2nd Battalion, which was reduced to cadre strength.

On the 26th of April the 1st Dublins left the 16th ( Irish ) and rejoined the 86th Brigade, 29th Division. In June the 2nd Dublins transferred to the British 31st Division and was reconstituted. It was transferred to the Lines of Communication ( LoC ) before moving to British 50th Division in July. In August the Allies launched their counter - offensive against the Germans and eventually reached the Hindenburg line. The Allies launched their offensive against the Line in September, and the 1st, 2nd and 7th Dublins, took part in the battles of the St Quentin Canal, Cambrai and Beaurvoir, and the Hindenburg Line was successfully breached by the Allies. The Dublins took part in the last offensive of the war, taking part in, among others, the Fourth Battle of Ypres, Battle of Courtrai ( 1918 ) and the battle of the Selle during September and October. The 1st dublins lost their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Moore, on the 14th October. The Regiment's last major battle was in the Battle of the Sambre on the 4th November. The war ended on the Western Front with the Armistice on the 11th November.

The 1st, 6th and 7th Dublins all took part in the Allied Gallipoli Campaign an the Dardenelles after Turkey joined the Central Power's side in November 1914. It was an effort to support Russia by keeping the Dardenelles Straight Open.

The 1st Dublins, as part of the 86th Brigade of the 29th Division, landed on V beach Cape Helles on the 25th April. The ist Dublins were the first to land, landing via boats that wre either towed or rowed, and suffered heavy casualties from a withering hail of machine gun fire from the Turkish defenders, most not even getting out of boats, whilst others drowned in the attempt, most due to the equipment they carried. The 1st Royal Munsters, two companies of the 2nd Hampshires and a company of the 1st Dublins landed from the SS River Clyde ( Main Picture on front page to this Regiment ) soon afterwards and were also decimated by machine gun fire. It is said that the sea was red with blood for 50 yards out from the shore. In spite of the severe casualties the British forces managed to land large numbers of troops by nightfall. On the morning of the 26th April, the British force, including the Dublins, took the fortress, led by Lieutenant-Colonel Doughty-Wylie and Captain Walford ( who helped organise the attack ) both died at the moment of Victory. The 1st battalion sustained just over 600 casualties within the first two days, out of a total of just over 1000 men that had landed. Nearly all of their officers , including Lieutenant Colonel Richard Alexander Rooth, had been killed on the day of the landings. The Battalion and the 1st Munsters had suffered so heavily that they had to form a composite battalion known as the ' Dubsters' on 30th April. Both Battalions regained their identity the following month after they received a sufficient amount of replacements. During their time at Helles, the 1st Dublins took part in the numerous attempts to capture Krinthia; the first attempt took place on the 28th April.

The 6th and 7th Dublins joined the 30th Brigade of the 10th ( Irish) Division upon thier creation in August 1914. The division left Ireland for basingstoke, England in May 1915. On 7th June the division left the Uk, arriving in Lemnos by late July in preperation for the landings at Suvla Bay, Galliopi. The Dublins landed at Suvla on 7th August; a day after the first landings there had taken place. Unlike at V Beach at Helles, Suvla was barely defended but incompetence at the higher echelons ( otherwise the Brass ) of command led to the British troops not exploiting their early advantage, ensuring that the Suvla landings became static and allowing the Turks to reinforce their defences. The Dublins took part in the efoort to capture a position known as Chocolate Hill ( 7-8th August ) that was successfully taken though at high cost. On the 9th August the Dublins took part in the attempt to recapture Scimitar Hill, and managed to gain some ground but experienced ferocious resistance from the Turks eventually forced the British to withdraw. The 1st Dublins and the rest of the 29th Division were moved to Suvla to reinforce the British force there. On the 21st August the Dublins took part in another attempt to take Scimitar Hill and after the Battle, the Suvla front line bacame static, with no more majot attacks being attempted . In September the 6th and 7th Dublins and the rest of their Division left Suvla, arriving in Mudros on Lemnos later that month. The Irish Soldier will always have a connection with the Gallipoli Campaign.

10th Irish Division, Basingstoke 1915

 

On the 1st January 1916, the 1st Dublins left Gallipoli for Egypt with the rest of the 29th Division and the last remaining British troops left Gallipoli on the 9th January. The ironic thing was that the evacuation of Gallipoli by the Allies was arguably the most successful part of the campaign. The Dublins had suffered heavily, nearly all of the just over 1000 men from the 1st dublins who had landed at Helles in April had been killed, wounded, experienced disease or were missing, but further carnage was to wait them in France. The Dublin Fusiliers battalions that had seen service in Gallipoli had had a diverse composition, indeed D company, 7th Dublins ( known as the Dublin Pals in much the same way as the Pals Battalions ) had a number of professional rugby players and most of the company had attended Trinity College Dublin, including professor of Law Lieutenant Earnest Julian who was mortally wounded at Chocolate Hill and died on board a hospital ship, gaining the company the nickname ' The Toffs' which was in reference to the 2nd Dublins nickname

' The Old Toughs ', other companies were of a more humble background, from being miners and dockers to postmen, and many other roles in the community. Meanwhile, the 6th and 7th Dublins had landed in Salonika in October 1915 as part of a British- French force requested by the Prime Minister of Greece, with the intenetion of assisting Serbia, who had been invaded by Bulgaria, one of Germany's allies during the Macedonian campaign. By the time the British- French force had arrived Serbia had been defeated but the Allies remained. The Dublins took part in the Battle of Kosturino (7-8th Decemebr ) and in the British withdrawl from Serbia. After Kosturino, things were mostly quiet, though the British still suffered casualties from desease, such as dysentry and malaria, and also suffered from frost bite. In October 1916 the Dublins took part in the capture of the village of Yenikoi where they suffered heavy casualties, including friendly fire from their own artillery. In August 1917 the 6th and 7th, along with the rest of the 10th ( Irish ), were ordered to concentrate in Solonika in preperation for moving to the Balkans. The following month the division arrived in Egypt and then commenced their participation in the Palestine campaign. The campaign was a much more successful one than the previous two campaigns that the Regiment had experienced and the Dublins took part in the Third Battle of Gaza ( 27th October - 7th November ). The Dublins also took part in the capture of Jerusalem and inits subsequent defence from Ottoman counter- attack. The 7th Dublins left the Division moving to France in April 1918 and was attached to the 16th ( Irish ) on the 10th June. It was however absorbed by 11th Royal Irish Fusiliers only 8 days later. The 6th Dublins followed the 7th the following month, also heading for France. It joined the 66th Division in July.

All the war-raised battalions were disbanded either during the war, or shortly afterwards. The 1st Dublins crossed the German border in early December : no doubt nearly all that had beeen with the Battalion when it first entered the war in Gallipoli were gone. The Battalion eventually reached Cologne where the British Army of Occupation in Germany was based. The Returned to the Uk a short while afterwards, based in Bordon. The 2nd Dublins left war-ravaged Europe to join the Allied Army of Occupation in Constantinople, Turkey and in late 1920 moved to Multan, India, before returning to the Uk in 1922.

Due to substantial defence cuts, and the establishment of the Irish Free State in 1922, it was agreed under the terms of the Anglo Irish Treaty that the six former Southern Ireland Regiments ( out of a total of thirteen Irish regiments ) would be disbanded, including the Royal dublin Fusiliers. On the 12th June, the six regiments Colours, with the exception of the South Irish Horse who sent a Regimental Engraving, because the Regiment chose to have its Standard remain in St Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin..were laid up in ceremony at

St George's Hall, Windsor Castle in London, in the presence of HM King George V. The Dublin Fusiliers detatchment included the commanding officers of the 1st Dublins and 2nd Dublins, Lieutenant- Colonels C.N Parreau and G.S Higgingson , who had been captured in France during the first year of WW1, and the regiment's Colonel in Chief, HRH the Duke of Connaught. The Colours remain there as of 2005. The six regiments were all disbanded on the 31st July, some thousands of ex-service men and officers helped in establishing the newly formed Free State Force, though many men from the new Irish Free State ( later known as the Republic of Ireland ) also continued to serve with the British armed forces. On the 27th April 2001, the Irish Government officially acknowledged the role of the soldiers of the Dublin Fusiliers who fought in the First World War by hosting a State Reception at Dublin Castle for the Royal Dublin Fusiliers Association. And so we come to the end, i always feel sad at this point after writing about these boys, as if i have travelled on their journey with them. To think of all those smiling young faces who passed away and were never there at the end.

This is my tribute to those boys of the " Royal Dublin Fusiliers " and may they or their glorious deed never be forgotten.

  Victoria Cross Recipients
Sergeant Horace Augustus Curtis ( 2nd Battalion The Royal Dublin Fusiliers
Sergeant Robert Downie ( 2nd Battalion, The Royal Dublin Fusiliers )
Sergeant James Ockendon ( 1st Battalion, The Royal Dublin Fusiliers )

  Great War Memorials
Irish National War Memorial Gardens Dublin
Island of Ireland Peace Park Messines, Belgium
Menin Gate Memorial Ypres, Belgium