Royal Munster Fusiliers (New Army) facts for kids
The Royal Munster Fusiliers was a brave infantry regiment in the British Army. It was one of eight "Irish" regiments, meaning many of its soldiers came from Ireland. Their main base was in Tralee.
When World War I started in August 1914, the British Army needed many more soldiers. So, Lord Kitchener created the "New Army." This New Army was made up of volunteers, separate from the regular soldiers. They planned for soldiers to serve for at least three years. On August 7, a call went out across the UK for 100,000 volunteers aged 19–30. These new groups of soldiers were called 'Service' Battalions.
The first new battalions were part of Kitchener's K1 Army Group. This included the 6th and 7th (Service) Battalions of the Royal Munster Fusiliers (RMF). They were part of the 30th Brigade in the 10th (Irish) Division, led by General Bryan Mahon.
Later, the 8th and 9th RMF (Service) Battalions joined the K2 Army Group. They were part of the 16th (Irish) Division's 47th and 48th Brigades. This division was led by Major General William Hickie. As the war went on, the regular RMF Battalions lost many soldiers. Because of this, the new service battalions were eventually combined with the regular ones. The last one, the 8th (Service) RMF, joined the 1st (Regular) RMF Battalion on June 2, 1918.
Contents
6th and 7th Battalions: Early Days
Training at Curragh
Both the 6th and 7th Battalions started in Tralee in August 1914. They then moved to the Curragh in County Kildare for their first training. Finding enough experienced officers was a challenge. By May, when they moved to Basingstoke, England, they had a mix of officers. They also received extra recruits from other British regiments.
Fighting at Gallipoli
After very tough training, both battalions sailed from Liverpool on July 9, 1915. They arrived in Greece on July 19, at Mudros on the island of Lemnos. Many soldiers got sick, reducing their numbers from 1000 to 800 even before they landed.
Their plan was to land at Suvla Bay on the Gallipoli peninsula. The goal was to cut off the Turkish forces and open the way to Constantinople. The 1st Regular RMF had already been fighting there since April.
The 10th (Irish) Division landed at Suvla Bay on August 7. Some of their battalions landed on the wrong beaches, making them weaker. The division was left with only five battalions, including the two RMFs. Their mission was to capture the Kiretch Tepe Sirk ridge. The 6th landed first with 25 officers and 749 men, followed by the 7th with 28 officers and 750 men.
Difficult Retreats
The 6th Battalion, new to combat, faced the Battle of Sari Bair Ridge. They struggled with hidden trenches, lack of water, heat, and tiredness. They lost over 70 men killed by dusk and had to pull back. Even though they outnumbered the Turks, a day was lost due to poor leadership. This allowed the enemy to get stronger.
The RMF attack started again on August 9 but stopped at the bottom of the ridge. A naval bombardment didn't help. When the dry bushes caught fire, they pulled back and dug in. Very cold nights forced them to retreat to the beaches. There, 350 new soldiers arrived.
On August 15, the 10th Division made its final push. They took the north slope of the ridge. This cost the 6th RMF 43 killed, and the 7th RMF, which was supporting, lost 23 killed. The 6th held its position overnight under heavy attack but had to withdraw the next day.
The ridge was almost captured. By August 19, both battalions had lost half their strength since landing. In the last British attack, the Battle of Scimitar Hill on August 21, the battalions helped out. After this, the fighting became static trench warfare until the end of September. More soldiers were now getting sick than were being killed by the enemy.
The 10th (Irish) Division was pulled out and sailed to Mudras on August 30. The 7th RMF had only 6 officers and 305 men left. The 6th RMF had fewer than 450 men.
6th and 7th Battalions: New Fronts
Fighting in Serbia
When Bulgaria invaded Serbia, both Greece and Serbia asked for help from the Allied forces. The 10th (Irish) Division was sent to Salonika for the Macedonian campaign. The division trained a lot and received new soldiers.
Still wearing summer uniforms, the severe snow and frost at high altitudes caused many soldiers to get sick or injured. The Bulgarian forces advanced quickly and threatened the Allied troops. The 7th RMF was on the front line. At Kosturino, it protected the retreat of the 10th Division, which included the Connaught Rangers and Royal Dublin Fusiliers. This happened at the end of December. The Allied forces couldn't stop Serbia from falling. They stayed in Salonika, where the two RMF battalions got back to full strength in early 1916.
Battles in Greece
The Bulgarians, with German help, crossed the Greek border on May 26. The 10th Division first fought in August along the Struma River valley. They fought the Bulgarians on September 30 in the 'Struma offensive'. They crossed the river and captured the village of Yenikoi (now Provatas in Serres Prefecture, Greece). They then recaptured it after a Bulgarian counterattack, but lost 500 men.
Both RMF battalions crossed back on October 15 for a rest. They were now very low on soldiers because of malaria in the summer and a lack of new recruits. This led to the 7th Battalion joining the 6th RMF on November 3, after they returned to Yeninkoi. The division fought off more Bulgarian attacks in March 1917. In late summer, the 10th was moved to stop the Turks on the Palestine front.
Campaign in Palestine
They sailed from Salonika on September 9, 1917, arriving in Ismailia via Egypt on September 12. October was spent training and getting new uniforms. They then joined the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. During the Battle of Gaza from October 27, the 6th RMF wasn't heavily involved, which disappointed them. The Turks pulled back by November 7.
After getting new supplies, the 10th Division returned to the front on November 25. The 6th RMF faced a lot of sniper fire on the way to the capture of Jerusalem. They entered Jerusalem without a fight on December 9. The 6th RMF had achieved its goals with relatively few losses. After many defeats since Gallipoli, they were finally experiencing victory.
The start of 1918 was spent on rebuilding. Fighting started again in March, requiring an advance towards Nablus. This battle was their last action in Palestine.
Moving to France
Many soldiers had been lost on the Western Front after the big German March offensive. This led to 60,000 men being moved from Palestine to France. Indian battalions took their place. Ten battalions from the 10th (Irish) Division were moved, including the 6th RMF.
35 officers and 812 other soldiers sailed from Alexandria, arriving in Marseilles on June 2. They took a train north, reaching Arques on June 6. From there, they marched to the camp of the 2nd Regular RMF. This battalion had suffered heavy losses in March and was very small. The 2nd RMF was mostly rebuilt with soldiers from the disbanded 6th RMF.
The remaining 6th RMF, now very small, was assigned to train an American infantry brigade. After this, they rejoined the 2nd RMF in Dieppe. This was actually the rebuilt 6th RMF. They had been a close-knit unit with relatively few losses since Gallipoli. However, they soon suffered heavily in fierce fighting during the Hundred Days Offensive and the final weeks before the Armistice in November 1918.
8th and 9th Battalions: New Recruits
An Army Order on September 11, 1914, allowed for a second group of six divisions, called the K2 Army Group. This included the 8th and 9th Munsters as part of the 16th (Irish) Division. The officers for the 16th Division were all former Regulars. This caused problems because experienced officers had already gone to the 10th (Irish) Division. Also, the 16th (Irish) Division was only for recruits from Ireland. The War Office also refused to allow special regimental colors or shamrock cap badges. This made it very hard to get new recruits for the Division.
8th (Service) Battalion
This battalion was formed in Fermoy in October 1914. It was meant for recruits from the Irish National Volunteers. It also had the most recruits from the County Limerick area. It moved to Mitchelstown in November 1914. After staying in Templemore from February 1915, it returned to Fermoy in May 1915. Then, in August, it moved to Blackdown camp in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, for harder training.
Fighting in France
The 8th RMF sailed from Southampton and landed in France with the 16th (Irish) Division on December 19, 1915. They had 33 officers and 948 other soldiers. They went straight to the Winter trenches on the Loos salient. This was the front line of the earlier lost Battle of Loos. They fought alongside the 15th (Scottish) Division. They had casualties throughout January.
In February, they were in Béthune for training. They then returned to the front lines, rotating with the 9th RMF through April. In May, their losses were replaced by 12 officers and 200 men from the disbanded 9th Battalion. In June and July, they took part in several raids along the Loos sector. They suffered significant losses, often losing their best soldiers. They left with the 16th Division for the Somme sector on August 30, 1916.
Battle of Ginchy
Their fighting area was near Guillemont and Ginchy. They were part of the attack that took Guillemont on September 3, 1916, along with the Connaught Rangers. After the first attack on Ginchy failed, they were open to a counter-attack. They then pulled back to recover from their losses.
They returned on September 7, 1916, with 200 men for the next attack on Ginchy. With not enough cover, they suffered heavy losses by September 9, 1916, and couldn't bury their dead. The other battalions of the 16th (Irish) Division captured Ginchy. The Division was then moved north to the Ypres salient. The 8th RMF was in rotating trench duties with continuous casualties until November 7, 1916.
It was disbanded with 21 officers and 446 other soldiers on November 22, 1916. Its soldiers were moved to the 1st RMF (Regular) Battalion, which had returned from Gallipoli. This was just three weeks after the 7th RMF was disbanded in Macedonia.
9th (Service) Battalion
This battalion was mostly formed in County Cork between late 1914 and spring 1915. It had the highest number of soldiers from the regiment's home county. Captain D. D. Sheehan, an Independent Nationalist Member of Parliament for mid-Cork, helped a lot with recruiting for it. After initial training near Buttevant, it was based in Mallow. It then moved to Fermoy in June 1915, before going to Blackdown camp, Aldershot.
Fighting in France
Landing in France on December 29, the 9th Battalion joined the 8th Battalion on the Loos Salient near Aire. This area was described as 'hideous territory'. They suffered their first losses in January. Intense artillery attacks followed through March. Constant enemy activity, terrible weather, and awful trench conditions made the battalion very tired. Mines and trench mortars caused heavy losses.
They faced a chlorine gas attack at the Battle of Hulluch in April. However, all enemy attacks were pushed back. The 9th spent its last time in the trenches as a unit from May 6–25. There weren't enough soldiers in other RMF regiments, so the battalion had to be disbanded on May 30. As the last new battalion formed, its soldiers were sent to the 1st, 2nd, and 8th RMF Battalions.
10th (Service) Battalion: A Unique Story
This battalion was unusual. It wasn't started by the British Army. Instead, it was the idea of Arthur Lynch, a Member of Parliament from West County Clare. He wanted to create a unit in 1918 that didn't face the problems with Irish national identity that the 16th Division had. Lynch had previously formed the Second Irish Brigade to fight for the Boers in the South African War. For this, the British had sentenced him to death, but this was later changed. He then became involved in politics.
He tried to recruit soldiers separately from the British recruiting drive in Ireland. This caused a lot of trouble. Many obstacles were put in his way, including his recruits being sent elsewhere. He also faced the usual refusal to accept Irish national feelings. He only managed to get a special uniform approved for his six pipers. They wore kilts, and their hat badges had an Irish Wolfhound design instead of the traditional Munster's emblem of a Bengal tiger.
The battalion officially started on September 18, 1918, at Ballyvonare Camp, Buttevant, County Cork. Only men with front-line experience were to be officers. Colonel Lynch had recruited 29 men by October 5 and 77 by the middle of the month. He then visited the front in France, calling his unit "my nominal regiment." This made the battalion's connection with the RMF weak. Many important RMF officers didn't even know the RMF had a 10th battalion.
Its numbers were never high. A recruit joining on December 4 was only the 146th. The unit never saw active service. The Armistice (end of the war) removed any reason for it to exist. It was disbanded on March 14, 1919, and Colonel Lynch left his military role in April.
Other Battalions
- Royal Munster Fusiliers (Reserves) covers the 3rd (Reserve), 4th, and 5th (Extra Reserve) Battalions, as well as the 1st and 2nd (Garrison) Battalions.
War Memorials
- National War Memorial, Islandbridge in Dublin.
- Island of Ireland Peace Park in Messines, Belgium.
- Menin Gate Memorial in Ypres, Belgium.
