| As soon as war became inevitable, the general mobilisation
was ordered and on the 4th August 1914, the mobilisation notices
were sent to every Irish Guards reservist totalling over 1300
men.The 1st Battalion was at the time stationed at Wellington
Barracks and the first reservists reported there the very
next day.
The 1st Battalion was inspected by the Colonel of the Regiment,
Field Marshal Lord Roberts, on the 11th August and the next
day embarked for France to a concentration area 40 miles south
of Mons. It was in this neighbourhood that the first clash
of the British Expeditionary Forces (BEF) with the German
Army took place, on the morning of the 23rd August 1914. Meanwhile
the French, who were on the right of the BEF had to withdraw
and to avoid being surrounded by the Germans the BEF had to
conform and withdraw also. This Retreat (which is know to
the Veterans and the Regiment as the Retirement) is a legendary
epic, and the 1st Battalion, therefore, took part in what
must be one of the most testing battles of the early part
of the Great War. At the beginning of the Retreat the Battalion
acted as rearguard to the 2nd Division and sustained its first
casualities. Two days later it was again in action at LANDRECIES,
but it was on the 1st September, at VILLIERS COTTERET that
the Battalion fought it's first serious engagement in which
it had over 100 causalities, including the Commanding Officer
and Second-in-Command killed and the Adjutant wounded. As
the only Major left, Major H.A Herbert-Stepney took command
of the Battalion for a hectic 18 days and was later killed
on the 6th November 1914 near YPRES. The Retreat lasted until
the 5th September 1914 by which time the front had stabilised.
It was a long drawn-out rearguard action and a severe test
of skill and endurance, entailing withdrawing a distance of
nearly 200 miles.
On the 8th September 1914 the Battle of Marne started and
this was to be the turning point when the German advance from
Mons was halted just east of Paris, and the Allies began the
advance northwards towards AINSE where the 1st Battalion crossed
by pontoon on the 14th September 1914. In mid-October the
BEF was moved to cover the Channel Ports and from the 21st
October to the 12th November 1914 the 1st Battalion fought
continuously in the first battle of YPRES, losing more than
700 men.
That winter saw the beginning of the long period of trench-warfare,
which lasted until the final battles in 1918. Life consisted
of mostly monotony, often intense discomfort from the cold
and mud, but with an ever-increasing number of casualties
from the shelling, machine guns, sniping, mortaring, mining
and raids.
From time to time they took part in great set-piece battles
such as FESTUBERT, LOOS (this was the first time the Regiment's
newly formed 2nd Battalion was in action) THE SOMME, YPRES,
CAMBRAI and ARRAS. Each success or failure meant a few hundred
yards gained or lost, but the lists of casualties were always
large, right up until the last great offensives of the German
army in 1918. The collapse of the Russian revolution in 1917
meant that the German eastern front was closed enabling them
to redeploy those involved to the western front and against
the Allies. On the 21st March sixty-four German Divisions
were flung against the point where the British and French
Armies met at HAZEBROUCK. The Germans were nearly successful
in their attempt to reach the Channel Ports, however the tide
was turned during the summer and in August 1918 the Allied
Armies took the offensive at places such as HINDENBURG LINE
and CANAL NORD. By November 1918 Germany was defeated and
the Armistice was signed on the 11th November 1918, by which
time the 1st Battalion were at MAUBEUGE, which was only a
few miles from MONS, where they had first come under fire
in 1914.
The strength of the Regiment on mobilisation in 1914 was
997. During the Great War 293 Officers and 9340 Other Ranks
served as Irish Guardsmen of whom 115 Officers and 2235 Other
Ranks gave their lives and a further 195 Officers and 5541
Other Ranks were wounded. The numbers don't add up because
some of the individuals were wounded more than once and are
counted accordingly. |
