Anois agus arís
By PETER BERRESFORD ELLIS
DURING the Irish War of Independence, 1919-21, there were 10 Irish regiments
serving in the British Army. Following the Treaty, on March 11, 1922,
the War Office ordered the disbanding of seven of these regiments, leaving
the Irish Guards and two Ulster regiments continuing in British military
service.
While Ireland was fighting for its independence, what was happening to
these 15,000 Irish soldiers who, following the Armistice in 1918, had
decided to continue in the peacetime British army? Were they affected
by the independence struggle in their homeland?
Most people will know that 400 men and NCOs of the 1st Battalion, Connaught
Rangers (88th Regiment), stationed in India, refused to obey orders after
hearing of the Black and Tan atrocities in Ireland in June, 1920. They
demanded the withdrawal of British troops from Ireland.
Non-Irish regiments were brought in to quell the Connaught Rangers with
lethal force. Two Irish soldiers were killed and another seriously wounded.
Eventually courts martial tried the Connaught Rangers and 19 were sentenced
to death while others were given prison sentences ranging up to 20 years.
In the end, only one man was executed as it was felt executions on a major
scale would have the same negative effect on Irish troops as had the 1916
executions.
But were the men of the Connaught Rangers the only Irish soldiers to be
affected by the news from Ireland and the suffering of their families
from the excesses of the Black and Tans and Auxiliaries?
The 1st Battalion of the Royal Irish Regiment was part of the Allied 1st
Rhine Brigade of the Army of Occupation in Germany and was stationed at
Allenstein, a province of East Prussia. Edgar Vincent, Lord D’abernon,
the British Ambassador to Berlin, urged Sir Henry Wilson at the War office,
to withdraw the regiment because they are full of Sinn Féin and
cannot be relied on. Wilson asked the Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon for
approval to withdraw the Royal Irish adding “it is urgent in every
sense”.
The Irish regiments were never posted to Ireland during the 1919-21 period
and in July, 1921, Field Marshal Wilson admitted that Irish soldiers continuing
to serve other units in the British Army had sought exemption from serving
in Ireland in significant numbers.
After 1919 ex-servicemen often found themselves in a position of social
exclusion and unemployment when returning to Ireland. Whereas it had been
usual that 10 per cent of ex-servicemen in Ireland could face unemployment
on leaving the services, from 1919 this figure had risen as high as 50
per cent.
Sending Irish regiments to Ireland was politically unsound and militarily
inadvisable. Irish units were therefore despatched to other parts of the
empire.
Five of the Irish battalions went to India to form part of the colonial
garrison. The Leinsters (100th Regt) were involved in putting down an
uprising in June, 1920, among the Moplahs, in Malabar, in south west India.
The rising had been sparked when the British sent police and soldiers
into a mosque to arrest a popular Muslim cleric named Ali Musaliar.
Unarmed crowds were fired on. The people responded and, led by such men
as Vanamkunnath Kunhammad Haji, soon a Moplah republic was declared setting
up its own courts, taxation system and a people’s government. In
November, 1919, the 2nd Battalion of the Munsters arrived in Egypt and
were used as aid to the civil power putting down nationalist demonstrations
and encountering insurgent activity until in mid-1921. Britain announced
that it was recognising Egyptian independence.
The 2nd Dublins (102nd Regt) were sent to garrison Istanbul in 1919 and
were involved fighting the Turkish nationalists. The nationalists won
and in November, 1920, the Dublins embarked for India.
The 2nd Royal Irish Rifles and 1st Royal Irish Fusiliers went to Iraq,
and were initially stationed in Baghdad. They were soon fighting Iraqi
insurgents between Baghdad and Basra. Then as now, the fighting was tough
and casualties high. But they also helped the British Empire establish
itself in Iraq, with results that still reverberate today.
The 1st Royal Irish were sent to the East Prussian province of Allenstein,
which was claimed by Poland. Their first task was to disarm the 3,000
strong local German police before Poland took over the area.
Poland also claimed Silesia, because of its economically wealthy coalfield.
There was a League of Nations plebiscite in March, 1921. The Germans were
active in suppressing the Polish population and the area developed into
a war zone. The 1st Royal Irish, 2nd Leinster and 2nd Connaught Rangers
were ordered to insert themselves between the fighting Poles and Germans
and form a neutral zone. In this campaign the Irish regiments formed a
successful peace keeping force until the League of Nations announced a
resolution for the disputed territory.
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