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British 10th (irish) Division




  dates ''' World War I '''<br>August 1914 - January 1919
  country United Kingdom
  branch New Army
  type Infantry
  command Structure K1 Army Group
  battles Battle Of Gallipoli <br>o Battle Of Sari Bair <br>&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&ndash&nbsp Battle Of Chunuk Bair <br> Third Battle Of Gaza


The 10th (Irish) Division, was a New Army division, one of Kitchener's New Army K1 Army Group Division s raised largely in Ireland from the Irish National Volunteers in 1914 . It fought at Gallipoli , Salonika and Palestine during the First World War and was the first Irish Division ever to take the field in war.


FORMATION

camp, 1915.]]

The division comprised the following Brigade s:

; 29th Brigade :

; 30th Brigade :

; 31st Brigade :

; Pioneers :


UNIT HISTORY

The 10th Division was sent to Gallipoli where, as part of General Sir Frederick Stopford's IX Corps, it landed at Suvla Bay on August 7 to participate in the August Offensive . Some battalions of the division were landed at Anzac and fought at Chunuk Bair .

In September, 1915, when the Suvla front became a stalemate, the division was moved to Salonika where it remained for two years.

In September 1917 the division moved to Egypt where it joined General Chetwode's XX Corps . The division fought in the Third Battle Of Gaza which succeeded in breaking the resistance of the Turkish defenders in southern Palestine.

Heavy losses on the Western Front encountered after the great German Spring Offensive in 1918 , resulted in the transfer of 60,000 men from Palestine to France, their place taken by Indian battalions. Ten battalions of the 10th Division were included, the 6RMF one of them. Embarking at Alexandria for Marseilles they reached Arques on 6. June. With comparatively low losses since Gallipoli they were soon to suffer heavily in fierce combat during the Hundred Days Offensive in the final weeks before the Armistice .


BATTLES



GREAT WAR MEMORIALS



SEE ALSO



NOTES

# Became Divisional Pioneer battalion in June 1915
# Disbanded May 1918
# Transferred to 66th Division April 1918
# Joined Division March 1915, transferred to 27th Division November 1916
# Replaced 10th Battalion November 1916
# Amalgamated into 6th Battalion November 1916 transferred and amalgamated into the 2nd Munsters (Regular Army, 1st Division ) in April 1918
# Transferred to 66th Division May 1918
# Transferred and absorbed into 11th Royal Irish Fusiliers, (Regular Army)
# Regular Army Battalion, joined Division to replace 7th Battalion The Royal Munsters November 1916
# Indian Battalions arrived May 1918 until demobilisation.
# Both Battalions left for service in France May 1918. 5th Bn. joined 66th Division and 6th Bn. joined 50th Division .
# Amalgamated as 5th Battalion in November 1916. Transferred to 16th (Irish) Division May, 1918
# Joined Division in November 1916 as replacement for 6th Bn. Royal Irish Fusiliers.
# Indian and Guards Battalions replaced France bound Battalions in May 1918.
# Transferred to 50th Division, April 1918.


EXTERNAL LINKS




FURTHER READING

  • Thomas P. Dooley: ''Irishmen or English Soldiers: ?
    the Times of a Southern Catholic Irish Man (1876-1916)''.
    Liverpool Press (1995).

  • Bryan Cooper (1918): ''The 10th (Irish) Division in Gallipoli''.
    Irish Academic Press (1993), (2003). ISBN 0-7165-2517-8.

  • Desmond & Jean Bowen: ''Heroic Option: The Irish in the British Army''
    Pen & Sword BooKs (2005), ISBN 1-84415-152-2.

  • Steven Moore: ''The Irish on the Somme'' (2005). ISBN 0-954-9715-1-5.